"Well, what do you think of that?" exclaimed one of the listening officers. "It beats anything our best detectives could have done. But say, Cap, I hear something moving close by. There it is again! There's a boat coming down, and being poled, too."

"Turn your lights around that way, quick!" cried the police captain, as though he grasped the true significance of the sound.

As the men did so the dim outlines of a motor launch were discovered not far away, with one man using a pole at the stern to hasten its departure.

Jack understood what it meant, even as must the officers; for as seen in the faint light from the dark lanterns the strange boat was an exact duplicate of his own little Tramp!

"There they go, Cap! Sure it's the rascals all right!" shouted Grogan, forgetting how he had been so sure that Jack and Jimmie were the guilty parties.

Immediately the second man aboard the other boat must have turned the engine over, for there sounded a quick popping, and the launch began to glide through the still waters of the wide creek with increasing velocity.

"Stop! Hold up, there! You are under arrest!" bawled the captain, as he started to fire a pistol he had snatched from his pocket.

The man aboard the fugitive boat ducked; and as the craft faded away in the darkness of the night a derisive laugh came floating back to the ears of the officers.



CHAPTER IX.

THE SWIFT RUN OF THE TRAMP.

"I reckon you pinked that feller, Cap!" cried one of the officers.

"Not much," returned the disgusted leader of the expedition. "He only dropped to avoid getting in the way of flying lead. They're gone, and left us holding the bag."

"If it hadn't been for these boys we'd a gone further up the creek, and sure nabbed 'em," grumbled Grogan, sourly.

"That isn't the fault of these boys," replied the captain, quickly. "They had a right to stay here if they wanted. It's just our tough luck to hit on the wrong boat. They must have heard something of the rumpus, and thought it a mighty good time to clear out."

"And all that long row back to town for nothin'," Grogan complained.

"If I only had a fast boat I'd feel like following the rascals. Say, boys, what's to hinder you taking us down river. Perhaps your little Tramp might overhaul the other craft, or keep them going till daylight, when we could corner the yeggs?" and the captain turned upon Jack with renewed interest.

But the boy was not at all inclined to favor him. In the first place it would break up the race, since the strict conditions must be shattered. Then again their promise not to travel after dark except in case of dire necessity stood in the way. And last but not least, Jack did not much fancy having that disagreeable officer Grogan as a passenger for hours at a time; nor did he care to be compelled to remain awake.

"Sorry, Captain," he remarked, pleasantly, "but the fact is I was working at my engine when night came on, and it's not in condition for immediate service. I expected to finish the job while my friend cooked breakfast. So you see, long before I could get it to working that sound would be lost, and we'd never raise it again."

"Oh! well, if that's the case," said the other, with a quick look toward the motor of the boat, which even his inexperienced eye could see was in some measure taken apart, "I reckon we'll just have to call it off, and make the best of a bad job. But you've interested me a whole lot, Jack, and I hope you will win your race, my lad."

"I'm not thinking much about that," replied the boy, "since the cup was given by my own dad, you see. But I was wondering whether we might not get in more trouble below because our boat happens to look like that other one."

"That's a fact, to be sure. Here," said the captain, as if struck by an idea, "perhaps I might be of some assistance to you."

He drew out a pencil and paper, and wrote a few lines, signing his name.

"If any police officials bother you, just show them that, and tell them if they want to call me up on the long distance phone I'll stand sponsor for you."

"Thank you, Captain, I will," and Jack gladly put the little document away, hoping at the same time that it would never have to be shown.

And so the disappointed officers clambered back again into their rowboat, and started on the tiresome journey against the current of the river. The last the boys heard of them was the grumbling sound of Grogan's complaining voice.

"Well, that was an experience, sure enough!" exclaimed Jack, as he looked around at the confusion which abounded aboard the motor boat.

Jimmie, who had lighted their own lantern when the police boat pulled out, was already trying to get things in some sort of order, though most of the work would have to be left until they had daylight to assist them.

"And would ye belave it, that sassy little boat was a lyin' beyant the bridge all the toime we were here, an' us not suspectin' the same!" Jimmie remarked.

"But how slick they got away," observed Jack. "That chap with the pole was bent on pushing her past without being discovered, while the other had his hand on the engine, ready to start things with a rush. It was a bold venture; and between you and me and the lamp post, Jimmie, I rather guess the nervy chaps deserved to get off that time."

"Bad luck till 'em," grumbled the other, "jumpin' aboord a gentleman's boat like that, and turnin' iverything topsy-turvy, so that ye don't know where ye kin foind a place to slape at all."

"Oh! anything will do for the rest of the night. But you lie down, Jimmie. It was just about time to call me anyhow, and I'll take my turn on duty," saying which Jack started to arrange his blanket half way decently, so that later on he could crawl under it again.

The balance of the night passed without further alarm. With the coming of the morning both boys were astir. Jack anxious to complete his little job at the engine, and Jimmie, of course, just as desirous of attending to the vigorous demands of the inner man.

Promptly at eight the start was made, for they were to have a great trip that day, unless some unexpected trouble arose to alter their plans.

The current of the river was now very manifest. Jack even ventured out further upon the vast flood than at any previous time, wishing to get all the advantage possible, so as to make Cairo before the hour came to haul in. Both of them noticed a vast difference in their progress. Even if the current were only a mile an hour faster there than close to the shore, that must count considerably in their favor during the day.

"It's moighty foine ridin' out here this way, I'm thinkin'," remarked Jimmie, after they had been booming along for several hours on the swift tide, with the little engine doing its prettiest all the while.

"You're right," replied Jack, "though I'd just hate to have any accident happen while it lasts. We're a long ways from shore, Jimmie, remember."

"But the swimmin's foine, by the same token," was the immediate response of the ready-witted Irish lad, who never took trouble by the forelock, believing there was always time enough for worrying after things had happened.

As had become their habit, they ate a cold lunch at noon, though Jimmie hinted broadly that it might pay them to pull in closer to the shore, and anchor, while he made a pot of coffee.

The afternoon began to wane as they came in sight of Cairo on its low point of land at the junction of the two great streams.

"My sowl, whativer becomes of all the wather?" exclaimed Jimmie, as they passed the mouth of the Ohio, and could see the great flood of turgid water that was pouring into the Mississippi, there having evidently been something of a rain to the eastward recently.

"Oh! this is only a swallow to the ocean, Jimmie," laughed his comrade. "Just wait until we get our first peep at that, and then talk."

"Sure we same just loike a teenty chip on it all, and I'm growing nervous, so I am," remarked the Irish boy, looking from side to side at the heaving flood that was bearing the motor boat so swiftly on her way.

"Well," returned Jack, soothingly, "if you observe you'll see that I've already headed her in toward the shore on the left. That would be Kentucky now; and somewhere between the junction and the ten mile mark, as we can guess it, is our next station. I wonder if the Wireless is there, and has George grown sick waiting."

The boat rolled considerably when Jack steered her slanting with the current; but there was never a time when the young pilot did not have her under complete control; and if a wave that was larger than ordinary swooped down toward them he instantly changed the course so that it followed behind, and would not strike the Tramp on the counter, and splash water aboard.

In this fashion, then, they drew nearer the shore. Both boys were on the lookout, for many crafts had been moving about on the water at the confluence of the two rivers, though by degrees they left these behind as they made progress down stream.

"It's afther getting near our toime, I'm thinkin'," remarked Jimmie, with a shrewd squint up at the sun, pretty well along down the western heavens.

"Yes, we have just enough to find some sort of a refuge for the night," replied Jack. "You see the current is getting so swift now that it's dangerous for a small boat like ours to anchor near the shore. When one of those big packets goes past it draws the water off, and then lets it come back with a rush. We might be upset, or thrown on the rocks, and get smashed."

"Thin it's us till a nate little cove, or a swate creek!" exclaimed Jimmie. "Only I do be hopin' that this toime we run aginst no polace officers or thaves. It do distarb me more nor I care to be waked up so suddint loike, and arristed for something I niver did."

On this occasion they were compelled to go a mile or so after the time had expired, before finding what they sought. But it was worth the penalty, both thought, as they pushed into the little opening, where they could rest in peace, without the fear of an upset on account of the "wash" from passing steamboats.

They remained near the mouth of the creek as long as daylight lasted, so that a watch could be kept, in order to signal either of the other boats, should one of them heave in sight.

But there was no such luck. Apparently neither had reached the third station, for Jack had scanned the shore line for miles just before they came in, without seeing any sign.

That night passed without any incident of note; although Jimmie insisted upon having an entry made in the log to the effect that his first effort at flapjack making proved an elegant success, since not one of the mess was left. But if the truth were told it would be found that the cook himself accounted for something like three-fourths of the number. And then he had the nerve to declare that he had made only one mistake, which was in limiting the amount of flour used.

"Looks like we might have a nice loafing spell over Sunday for a change now," remarked Jack on the following morning when, having partaken of breakfast, they moved down to a position nearer the river, where they could use the glass to advantage.

"Thin ye don't be sayin' annything of thim whativer?" asked Jimmie, who was still wrestling with the various kettles and dishes used in preparing and eating the meal, while his comrade swept the watery waste with the marine glasses.

"Nothing doing, as yet," replied Jack. "But perhaps in an hour or so we may pick one of them up. Of course it stands to reason the Comfort is away up there somewhere. I only hope George didn't go on down past here. After a while perhaps we'd better show ourselves outside, and anchor there. If he is below he'll see us through his glasses, and make signs."

It was a long morning to the boys. By turns they went ashore to stretch their legs, which were beginning to feel very much cramped on account of the length of time they had been in the confined space of the small boat.

About two o'clock Jack sighted something that looked promising.

