Adventure Magazine Cover, June 20, 1925 — page 87: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

| Flood 69 board. A supply of dry firewood, the axes, rope, chain and fragments of the wagon- bed were likewise put on the barge. A quantity of long, straight poles, and rude paddles hewed from split green boards were placed on top of the other equipment ready to hand. Bain saw to everything. “Those gunwales ought to be strength- ened and stiffened, but we ain’t got the nails,” he mused. ‘‘They’re rotten as punk.” The negroes, glad of any release from that mound of tribulation, were piling into the quaking, high-riding hull. “Not so fast there!”’ barked Bain. ‘Some of you’ll put a foot through the bottom. Take your time and be careful.” He saw the last man—Channy—safe aboard. After a searching look to see that all of their slender store of equipment was loaded, the manager carefully straddled the forward gunwale and stepped aboard. “Shove off, Channy.” They were afloat at last! From the Mound they abandoned, to the nearest land which stood above water, it was seven and a half miles. Following the lonly route which would be possible for their craft, their voyage could not be less than twice this distance. Using the care abso- lutely necessary to safety and propelled by their crude paddles, they could not hope to reach the plantation before afternoon of the following day, if all went well. All did not go well. They traversed Dupree Lake, tied up for the night and were not far from the dummy line the morning of the second day of the voyage, when disaster came upon them with one stroke of an ax. For days now, and greatly augmented since the party had embarked, the strain on Bain’s nerves had been intense. Knowing the weaknesses of their craft as none of them did, he watched every movement of every man, saw that floating logs were avoided and limbs and tree trunks passed at a safe distance. He assigned positions in the barge to each man. The older and more careful negroes were placed where the planking of the gun- wale and bottom was rottenest. Bain him