"It's either a big alligator acomin' surgin' and heavin' down the river, tryin' to drink up all the wather; or ilse it's that bully old Comfort swimmin' along, wid a bone in her teeth," declared Jimmie, after he had had a turn with the glasses.

Of course it proved to be the motor boat; and half an hour later they caught the attention of those aboard, so that a reunion was speedily accomplished.

"But where's George, and poor old Nick?" asked Herb, as he shook hands with the skipper and crew of the Tramp, while Josh got the mudhook overboard.

"That's what is beginning to worry me," admitted Jack. "I knew you couldn't outrun us here; but they had a great send-off. Of course something happened. It always will with that cranky speed boat and the big horsepower motor it carries."

"I warned George that sooner or later it would shake the plagued boat to pieces," declared Herb. "Hope that didn't happen when they were away out on that rearing, tearing flood, though. My gracious, how it does rip along! Guess we could have made six or eight miles an hour without using our engine."

It was then after three. Another hour passed and not a sign of the absent boat could they discover. Several false alarms caused a thrill to pass over the four boys; but night finally drew near without the hoped-for arrival of the Wireless manifesting itself.

And although they found a snug harbor in the mouth of the creek that had proved so secure a refuge to the Tramp on the preceding night, none of the boys rested as well as they might. They were worried over the strange absence of their two chums, and imagined all sorts of evils as having overtaken the crew of the Wireless.



CHAPTER X.

IN A KENTUCKY COVE.

"Turn out, you sleepy heads! The sun's coming up!"

"That's Jack, of course," grumbled Josh, thrusting his tousled head out from the curtains of the big launch, and digging his knuckles into his eyes. "Say, have you been awake all night? Don't you ever sleep, Jack?"

All were soon astir, and preparations made for a meal. Jimmie, of course, was keenly awake to the fact that he could pick up a few points by watching the boss cook of the entire outfit; and hence he turned his eyes toward the Comfort many times while busy with his own duties.

Jack and Herb took things easy, sitting in the bow of their respective boats and swapping experiences. Of course both the others had been deeply interested in the story about the descent of the police and the daring escape of the mysterious boat manned by the two robbers. And Herb never wearied asking questions concerning the thrilling events of that night.

When breakfast was finally a thing of the past, both boats were started out of the creek. Finding a good anchorage not far distant, they settled down for a wait, the length of which no one could prophesy.

But Jack, after making preparations for an indefinite stay, electrified the rest when he declared that he believed he had sighted the missing launch far up the river and coming like a streak of light.

It was no mistake, as the rest declared once they had taken an observation. And when the lost boat drew near, such a dreadful clamor as broke forth, both Jimmie and Josh blowing conch shell and tin horn for all they were worth; while Nick did his best to drown them out with his own battered musical instrument.

"Same old story," laughed George, as they came alongside. "Don't rub it in too hard, fellows. Breakdown right when we were doing the best stunt of the trip. Only for that it would have been a record breaker of a run between second and third stations for the Wireless. Gee! but she can fly when she takes the bit between her teeth."

"And gee! but she can bite though," grunted Nick, as usual rubbing his haunches and putting on a most forlorn expression.

"Well, what's the use of staying here?" remarked Herb. "It's now past eight, and time we were on the move. It's just a picnic for Josh and me. We sail along like a big house, and nothing disturbs us. Josh cooks to beat the band; only I don't believe he eats more'n a bite each meal himself."

"That's where you're away off, commodore," asserted the other. "Why, I'm feeling ever so much better since I started. If it keeps on I'll soon be able to get away with my full share of the prog, as well as the rest of you—all but Buster. I never want to run a race with that——"

"Don't you dare call me a hog," cried the fat boy, pretending to get ready to hurl a big spoon, which he was wiping, at the cook of the other boat.

"I didn't, leave it to the rest if I did. You're the only one who mentioned the name at all," grinned Josh, ready to dodge behind his skipper if necessary.

It being decided to get away without further delay, the start was soon made, and once more the three boats began their progress toward the Land of Dixie.

For a change George did not rush off immediately; nor did Jack put on speed so as to leave the Comfort behind. Truth to tell, they wanted to chat some more; and talk of future plans when they should get farther along in the journey. For by now it had been impressed upon the minds of them all that "the worst was yet to come," as Jack put it.

An hour later and George believed he had loitered long enough.

"My boat is just itching to get a move on, fellows," he called out, as he started to leave the others. "So by-by until we meet up again at Station Four."

"Good luck to you!" cried Jack, waving his hand after the speed boys, one of whom looked anything but happy as he sat there with the life preserver belted on, and his fat hand clutching the brass after rail.

Presently Jack also considered that the pace was altogether too slow for him, much as it pleased Josh and Herb. Far ahead they could see the Wireless looking like a speck on the tumbling waters.

"Good-bye, fellows!" Jack called out as he too increased his speed, and began to draw ahead of the big launch.

"Off, too, are you?" laughed the easy going Herb. "Well, wait up for us below. And I say, Jack, if you get the chance, you might grab that nice fat reward that's out for the apprehension of the robbers. Five thousand ain't to be picked up every day, I'm telling you. And what with your great luck I believe it wouldn't be hard for the two of you to do it. Good-bye! Good luck!"

An hour later and those aboard the Tramp could just barely make out the last boat in the race. The Wireless had long since vanished from view in the hazy distance down-river way.

"What are you thinking about, Jimmie?" asked Jack, as he saw his boatmate sitting there with a queer look on his freckled face.

Jimmie grinned, as though tickled with what was passing through his mind.

"Sure, I do be pityin' that poor Buster," he observed. "Did ye not hear him tellin' how he longed so much to be havin' thim ilegant wings of his durin' the six hours George was tinkerin' wid the ingine? It was the chanct of his loife, so it was; and he says he would have been sportin' in the wather all the toime, learnin' to shwim loike a duck, by the same token. I've been wonderin' what he did wid the same, and I've come to the conclusion that he swallowed thim wings!"

"Oh! that's too much for me to believe, Jimmie," laughed his companion. "Whatever put such an idea into your head?"

"Becase he ates iverything he says. Josh is right whin he calls him a human billy goat, so he is. I wouldn't put it past him, now," and Jimmie shook his head in an obstinate manlier, as if to show he could not be persuaded differently; so Jack did not waste time trying.

As before, the day wore on, and with the coming of the hour which was to mark the close of the run they began to carefully watch the bank as they flew along, in the hope of discovering a friendly haven of refuge.

These things may seem a bit wearisome, but they became an important part of the daily program with the venturesome small boat cruisers, and as necessary as partaking of their meals.

Once more luck seemed to favor them, for after a long search Jimmie discovered what seemed to be a series of little coves, in one of which they could doubtless find water enough to float the Tramp.

It was almost dusk by now, and they would have to deduct considerable time from their balance sheet in making up the record for the day's run, according to the conditions set for the participants in the race.

"Think we can get in?" asked Jack of his mate; for Jimmie was in the bow, using a pole to test the depth of the water.

"Aisy it is, wid plenty of wather, and to spare," came the reassuring reply.

So, urging the boat gently on, Jack sent her over the bar and into what proved to be a splendid little cove, apparently just made for a haven of refuge to small craft, risking the dangers of the vast river flood.

"Snug as a bug in a rug!" declared Jack, joyfully, as they came to a stop in the cove, being able to run alongside the bank, which fact would allow of their going ashore if they chose.

Jimmie looked about him a bit nervously.

"Sure it's mesilf is wonderin' if we'll have the luck to run slap up against that other motor boat agin," he called out, as Jack happened to be bending over the engine at the moment.

The skipper made no response, as his attention happened to be taken up just then with something that required a little work. But the words had been spoken loud enough to have been heard twenty yards away in that quiet nook.

"I wouldn't shout so, if I were you, Jimmie," remarked Jack a little later, as he came back to where the other was getting the tent ready for erecting over the boat.

"Why, who's agoin' to hear me, sure?" demanded Jimmie, at the same time casting a nervous glance around at the heavy growth of bushes and trees that bordered their little cove.

"Oh! I don't suppose there's a human being within a mile of us right now," admitted Jack, laughingly; "but all the same it isn't good policy to tell all you know. Nobody can be sure there isn't some tramp lying hidden in these woods. And we don't want company, you see."

Frequently after that Jimmie would turn to glance around him, even while he was building the fire ashore and cooking the supper over it for a change. He could not get the warning of his boatmate out of his head, and Jack noticed that for a wonder the usually merry and light-hearted Irish lad made no attempt to carol any of his favorite school songs that evening.

They sat there by the fire a long while after eating. The night air had grown a bit cool, for it was October, when the early frosts nip. vegetation in the north; and even this far south the coming of night brings a change from the warm day.

And about nine o'clock Jack, feeling his eyes growing heavy, wondered whether it would not be wise for them to turn in. They had concluded, since everything seemed so safe, to try sleeping ashore for a change from the narrow quarters aboard the little motor boat; and the blankets were already lying in a heap; in fact, one served Jack as a means of keeping him from coming in contact with the bare ground as he sat there writing in his log book and figuring out the respective positions of the participants in the race, up to that time.

"I say, Jimmie," he began, when, looking around, he discovered that he was alone, the other having crept away at some time while Jack was busily employed.

"Now, where under the sun did that boy go to?" Jack said to himself, as he turned his head this way and that in the endeavor to see some sign of the missing one.

Presently he made another strange discovery.

"Well, I declare, if he didn't take my little Marlin gun along with him," he muttered, failing to find the weapon where he felt sure he had laid it down.

This gave him food for more serious thought. He remembered now how Jimmie had been impressed with that chance remark of his about the possibility of danger in the shape of concealed hoboes. Evidently, unable to resist the temptation, Jimmie had silently picked up the gun and crept away to make the rounds of their immediate neighborhood, his design being to learn whether there could be any hobo camp near by.

"Oh! well, I suppose I'll just have to sit here and wait for him to come back, after he's had his little turn. A queer boy Jimmie is, and inclined to be superstitious. Perhaps he's looking for a ghost right now, or one of those banshee's the Irish people believe in. Hello! I believe I hear something moving over there! Wonder if that's Jimmie now?"

Jack had arisen to his feet as he watched to discover what came in sight. Although he might not have confessed to the fact that he was excited, still his hand was trembling a little as he held back the branch of the tree to see better.

"Of course it's Jimmie. But what does he act that way for? Why is he beckoning to me and holding a finger on his lips, just as if he'd taken a turn to tell me not to call out. What has the boy discovered now, I wonder?"

Jack awaited the coming of his comrade, who was crawling along, looking back every little while as though fearful lest he had been followed.

"What under the sun ails you, Jimmie?" asked Jack, in a low tone, as the other reached his side. "Have you gone clean daffy, and are you seeing things that no decent, self-respecting boy ought to see?"

"H'sh!" whispered the other mysteriously; and then after another quick look in the direction from whence he had just come, he went on hurriedly: "They're roight over there, Jack, me bye, both of 'em as big as loife, wid the sassy little motor boat alongside in another cove; and Jack, they belaves us to be officers of the law, come to take thim till the bar of justice. I know it, becase I heard 'em talk!"



CHAPTER XI.

TURNING THE TABLES ON THE BANK ROBBERS.

"Whew! that's stunning news you bring, Jimmie!" said Jack, looking keenly at his companion, as if suspecting that possibly the other might be imagining things.

"I give ye my worrd of honor it's the truth, the whole truth, an' nothin' but the truth," affirmed the other, raising his right hand in the most positive manner.

"You saw the men, then?" demanded Jack.

"I was that clost till 'em I could have coughed in their ears, on'y I didn't, d'ye moind," replied the returned scout, in that convincing whisper of his.

"And the boat—it looks like ours, does it?" continued the skipper of the Tramp.

"Two peas in the pod couldn't be more aloike. And sure, didn't I hear the gossoons talkin' an' whisperin' atween thimsilves about us two."

"You did?" exclaimed Jack, more astonished than ever at the sudden daring exhibited by the Irish lad. "What were they saying, Jimmie?"

"Jist as ye warrned me, thim smarties they do be hearin' what I called out till yees about the other boat," replied Jimmie. "And that makes 'em decide we're in the employ of the polace, wid the intintion of running thim to a finish. Glory be, but they're mad clane through, becase a couple of boys dast chase 'em."

"Mad, are they, and at us?" repeated Jack, as he began to gasp the situation. "And do you happen to know if they mean to slip away again, like they did a couple of nights ago?"

Jimmie shrugged his shoulders in his knowing fashion. Probably he also winked, though Jack failed to catch this part of the performance.

"Wan of thim do be for slippin' off, and showin' a clane pair of heels; but the other sames to be a wicked sort. He swipes his fist jist so," making a furious gesture as he spoke, "and will be hanged if he goes till he taches thim silly fools a lesson."

"Meaning us, I suppose?" Jack asked, softly.

"Nothin' else, me laddybuck. I heerd him say as how burnin' our boat wouldn't be too harrd a job; or tyin' the both of us till the trees here, and lavin' us to shout till we got black in the face. Ugh! he's sure a divvle, all right, is that smooth-faced young thafe of the worrld. And I'd loike nothin' betther than to be turnin' the tables on him, so I would."

"Well," said Jack, quietly, "perhaps you may, Jimmie."

Jack Stormways was ordinarily a peaceful lad. All his schoolmates were agreed on that score. And yet once he felt that he had been unjustly treated he would fight at the drop of the hat.

They had done nothing to injure these two young rascals; and if let alone the chances were Jack would never have gone out of his way to inform the public officials as to what he knew about the robbers of the Waverly bank.

But when he heard that they were planning to do him and his comrade an ugly turn, something within seemed to rise up in rebellion. If they wanted war to the knife they could have it.

"Whirra, now, an' do ye mean that, Jack, darlint?" demanded Jimmie.

"Of course we could escape by going out of this in the night. But I object to running a dangerous river in the dark; and I also don't like the idea of being chased out of a comfortable berth. So I'm going to stick here a while longer; and try to give the other side a little surprise, if so be they come across lots to bother us."

"That's the kind of talk, Jack," Jimmie whispered, excitedly. "Americans should niver turn their backs on the foe. I'm riddy to back ye up in annything ye say. Do ye want me to lade the way to where they sit clost by the wather where the other boat swims?"

"Not at all," replied Jack. "If there's any aggressive movement made, it's got to come from their side, not ours. Millions for defense, not one cent for tribute, you know, Jimmie. Now watch me get busy."

The Irish boy was filled with the most intense curiosity. For the life of him he could not give the faintest guess as to what his companion had in his mind. And consequently he watched every movement Jack made as though eager to solve the puzzle.

He saw Jack go aboard the boat, and when he came back again he seemed to be carrying some extra clothes.

"Fill up those trousers with dead leaves, trash, anything, so long as you make them bag out and look like they do when on you. Then button up the coat, and do the same with that. Do you catch on yet, Jimmie?"

"'Tis dummies ye are afther makin', be me sowl!" gasped the other, as he hastened to follow out the directions given him; and the grin on his face told better than words could have done how splendid the idea seemed to him.

"I've done it when I went to boarding school," said Jack, softly, while he worked, "and left it for the sophs to grab when they came to haze me; but I never dreamed then I'd live to see the time I'd try the same old trick on a couple of bank robbers!"

It did not take them long to finish that part of the job.

"Now," said Jack, "let's try and fix the dinky things under the blankets so they'll look like a couple of greenies sleeping sweetly, and dreaming of home."

Again his genius for arranging little details came into play. Jimmie was only too glad to turn over his dummy to the care of Jack; and it was not long before it looked as though both boys were lying there, lost to the world, with the fire burning cheerily close by.

"Nixt!" chirped Jimmie, filled with the excitement of the thing.

"We're going to hide, and wait for them to come. You hunt up a nice fat shillalah that you can use on the head of one of our visitors when they get here. Yes, that looks like the billy for you. And remember, not a peep until I say the word: 'Go!'"

"Yis, and thin?" demanded the eager one.

"Tap the nearest fellow on the head, just hard enough to daze him, mind. I'll be looking out for the other meanwhile, with the gun. And I really hope he surrenders peaceably, because I'd hate to fill his legs full of birdshot, you know."

"Oh! what luck we do be havin', Jack, bye. Sure, iverything is comin' our way, an' the others ain't in the swim at all; excipt that Buster made wan plunge, and hild on till the rope. Where do we hide? Show me the place, me laddybuck. Five thousand dollars the captain, he said, Jack."

"Hush! I'm not doing this for the coin, remember. These fellows have nothing to fear from me unless they come hunting trouble. Then they'll find it. People always do, Jimmie," Jack said, as he looked around to locate the best place where they could hide, and still be within reach of the spot.

"Right ye are," chuckled the other; "and especially whin they run aginst Jack Stormways."

"Listen, Jimmie," the other went on. "I've just thought of something. Look up, and you'll see that the tree is thick just above the place where the two babes in the wood are sleeping so sweetly. Now, if one of us chanced to be hiding up there, it would be the easiest thing in the world to drop down on the back of the chap as he threw himself on the dummy. How does that strike you?"

Jimmie shrugged his shoulders.

"If ye say the worrd, it's me that will climb up the tree, and lie low. And sure they used to say Jimmie Brannagan was a born monkey all but the tail, so they did."

"Then climb now," said Jack, "and keep as quiet as a mouse there, or sharp eyes might spy you. Remember, when I shout the word, drop like a brick on the nearest fellow, and be sure you flatten him out, even if you have to use the stick!"

He watched the Irish boy mount the body of the tree and clamber out along the limb that hung some ten feet from the ground, until he was directly over the spot where the two motionless figures lay under the blankets.

"That will do, Jimmie. You are well hidden there. Quiet now, and wait!" and with this whisper Jack left the open spot.

In seeking a hiding place he had two things in mind besides concealment. One was to keep close to the place where the fire burned lower and lower, so that when the proper time came he could be there to do his part in the program. The other lay in the line of keeping the boat under observation, for fear lest the enemy creep aboard and cause an explosion of some sort that would simply ruin them.

The minutes passed slowly. Jack had to guess at the flight of time; but it certainly seemed to have wings of lead. Still, an hour had surely gone, and as yet all was still.

He wondered whether Jimmie could have been mistaken about seeing and hearing the two bank thieves? Jimmie had something of a vivid imagination; but then Jack had never known him to make a blunder of this sort.

Ah! was that really a rustle he had heard just then? To tell the truth it did seem to spring from the quarter where he expected danger to appear. Jack raised his eyes for one last look at the hiding place of his confederate. All seemed as peaceful as a dream in that direction; and no one could possibly suspect that in the midst of that bunch of foliage a brawny lad was crouched, ready to drop like a plummet when given the word.

Yes, the sound was repeated, and as near as Jack could make out it seemed just what might be expected were an inexperienced person trying to creep through a thick covert. These two fugitives from justice might be exceedingly clever in their own field; doubtless they knew everything pertaining to the art of blowing open safes in country banks; but as woodsmen they had much to learn, ere they could crawl through brambles without making a swishing noise.

Jack held himself sternly in. When he found that his hand was quivering more than he thought necessary, he mentally took himself sternly to task and put a stop to such silliness, as he termed it.

The wonderful command which he had always possessed over himself had been the secret of much of his great success on the baseball field, when the whole game hinged on a single ball which he had to deliver to a heavy batter. And that batter usually struck out when the pinch came, for he proved to have less stamina than the opposing pitcher.

Now Jack could see the bushes moving, and knew that something was going to happen in short order. He hoped Jimmie would be able to master his end of the job without a blunder; for sometimes the Irish boy, no matter how willing, had a peculiar faculty for doing the wrong thing.

Jack had both the hammers of his gun drawn back, ready for business. He remained as motionless as a stone when he saw moving objects creep into the little opening alongside the cove in which the motor boat lay moored to a couple of trees.

Of course they were the two desperate rascals come to carry out their design of injuring the boat of the lads they believed to be in league with their pursuers, and possibly even harming Jack and his mate in person.

Several times they raised their heads to look around. Jack could see their faces at such times, for the fire was not yet dead; and somehow he fancied that the two were hard looking fellows, just of the stripe one would expect to find ready to attempt some daring, lawless deed.

Now they were crawling eagerly toward the spot where the blankets covered the two forms. Then it must be their intention to first secure the owners of the boat before attempting its destruction.

Jack steeled his heart against anything in the shape of mercy: These fellows were making the game, and they must take what was coming to them without whining.

No doubt of it but if the truth were told it would be found that Jack was pretty white in the face about that time; but his teeth were pressed hard together, and his heart knew no fear.

Now they were close upon the dummy figures, and Jack got ready to give the signal that would cause a movement above. But he expected to first see the leap made, so that Jimmie would have a better chance to drop on the back of his man.

It was at this most intense moment, when Jack's nerves were all on edge, that a sudden sound burst forth.

"Ker-choo!"

Jimmie had been almost choked from time to time with the smoke from the fire, and as luck would have it he broke out in a loud sneeze just as the two men jumped forward.



CHAPTER XII.

"LUCKY JACK!"

"Go!" cried Jack.

And Jimmie went.

Jack had seen the two men spring upon the blanket-covered dummies, and knew the cheat would be instantly discovered. A delay of three seconds just then would mean trouble all around.

Had that unfortunate break on Jimmie's part come about earlier, it must have played havoc with all Jack's cleverly arranged plans. But the men were even in the act of jumping and could not stop to investigate just then.

Before one of them, who was wrestling with the blanket and trying to sprawl all over the unresisting form beneath it, could grasp the situation, bang! came a heavy body down between his shoulders, with a force that made him grunt and flatten out like a pancake.

"Hands up! You are under arrest!" shouted Jack, as he brought his shotgun on a level with the head of the second man, just as the other tried to scramble to his knees after learning of the cheat under the blanket he had assaulted.

Jack was taking a leaf from the police book, and applying it to advantage. He knew just how thrilling those words had sounded in the ears of himself and Jimmie and believed in passing them along.

Jimmie, by the way, was engaged in rapping the back of his captive's head with the stout little cudgel he had picked up. At the same time he kept threatening to add to the force of the taps if the other showed any inclination to resist.

"Do you surrender?" demanded the boy who held the gun.

"I guess we do. There don't seem to be anything else for us, the worse luck!" growled the fellow who crouched there on his knees and stared into the twin tubes of the threatening Marlin double barrel.

"Then lie down on your face, quick now!" commanded Jack, who had been thinking over what ought to be done in case they safely reached this point; and had made up his mind.

The desperate young bank robber hesitated. No doubt he was considering whether he might not take Jack off his guard by a sudden shout and a quick movement. And Jack guessed exactly what was passing through his mind.

"It wouldn't be safe for you to try it, let me tell you," he remarked, assuming as much fierceness as he could. "I've got my finger on both triggers, and this gun goes off mighty easy. You know what would happen to you then. Roll over on your face, and don't stop to think twice about it, either!"

As usual Jack had his way. There was something convincing about his method of argument that even this young desperado could not combat. And so with muttered angry words the fellow dropped flat on his face.

"Now, stay that way, if you know what's good for you," Jack went on. "Jimmie!"

"Yep! Sure I'm here, roight side up wid care, Jack, darlint," chirped the other, temporarily ceasing his tattoo upon the head of his alarmed victim.

"Get out your cord," continued the leader, steadily. "Make him cross his wrists behind his back. Then tie them hard together. If he tries any funny business you know what to do; and do it so that he'll understand what hits him, too."

"Indade I will that. D'ye hear the captain, mister? Give us your other paw, and do ye moind, I've me club handy to clip yees acrost the cranium if so be ye show anny disrespict till the law. Now, aisy loike, and the job's done. There ye are, and riddy for the nixt prisoner!"

Jack meanwhile kept the second fellow under his eye. Whenever the rascal made the least movement, as though tempted to rebel against the hard fate that had come upon him, a stern word from his captor was enough to make him cringe again.

So presently Jimmie mounted his back and treated him exactly as he had done the first victim. When Jack saw the job completed he drew a long breath of relief. The beads of perspiration stood out on his brow, such had been the terrible strain under which he had labored while all this action was taking place.

"Thank goodness, it's done with!" he exclaimed, as he allowed the gun to drop, and his muscles to relax.

"And now what are we to do wid these beauties, Jack?" asked Jimmie, as he also arose and stretched himself; for his long vigil among the branches of that tree had, as he declared, "tied him all up in a knot."

"Take them along with us and hand them over to the authorities at Memphis, if we get no chance nearer. Suppose you stay here with them just now, Jimmie."

"While you drop over to the other cove and see what they do be havin' in that motor boat of theirs," observed the Irish boy, cheerfully. "Just as ye say, Jack. Ye know bist, and I'm riddy to folly orders. But don't be too long, if ye plaise. It moight be lonely for me, I'm thinkin'."

Jack came back inside of fifteen minutes, during which time Jimmie had sat there by the resurrected fire, holding the precious Martin, and keeping a close watch over the two bound robbers.

"Ye found it, all roight, I say, Jack?" announced the guardian of the camp, as he noticed that his chum was "toting" a fair-sized satchel.

"Yes," the other answered, "this holds the stuff they carried off, and which Mr. Gregory, the president of that Waverly bank, will be mightily glad to get hold of again. But I know now just why they were so anxious to capture us."

"They did be thinkin' we was sint afther thim, so I belaved," Jimmie observed.

"That may be so," said Jack; "but there was another reason. They had need of our boat."

"But, by the powers, they had wan jist as good; how could they use both, Jack?"

"Theirs has got a big hole punched in the bow, and must have hit a rock just when they started to come into the cove. They had tried to mend it, but I guess that's a job for a practical boatbuilder and not for amateurs. We'll have to let it stay here, and take our prisoners along in the Tramp."

"So, that's the way the land lies, do it?" remarked Jimmie. "And whin they saw us come in this same night, to be sure they made up their moinds it was the finest bit of luck iver happened, changin' ould lamps for new."

Jack was not satisfied until he had examined the bonds of the two men and made them additionally secure. He also tied their ankles together, avoiding hurting them all he could, yet taking no chances, for he knew he was dealing with desperate characters.

The fellow whom Jimmie had flattened out like a pancake had nothing to say, and seemed a gloomy customer. On the other hand, the second prisoner made out to be a nervy, reckless, happy-go-lucky sort of a fellow. He joked with the Irish lad, and pretended to be utterly indifferent as to his fate.

Still Jack distrusted him and meant to keep an eye on him pretty much all the time, until an opportunity came to hand them over to the authorities.

It was now about midnight. Both boys were tired, but too excited to think of doing much in the way of sleeping. So Jack laid out the balance of the night in watches, and during the six hours remaining he and Jimmie managed to pick up a little rest; though when morning came both of them were feeling, as Josh Purdue would have said, "pretty punk."

They managed to get breakfast, and both of the men were fed after a fashion, although the cautious Jack would take few chances of allowing them to have their hands free.

At eight o'clock the little Tramp put out of the cove, and once more breasted the brawling Mississippi flood that moved ceaselessly southward.

Jack kept near the Tennessee shore for many reasons. He wished to get rid of the two prisoners as soon as he could, and meant to go ashore when he came to the first good-sized town, where he had reason to believe the captured robbers would be properly taken care of, and the recovered valuables placed safely, awaiting the claim of the bank authorities.

On the afternoon of the preceding day they had heard many faint reports as of guns. Jack had looked the matter up, and was inclined to believe that these must be caused by duck hunters in the sloughs around Reelfoot Lake. Occasionally they saw flocks of water fowl on the sand bars; and Jimmie was wild for a chance to secure one for a meal.

"All in good time," laughed Jack, as the other kept asking why he did not try to pot some of the game. "We've got our hands full, as it is, Jimmie. Just wait until we lighten our load, and then you'll find me ready for sport."

Truth to tell, Jack had too great a load on his mind to think of pleasure. Until he had handed the prisoners and the plunder over to the authorities he felt in no humor for fun. Nor might it be a wise thing to have an empty gun along, even for a brief period of time. The ugly way one of the men looked at him every little while kept Jack constantly on the anxious seat; and he feared lest there might be some unpleasant surprise sprung on himself and Jimmie.

But noon came without their having made up their minds what to do.

"We're getting close to Covington," Jack remarked, after a bit, when Jimmie proposed that they have a cold snack. "And perhaps we can lighten ship there. Anyhow, I've about made up my mind to land and find out."

"And perhaps we may be saved all the trouble, Jack, darlint," remarked Jimmie, with one of his quizzical chuckles.

This, of course, caused the skipper to lift his head and look down the river.

"Oh! you mean that that launch is heading for us; is that it, Jimmie?" he asked.

"Here, take the glasses, and ye'll see the glint of brass buttons aboard the same," remarked the crew of the motor boat, holding out the magnifiers as he spoke.

Jack whistled, and then laughed.

"Well," he said, "that's good news you are telling me, Jimmie,—for us, I mean. Nothing could please me better than to be met half way by a posse of police just now. We've got a little surprise in store for them, I guess. But I'll have to go ashore after all, for I don't mean to let that bag go out of my possession without getting a receipt in full for all it holds."

The launch was coming full-tilt for them. Soon it was so close that they could see the several police officers who manned it, although they were apparently trying to keep under cover as much as possible.

Jack kept straight on for the other boat. He even tooted his whistle several times as though in greeting. And presently the larger launch came alongside.

"Looks like the boat all right, boys," observed the man who was in the bow, handling the wheel.

"Yes, and the description hits these two young scamps to a dot!" echoed another, as he laid hold of the Tramp and started to clamber over the side; when he suddenly paused, and stared at something he had discovered in the bottom of the boat. "Hi! what d'ye think?" he cried. "They've got a couple of fellers tied up here, neck and crop. Pirates, all right, you better believe. And here's a bag that's got the loot in it, I wager. Keep 'em covered, will you, till I slip the bracelets on."

"Hold on, if you please, officer!" called a voice, as a gentleman in civilian dress suddenly appeared at the side of the police boat. "I'm afraid there's a little mistake here, after all. We've had a false clew. I know these boys, and they're not the ones we're after."

Jack stared, as well he might.

"Why, hello! Mr. Gregory!" he cried, perhaps with hardly the reverence he ought to show toward a bank president; but the astonishment of seeing the gentleman away down here, so many hundred miles from home, rather disconcerted him.

"Yes, it's no other, Jack," replied the other, smiling. "They wired me that perhaps if I hurried down I might be able to recognize the valuable bonds that were stolen from our bank, in case they turned up. We were told that a boat answering the description of the mysterious one in which the robbers took flight had been sighted on the river; and for two days now we've been watching. But it must have been your little boat they meant."

"Perhaps not, sir," said Jack, quietly. "There was another just like mine, and we have run across it several times. In fact, the two fellows who operated it are lying here right now; and that satchel contains all the stuff they stole from your bank, Mr. Gregory."



CHAPTER XIII.

THE "WIRELESS" IN TOW.

"What's that?" exclaimed Mr. Gregory, hardly able to grasp the astounding news that Jack Stormways so modestly launched at him.

"Why, you see, we camped in a little cove last night," continued the boy; "and as luck would have it, these fellows had entered another one close by. Seems that an accident had happened to their boat, so that, with a hole stove in her bow, they could not go any farther. So they figured on stealing our dandy little Tramp, you know, and leaving us to hold the bag."

The police officers looked at each other and nodded their heads, as if to say they knew a smart young fellow when they saw one.

"Yes, and naturally you objected to such a bold procedure, Jack, and determined to turn the tables on them; was that it?" asked the bank president, smiling broadly, as though he might be the happiest man in the country just then.

"Yes, sir," Jack made answer. "We set a little trap, and they tumbled into it. So we tied them up, as you see, though we tried not to treat the poor chaps too roughly while doing it, and have fed them as well as we could. I found that bag, and we expected to go ashore at Covington to turn the men and the property over to the right authorities. And seeing that it's yours, sir, will you please take it off my hands? I hope it's all there."

While the boats drifted down-stream Mr. Gregory, with trembling hands, opened the bag, and proceeded to hastily look over the papers. There were some thousands of dollars in bank notes tied up in packages; but he hardly gave these any attention, for the bonds represented the solvency of his bank.

"Good!" he presently cried, aloud; "I believe they're here, every one. I'm the happiest man going right now. And, Jack, shake hands with me, my boy. Your father will have cause to feel proud of you when I tell him how you've acquitted yourself."

"Don't forget Jimmie Brannagan, Mr. Gregory," said Jack. "He had as much to do with it as I did. Now, don't you say a single word against that, Jimmie, do you hear? And, Mr. Gregory, since you've got back everything, please go as easy as you can with these fellows. They're hardly more than boys, you see, and perhaps one more chance might be the making of either of them."

"That speaks well for your heart, Jack, although I'm afraid you're mistaken in the matter. But I promise you to get as light a sentence as I can for them. I ought to feel in a forgiving mood, for a terrible load has been taken off my mind this day, thanks to you boys."

"And how about that same reward we do be hearin' talk of, sir?" asked Jimmie.

"Jimmie!" exclaimed Jack, frowning; but Mr. Gregory only laughed.

"He's quite correct, Jack," he said promptly. "Jimmie knows his rights, and isn't afraid to press them. There was a reward offered for the capture of the thieves, and a larger one for the recovery of the stolen property. After you come back from this little excursion I want both of you to drop over and call on me. I'll have something for you worth while. Perhaps it may be an engrossed resolution of thanks from the directors of my bank; and possibly it may be something more."

So, after all, Jack did not set foot ashore at Covington when they arrived opposite the place. The two prisoners had been transferred to the police launch, with something more substantial in place of the cords that Jimmie had wound around their wrists; and after each of the officers had warmly shaken hands with the boys, Mr. Gregory gave them a last grip, when the larger boat was turned in toward the bank.

"Well, that was an adventure worth while!" remarked Jack, as he settled down to look after his engine and hit up a livelier pace; for Memphis was a long ways off, and that had been settled on as their next station.

"I do be having to laugh whin I think of poor Buster," observed Jimmie, with a broad grin on his good-natured countenance.

"Why about the Hippopotamus?" queried the skipper, without looking up.

"What d'ye suppose he will be afther saying now, whin he hears what happened till us again? Didn't ye listen whin he said, 'Oh, splash! nothin' iver happens till the wan of us save Jack and Jimmie!' And by the token it do same to be thrue. We're the broth of boys that git in the ruction ivery toime."

"I wonder if Buster has been overboard again?" mused Jack, smiling at the recollection of the tremendous splash the fat boy had made the time he dropped into the Mississippi, and held on by the trailing rope.

"I do be thinkin' ivery toime a big wave comes along; 'there's Buster takin' wan of his headers again, and makin' the river quake!'" chuckled Jimmie.

So they beguiled the minutes while lunch was being prepared; which, since it was only a cold one, did not take much time. Then they sat and enjoyed themselves, while the Tramp bustled merrily on her way, and the speeding shore panorama interested them constantly, on account of the changes taking place.

Occasionally Jack consulted his maps, in order to find out what the name of some town they were passing might be, and in this way locate their position.

"Will we make it, do yees think?" asked Jimmie, after one of these periods of study on the part of the skipper.

"I think so; I hope so," replied the other. "Because, you see, we ought to pull up there and get ready for a fresh start. So far we've done just elegant work; but there's no telling what trouble is waiting for us below. The river gets bigger all the time, until there are places where you can hardly see across to the low shore on the other side. And those false cut-off channels will give us the time of our lives, maybe."

"Of course, ye ixpect that George will be waitin' for us all the while at Memphis?" remarked Jimmie a little later, as he swept the watery horizon to the south, and the shore line closer by with the fine glasses.

"Well, I suppose so," replied Jack. "That is, if he's managed to pull through without another blowout or breakdown."

"Sure, ye have another guess coming Jack, me bye, and that's no lie," remarked Jimmie, a smile beginning to creep over his wide face.

"Then you've seen something," declared the other. "Here, take hold of this wheel and give me the glasses."

He swept the shore line with a careful scrutiny.

"I see him," he remarked presently. "And it's just as you said, Jimmie; George is in a peck of trouble again with that cranky high-power engine. They've tied up to the shore and have got the red flag flying that was to be our signal of distress. Poor Nick; I can just picture him right now, grunting over all the misfortunes that haunt them, while the rest of us have had so little trouble. I'm afraid he'll waste away to mere skin and bones yet."

The Tramp was soon headed for the spot where they could see their comrades waving their arms wildly as if afraid the second boat in the race might pass them by.

"Same old story?" asked Jack, as he brought alongside and gripped the hands of the forlorn shipwrecked travelers.

"Rotten luck!" groaned Nick, shaking his head dolefully. "I'm pining away, fellows, inch by inch. Why, my clothes are ready to drop off me, I'm getting so like a scarecrow. Mebbe you don't believe me, but it's a fact. And I'm that nervous I keep quivering all the time like a—a——"

"A bowl full of jelly;" burst out Jimmie. "Sure, I do belave ye, Buster. And as Jack and me sail along so cheerful loike, me thoughts often fly till ye, and I fale that only for that stubborn will ye'd have gone and given up long ago."

"What's wrong this time, George?" asked Jack.

"Oh! everything now," replied the disgusted skipper of the Wireless. "No use in my trying to tinker with the job. It will take a practical machinist to overhaul the plagued contraption. I guess you'll have to give us a tow to Memphis, where I can put a man to work getting this engine in some sort of shape."

"All right!" Jack exclaimed. "And the sooner we start the better, if we want to make it before dark. Get a line out, and we'll fasten to this cleat at our stern. Then we can talk as we move along; because Jimmie and myself have got a lovely little fairy story to tell you, to pass away the time."

Nick looked at the others suspiciously.

"Now, what's been coming your way, I'd just like to know?" he grumbled. "Never saw such luck as you have in all my life. 'Tain't fair, that's what. Here I have all the tortures, the scares and the duckings, too, when I've lost my swimming wings; and you fellows gobble everything that comes along in the way of fun."

"Sorry," laughed Jack; "but they will keep piling these things upon us. We have nothing to do with it at all, Buster. Only when it happens, we just have to get out of the hole the best way we can, you know."

"I just bet, now, you've met up with them old bank smashers again. Look at 'em grin would you, George. Ten to one they grabbed the fellers and recovered all that fine boodle we read about! It would be just like Jack's luck!"

"We did that same, thank ye, Buster," said Jimmie, assuming a proud attitude, with a hand thrust into the bosom of his coat, and his chest thrown out.

"They did!" shrieked Buster, falling back. "Do you hear that, George? Ah, me! why was I born under an unlucky star? Get busy now, Jack, and tell us all about it. Next to being a hero myself I like to hear about you doing big things. Reel off the yarn now, and don't you dare hold back a single thrill."

Of course the other boys were deeply interested in what Jack had to tell. They stopped him many times to ask questions, under the belief that he was not going deeply enough into details. But finally the story was told.

Toward four in the afternoon they began to realize that they were drawing near a large and busy city on the eastern shore. Boats could be seen upon the river, and cotton began to be in evidence everywhere.

"This is Memphis, all right," said Jack, as he looked through the glasses at the buildings on the high bank of the river.

"How long will we stay here?" asked Nick, who had some idea on his mind, as the others readily understood from his abstracted manner.

"A day or two," replied Jack. "All depends on how long it will take to have the Wireless engine overhauled thoroughly; and then you know, we have to wait until the other boys drop along. They may get here tomorrow. But what do you ask for, Buster?"

"Why, I was thinking that perhaps I might be able to find a pair at some store here. They would be apt to keep such splendid life saving things, I guess," replied Nick, anxiously.

"A pair of socks?" asked Jack, pretending not to understand.

"Sure, 'tis a pair of oilskin pants he manes," cried Jimmie. "Didn't ye say how the wans he had on filled out wid air the toime he wint overboard. 'Tis ilegant loife presarvers they make whin naded!"

"Oh! quit your kidding, fellows!" said Nick, in disgust. "You know what I've been shy on all this blessed trip. A pair of wings; not angel wings, but canvas ones, to keep a new beginner swimmer from sinking. I tell you I'd never lost all this flesh with worry on this cranky, wobbly boat if I'd known I had those jolly things along. I do hope I'll find them in Memphis."

"You just bet I do," declared George, with a sigh. "Because I've heard nothing else all the journey but your whines about those pesky missing silly wings. Get a whole dozen sets if you can, Pudding, and it'll make you any happier. I'll stand the bill, for the sake of the peace of mind it brings."

"That's just the way he goes on, fellows," said Nick, pretending to look deeply injured, but slyly winking at Jack. "I never can make a peep but what George comes down on me. I'm afraid he's getting dyspepsia. What do you think, why he even began to complain of my cooking."

George made no verbal reply, only pressed both hands across his stomach, and looked forlornly at the skipper and crew of the Tramp, who shouted with laughter.

And in this fashion, with the derelict Wireless bobbing behind, they finally drew up at the wharf in front of the Memphis levee, where a score or two of black roustabouts and loungers flocked around them to look with evident delight upon the two neat little cruisers from the north.



CHAPTER XIV.

SIGNS OF THE SUNNY SOUTH.

"Me for a good juicy beefsteak for supper tonight!" exclaimed Nick, after they had found a boatbuilder's establishment, in the enclosed yard of which they could spend the night, their two crafts safely tied to spiles alongside a little wharf. It had been an understood thing that, as a condition of the race, no participant must be guilty of spending a single night under any but a canvas roof. Thus unless in case of sickness, they must not take shelter in a house of any type.

Consequently each night must be spent either aboard their respective motor boats, or on shore, with the canopy of heaven for a roof.

"Well, for once I'm with you, old chap," grinned George; "and since you're such a good judge of prime steak, I appoint you a committee of one to go forth and forage. But remember that it ought to be an inch thick, and a yard or two long! That's the way I feel right now about it."

"Count us in on that deal, too," remarked Jack, looking toward Jimmie, and receiving a quick affirmative nod. "Duplicate the order. And while you're about it, Buster, bring a couple of quarts of nice white onions along."

"Oh! my, you're just making my mouth water!" cried the deputy, working his jaws in an energetic fashion. "Why, I've been half starved on this trip, up to now, and something desperate's got to be done soon, if you want my folks to recognize me when I get back home."

"All right," said George promptly. "Just you drop that plagued cook book overboard the first chance you get, and take a few lessons from Josh. Then we'll have something that's fit to eat. Just make up your mind that I'm going to stand over you when this royal steak goes into the pan, and see that it's done right."

Accordingly Buster was dispatched to market for the party. He made a fairly decent job of it too; at least they certainly did seem to enjoy the steak and onions amazingly; and George even condescended to admit that, under the lash of his reproaches Nick was improving in his cookery.

"I begin to have hopes of you, Buster," he said, as he lay back after disposing of his fourth helping, unable to accept the last bite offered him by the fat boy, who was himself stranded.

"Thanks. I believe myself I am beginning to pick up some. Seems to me I weigh a pound or so more than an hour ago," grinned Nick, sighing as he contemplated the small remains of their feast, "though I do hate to see things go to waste."

"You may say that," remarked George when Buster made such a remark; "but I don't believe it, judging from the smug way your belt hugs you just now. I rather think you are fond of seeing things go to waist."

So they sat around and joked as the evening advanced. And the night passed without any disturbance; although it was a little odd for them to be so close to a city, and hear the various sounds that floated down to them in their enclosure below the bluff.

With the coming of morning they were up betimes. Breakfast taken care of in a little more elaborate manner than customary, on account of having more time, they considered what they should do waiting for the coming of the Comfort.

George set out to interview the boat builder, and have a mechanic get to work on his engine without delay. Nick on his part declared he had business in town, and would ask for any mail that might be waiting for the party at the general delivery.

They could give a pretty good guess that the fat boy still had the idea of hunting up another set of those swimming bags, which he hoped to fasten to his shoulders in times of need.

He came back when it was toward noon. One look at his despondent face told Jack the stout lad had met with a grievous disappointment.

"Nothing dong, eh, Nick?" he asked.

"A rotten old town, that's what," grumbled the other, as he disgorged what mail he had fetched with him. "Been to every sporting-goods establishment in the whole of bally old Memphis. What d'ye think, most of 'em didn't know what I meant when I asked for swimming wings? They looked like they thought me loony. One place they used to keep 'em; but the man said that the boys along the river learned how to swim when they was kids a year old, and nobody had any use for such silly things; so he dumped the last pair he had in the ash bin. Just think what measly luck! That was only two days ago. See what I missed by your old machine breaking down on us, George. I might have had that bully pair."

"I was thinking," said Jack, with a smile at the forlorn expression on his fat chum's face, "why you didn't depend on that cork life preserver. You couldn't sink, and if you flapped pretty hard I think you could learn to paddle after a bit."

"Oh! do you really think so, Jack?" cried the sad one, his face lighting up with a new hope. "It's awful good of you to crack your brain thinking up such a bully idea for me. And how silly that I never once jumped on that plan. I'm going to try it the very next time our engine kicks up a shindy, and holds us up."

"Well, you've got another think coming then," burst out George. "For this machinist assures me that after he's through with the engine it will run as smooth and regular as—well, that Old Reliable in the Comfort.

"What's the matter wid ours?" burst out Jimmie, his fighting blood up at once. "Sure, we've niver had wan bit of throuble up till now."

"Oh! all right. Consider yourself kicked then, ditto, Jimmie," laughed George.

At three p. m. the Comfort was sighted, sailing along on the current "like a big ship," as Nick declared. The conch shell lured the third crew ashore, and once more the party found itself intact.

Herb and Josh had no thrilling adventure to relate. Their voyage up to date had been a most uneventful one. And how they did listen with wide open eyes when Jack modestly narrated the astounding event that had overtaken himself and the crew of the Tramp since last seeing the others.

"It beats the Dutch," complained Josh, as the story was completed, "how some fellers are lucky. Why, we've got all our lightning rods out, but never a thing happened. We go sailing along like a duck in a mill pond; and it's nothing but cook and stuff with Herb here. I'm sick of the sight of grub, that's what."

"That will do for you," spoke up his skipper. "You know you've begun to feel like a fighting cock, so you said. And Josh, you ate twice as much the last supper we had as I ever knew you to before. I wager that before this trip is over you'll be rid of that feeling of indigestion that's been troubling you so long."

"That's right," declared Jack, cheerfully. "Nothing like a life in the open to tone a chap up, give him a sharp appetite, and make his food agree with him. Why, Josh, the fact is you look a hundred per cent better right now, don't he boys?"'

"Sure he do that," said Jimmie, readily. "Look at the color in his cheeks. And, by the powers, his eye shines like it niver did before. Josh, ye're going to be a well man in a few days more, and kin ate a house widout falin' it, so you kin."

The machinist, under the spur of double pay from the impatient George, made it a one day job. True, he had to stay after dark to finish; but the boys gave him his supper; and before bedtime came he pronounced the engine of the speed boat as in "apple-pie" shape.

So after all they had not lost much time. Indeed, as it would have been out of the question to have started at the hour the Comfort arrived, Jack declared that they had no reason for complaint.

Promptly at eight on the following morning they set out. It was cloudy, and looked as though it might rain before the day was done.

George, anxious to test his rejuvenated engine, shot away at full speed, and as usual they lost him in the distance. Still, Jack had a suspicion that the skipper of the Wireless would not be apt to try for a distance record on this day, as he had done in the past.

They had talked with many negroes and whites while stopping at Memphis. The machinist had taken a keen interest in their race; and tried to give them all the information in his power about the lower Mississippi, between Memphis and Vicksburg. As he was something of a duck hunter he knew considerable about the flooded sloughs skirting the wide river.

He had also hinted about a disturbed condition among the planters. They were having an unusually great amount of trouble with vicious characters, mostly blacks; and several lynching bees had taken place within the preceding fortnight.

George had listened to these stories, and made no remark; but somehow Jack had a little suspicion that from now on the skipper of the speed boat would try to make it convenient to halt sooner, so as to allow the Tramp a chance to overtake them. Company under such conditions was a big part of the enjoyment; and George was, to tell the truth, a trifle timid when it came to trouble from human sources, though reckless in other regards.

Several times during the day Jack took occasion to land on various pleas; so as to have a few words with people they saw gazing at them with open mouths. He even asked questions too, and learned that a reign of terror did actually exist through the country to the south, bordering the big river.

And hence, it caused Jack to smile when just about half-past three he and Jimmie heard the well known signal blast upon a horn, and looking ahead saw Nick standing on a point of land, beckoning wildly.

"Just what I expected," said Jack quietly; but he did not take the pains to explain what he meant to his boatmate.

So the Tramp headed in, to find that there was indeed a creek back of the jutting point, and that the Wireless was snugly moored to the shore there.



CHAPTER XV.

BUSTER TAKES HOPE.

"Hello!" called Jack, as he discovered George standing ashore near his speed boat, waving a hand at him. "What's all this mean? Had another breakdown already, after that dandy job done to your motor?"

"Shucks! No. Engine seems to be working to beat the band. But the fact is, Jack, I'm getting tired of camping with only a cemetery for company. Nick can't think of anything but eating; and those plagued old wings he misplaced somewhere just before we started on this run. So I made up my mind I'd hold up at this fine camping site, and spend a night with you fellows."

"Yes," cried Nick, as he came bustling along, "and you'll be glad we held up, too, when you set eyes on the bully little smoked ham I bought from a coon this afternoon. I told George it was a shame some of the others couldn't be along to enjoy a slice; and do you know, he took me up like a flash, saying he'd been thinking the same thing. So when we ran across this place we drew in."

"What time was that, Nick?" asked Jack, smiling.

"I asked George, and he said half-past one," replied the fat boy, hastening to get out his prize smoked pork and exhibit the same to the admiration of Jimmie.

"That so? Well, you did make fast time of it," remarked the skipper of the Tramp. "No use talking, George, that engine of yours does the trick; if you can only depend on it from now on, the cup is going to be yours for a dead certainty."

"Barring some accident, such as being upset in the big waves from steamboats," remarked Nick, shaking his head dubiously at several recollections that did not seem to give him much happiness. "My! you don't know just how we wallow, and nearly flop over on our beam ends at such times. I think I lose six ounces of flesh every narrow escape we have from swamping; and I keep wishing I had——"

"Stop right there!" shouted George. "Didn't I say I'd jump you if you ever gave another peep about those blessed things. Use the wings nature gave you the right way, and you'll swim like a goose. Why, you just couldn't go under. You'd be like an empty bottle with a cork in the neck, floating around."

Jack and Jimmie were laughing heartily at this little passage between the nervous skipper of the speed boat and his plump crew. But Nick made no answer, only looked reproachfully at George, as though wondering to what lengths his ingratitude would take him.

A short time later the others were astonished to see Nick come forth from the interior of the Wireless, upon which the tent had been erected, disrobed, but still wearing the cork life preserver about his body.

The air was none too warm, for it was now about the start of November; but evidently Nick had made up his mind to put into practice the idea Jack had advanced, and over which he had evidently been brooding the live-long day.

He stepped into the water, drew his foot up as if its coldness chilled him; then with a firm look on his fat face, pushed on until he was waist deep. Then he turned an appealing look toward Jack, which the other could not find it in his heart to resist.

"All right, Buster," he called out, waving his hand encouragingly. "Just wait five minutes, and I'll be with you. Perhaps a little ducking may be a good tonic, and make us enjoy that fine home-smoked ham you grabbed."

Jimmie was ready to follow suit, but George declared he did not feel any too warm as it was, and for one, hardly cared to take a bath. So he busied himself in getting various things ready against supper time.

Jack was an obliging fellow at all times. He realized that this notion of learning how to swim had become the one dominant idea in the obstinate mind of the fat boy; and that the sooner he started to take lessons the quicker they would have peace.

Besides, now that the motor boat boys had organized a regular club, and expected to take numerous excursions on the water, it was only right that every member of the organization should know how to save himself in case of a spill.

And so he willingly started to show Nick how easy it was to float in the still waters of the lagoon; also what little effort it required to kick his feet and swing his arms in a way to make forward progress.

George occasionally stepped to the bank to watch operations, and call out various things, sometimes sarcastic and again complimentary.

"Bully boy!" he yelled after seeing Nick actually keep himself afloat a whole minute amid the greatest splashing ever known. "You're getting it down fine, old chap! Keep going next time. Never mind if you use up all the water in the lagoon. Plenty more in the river, you know!"

Nick felt much encouraged, and that was half the battle.

"I'm going to keep at it every chance I get, till I've mastered all the kinks," he declared enthusiastically a short time later, as he came out and began to rub himself industriously with a towel. "Yes, siree, before this cruise is over I'll know how to swim even if I did lose them——"

"Beware!" thundered George. "It's as much as your life is worth to breathe that name again. From this time on you talk about cork aids to swimming. And I reckon that I'm just going to be pestered to death after this with whines, because I won't stop the boat every few miles to let this elephant disport himself in the water. Next trip we take, my man, it's you to the Comfort, hear?"

"Oh! I'd made up my mind to that long ago," replied Nick, coolly; "that is, if Herb will take me, and Josh wants to try balancing himself on an apple seed. Somehow I just don't seem to fit aboard a speed boat. I need elbow room."

The night coming on, they started supper. Of course, it was to be cooked ashore, for even the ardent lover of the narrow-beam boat admitted that cooking was a most serious problem aboard such a cranky craft, and he would be only too glad to make use of the camp fire that had been kindled.

Jimmie and Nick busied themselves, as they were supposed to be the cooks of the two racing craft; but the others were not averse to lending a hand at times. In this manner then, the meal was made ready; and had a hungry wanderer come within fifty yards of that spot just then he must have sniffed the fragrant odors of frying ham and boiling Java coffee until he would be almost distracted.

The four lads sat around the fire while eating, and laughed as they spoke of the many things connected with the cruise thus far.

"Wish the others could only happen along just now," remarked Jack.

"That would be nice," admitted George.

"Why, yes," came from Nick, always thinking of his pet subject; "it wouldn't be very much trouble to cut a couple more slices off that ham, and slap it in the frying pan. Kind of wish now, myself, I'd cooked a teenty bit more. Just feel as if a few more mouthfuls would finish me."

The others looked at each other and roared; for certainly Nick had devoured as much as any two of them; and seeing that Jimmie was a good feeder that was surely "going some," as George put it.

It felt so "comfy," Nick remarked, sitting there by the fire, that none of them seemed very anxious to go aboard and seek their beds. The sky was still clouded over, and the moon, now in its first quarter, hidden from view; which prospect of rain kept them from thinking of passing the night ashore, as they might have done had the heavens been clear.

Finally, however, Nick himself began to yawn in a manner that told how heavy his eyes were getting in the heat of the fire.

"I just hate to crawl in there, fellows," he grunted, as he slowly arose to his knees, for it was always an effort for the fat boy to get up, after sitting. "Makes me feel just like I'm in a coffin, to lie in such narrow quarters. Why, I tell you, the skin's clean off my hips and shoulders with rubbing against the sides of the boat. I'm going to be a physical wreck yet, that's what."

"Well, if you get used to it now, you needn't worry when the time comes to leave this old world," was all the satisfaction George gave him.

Jack lay there smiling, as he watched the fat boy heave, and finally plant one foot on the ground preparatory to getting up. He was never tired studying Nick, for he had an idea the other was not altogether so stupid as he seemed; but that he carried on at times just to tease George.

And as Jack continued to watch, he saw Nick give a sudden start, while his hands shut in a nervous way. At the time he was apparently looking beyond the fire, and toward the neighboring woods; for they were camping in what seemed to be a lonely place, possibly miles from any human habitation.

Apparently Nick had seen something, or he would not have given that start. Jack immediately sat up and took notice.

"What's the matter, Buster?" as asked, quickly; and both the others, hearing what he said, also started up.

The fat boy turned his head around. Signs of great excitement could be seen in the working of his facial muscles, as well as in his staring eyes.

"Good gracious!" he exclaimed, "it's a bear, fellows, as sure as you live!"

"What?" ejaculated Jack, as he made a dive for the Marlin, which he had, of course, taken ashore with him; while George also looked hastily around to see where he had laid his rifle.

"Where did you see it?" demanded Jack, gaining his feet.

"It's right inside that big live oak yonder!" cried Nick, pointing a trembling finger as he spoke. "It must be hollow, because I saw the beast poke his old head out. He ducked back again like fun when he saw me looking. A bear, fellows! Just think how many steaks he'd give us, if we bagged him!"



CHAPTER XVI.

ERASTUS, THE HOUSEBURNER.

"Hold on, George," said Jack, as he saw the impetuous one start toward the big tree that had such a profusion of low branches that it was hard to see distinctly under its canopy. "Go slow now. A bear may turn out to be a dangerous article if you only wound him."

"But we ought to get him!" declared the other, handling his repeating rifle eagerly.

"That's right," cried Nick, from the rear, where he had picked up a billet of wood and was making several vigorous passes through the air, as if getting his muscles in trim for the combat. "It would be a shame to lose the opportunity for unlimited bear steaks. I've always wanted to taste one; and you know we may not get another such chance. Why, he just wants to get in our frying pan; that's why he's come so close to our fire, fellows."

"Keep still," ordered Jack; and when he spoke in that way Nick knew better than to disobey.

The fact of the matter was, Jack had a strong suspicion that while the fat boy may have seen something at the time he did, it could hardly have been a bear. He did not believe such a wary animal would have remained so long close to where a bunch of noisy boys had camped. And if he had been sleeping in the hollow of that big live oak he must have been scared away long since.

"Jimmie, throw a lot of fine stuff on the fire," said Jack. "We want more light here. That's the ticket," as the flames shot up, and the whole vicinity was illuminated. "Now, George, you keep close to me, and we'll advance until we can see if there's anything doing."

Jimmie snatched up a burning brand from the fire, and waving this above his head, he kept behind the two who had guns.

"That's a clever stunt, Jimmie," remarked Jack; and the others noticed that his voice did not seem to tremble a single bit, so well did he have his nerves under control right then.

"Guess it's all a fizzle," grunted George presently. "I can see behind the tree, and there's no bear there. Buster, you're a fraud."

"No, no, I'm dead sure I saw something that looked like a bear's head," said the other, vehemently. "Perhaps he's hiding inside the tree, fellows?"

At that George laughed harshly. He was still trembling from excitement.

"Well," he observed, "there's is a hollow in the tree all right; but the opening ain't over a foot across; and it would have to be a mighty thin bear that could push in or out of that."

"Wait," said Jack, quietly. "There may be a way to prove whether Buster has been fooled, or if he did see something."

He took the torch from Jimmie, and immediately pushed right on under the drooping limbs of the wide spreading oak.

"Oh! he's going to look for the tracks!" cried Nick, still hugging the neighborhood of the fire. "That's a bright idea, Jack. You're the swift thing, all right. But take care he don't jump out on you. I thought I saw something move right then. And if we don't get them bear steaks I'm going to be mighty sorry, that's what."

Jack paid no attention to what the other said. Already he was stooping down, and examining the earth, as he held the blazing torch close.

"Any bear sign?" asked George, who stood guard over him, rifle in hand, and dividing his attention between what Jack was doing and the surrounding gloomy woods.

"Not a bit," came back the ready answer; "and as I've seen the tracks of a bear more than once I think I'd know such a thing."

"Told you so," declared George, in a disgusted voice. "Another one of Buster's false alarms. That's the way he's been doing all along; seeing snags ahead when there wasn't one, and making me check up in a hurry, and that was hard on my engine."

"Go slow," observed the boy who was on his knees. "I said there wasn't any bear tracks, didn't I? But that doesn't mean Buster didn't see something."

"Goodness gracious! it wasn't a panther, was it?" gasped George.

"Oh! no, only a man," replied the other. "Look here, and you'll see the plain print of his foot and toes in the dirt; and an unusually big foot, too."

"Barefooted!" exclaimed George, bending eagerly over.

"That's so; but haven't we seen scores of negroes barefooted all along?" Jack said, positively.

"Then it was a coon. Say, why did he run away, then? Jack, you remember all they told us above about the troubles down here in the region around Coahoma county? Don't you believe that this fellow may have been a desperate negro, hunted by the Regulators, who want to string him up?"

Jack pretended to laugh, though George detected a vein of uneasiness in his comrade's manner.

"Oh! well," he went on, "I hardly think it's quite as bad as that, George. But still, he certainly did run away when he found he had been seen; and that looks bad."

"But what d'ye think brought him here in the first place?" George pursued.

"Huh!" grunted Nick, breathing in, "that ought to be easy to guess. Picture yourself hungry as all get-out, and wandering through these woods, when you suddenly get a sniff of the most delicious odors in the wide world. Wouldn't you make a bee line for that grub factory, and see if you couldn't sneak a share off? Huh! some people don't ever seem to understand the common failing of human nature."

"Is that it, Jack?" asked George.

"I think Buster hit the nail on the head that time," returned the other. "This man must have been drawn by the smell of our cooking. He's been watching us from behind this tree. Then when he saw that he had been discovered he got cold feet, and vamoosed."

"Then we'd better keep watch and watch tonight," said George.

"I meant to suggest that idea anyway," Jack answered.

"Gee! I feel sorry for that poor wretch!" Nick remarked. "Just think of having a chance to smell all the nice odors and get nothing. It's a shame, that's what!"

George laughed derisively.

"Listen to him, would you?" he cried. "He's so fond of stuffing himself, that he feels for a poor skunk that didn't know enough to keep out of trouble."

"Shame on you, George," Jack burst out with. "I think it does Buster credit. And I'm going to tie that half loaf of bread to the tree here, so if our timid black friend comes back, he can get something to keep him from starving."

"Better go slow," remarked George. "You may get in a peck of trouble that way, if this fellow happens to be that Erastus we heard about, who burned the house up in Tunica county here, and is being hunted far and near. Dangerous business, Jack."

"We don't know anything about it, only that there may be a poor chap nearly starved nearby. What do you say, Jimmie? I'd like to feel that I have backing enough," and Jack turned toward the Irish lad.

"Pshaw! no use asking him," snorted George. "Jimmie would give away the coat on his back, or his last copper. Make it unanimous, then, if you want, Jack," for already the impetuous skipper of the Wireless was growing sorry because of his stand.

And so Jack did fasten the partly eaten loaf of bread to the tree in such a fashion that it could readily be seen should a hungry man come prowling around again during the night.

Then they went to the boats and sought rest, Jack dividing the night into two hour watches, during which one of the boys would be on guard.

But nothing came to pass that was out of the way during the period lasting up to the arrival of dawn. It did not even rain, for the clouds passed off, and the sun rose as if in for a good day.

Jack upon arising walked to the tree.

"Looks like it's gone!" called out Nick, who was poking his head out from the curtains of the boat tent. "Hope some wildcat didn't hook it, though."

"No fear of that," laughed Jack, "for bobcats don't leave a polite note of thanks behind when they steal a supper. Look here what I found, stuck to the bark of the tree with a splinter of wood."

He had a very much soiled scrap of paper, upon which someone had scrawled a few crooked lines. With considerable patience Jack finally read these words:

"Neber burnd no hows. My cozin Peck he doned it suah. But dey hangs a culld mans fust down disaways an den tries him fo de crim. Is innersent, I swars hit. I gotter de bred. I et it, case I mity ni starve. But I's innersent. Rastus."

"Well, what d'ye think of that?" shouted George, who had also appeared, fully dressed by now. "Better keep that letter of thanks, Jack. We'll have it framed, and hung in our clubhouse some day."

The others soon appeared, and preparations went on for breakfast, the fire being revived for the occasion.

Nick kept his eyes on the alert during the entire progress of the meal. Perhaps he was thinking of the poor, wretched fellow who was being hunted like a wild animal, and who knew not where his next meal might come from.

They had just about finished, with considerable to spare in the frying pan, when Jack held up his hand suddenly, exclaiming:

"Listen, fellows!"

But the sound was so close by that every one of them had heard it as distinctly as Jack himself; for the baying of a pack of hounds had been carried on the wings of the early morning wind from a point just to the north.



CHAPTER XVII.

THE SHERIFF'S POSSE.

The sound undoubtedly gave each member of the quartette a strange thrill. It was one thing to simply hear the bark of an honest watch dog belonging to some farm in the country; and another to listen to those significant baying sounds which surely meant that the sheriff and his posse of man-hunters must be on the trail of some wretch, perhaps the same Erastus whom they had fed on the preceding night.

"Great governor! they're going to pay us a visit!" exclaimed Nick, jumping up.

"All right," remarked Jack, composedly. "I don't see any reason for being bothered by that. Let 'em come. For one, I'll rather enjoy seeing a Southern lynching bunch. I've read about 'em lots of times. And we've sure done nothing to make 'em want to swing us up. If there ain't too many, perhaps we can let 'em have some good coffee and a bite of fried ham."

"But—Erastus——," began George.

"We're not supposed to know a blessed thing about the fellow they accuse of burning a house," said Jack, sternly. "Just act as if you knew nothing—I mean you, Buster, for if anybody gives the secret away, it will be you. Mum's the word, now. There, you can tell from that they're heading down the river bank, and will be here right soon."

Jimmie started to brew a new pot of coffee immediately, taking his cue from Jack's suggestion. Jimmie had great faith in the soothing effect of a cup of that same prime Java, and believed that their expected visitors would feel better disposed toward them if offered the olive branch.

Presently there was a great stir close by, short barks from a couple of dogs, and the gruff voices of several men. Then through the low-hanging foliage the posse broke upon the boys' vision.

There were just three men, one of whom was a sheriff, if the star on his coat denoted anything. He was a fierce looking-fellow, yet with a twinkle in his eye as he sniffed the delightful aroma of the coffee.

"Why, it's a passel o' boyees jest," he declared, as though somewhat surprised and disappointed because he had been hoping to come upon some fugitives who were being rounded up. "And look at the boats, will ye, fellers? Some tone to them craft, hey? Howd'ye, boyees! Room thar alongside yer fire fur three tired and mighty thirsty and hungry coon hunters?"

"Sure," replied Jack, pleasantly. "We heard your dogs, and guessed who you must be; for they told us up above that the sheriff was hunting with dogs down this way. So we put on a new pot of coffee, sheriff; and there's enough of this ham left to give you all a few bites, I guess."

At that the sheriff thrust out a long, brown and sinewy hand.

"That's white of ye, my lad," he said. "We appreciate such neighborly kindness, don't we, men?" and he turned to his companions, both of whom were lean looking, dark-faced fellows, heavily armed, and each holding one of the hounds by a strong leather leash.

"Yuh bet we does, Sheriff. I'm nigh tuckered out with hunger. And thet thar coffee, my! but she do smell orful fine," with which remark he proceeded to fasten the end of the leather thong to a sapling close by.

Jack noticed immediately that both dogs seemed uneasy. They would sniff the air and whine and pull at their collars, always in the direction of the big live oak. He really believed that they had caught the scent of the negro, who had been close by during the night. But the men were not smart enough to understand this, and imagined that the animals were only acting strangely because they scented something to eat.

"I hope they don't get a chance to wander over to that tree," was what Jack had passing through his mind about that time. "Because if they do they'll soon give tongue, and the men will know they've struck a fresh trail."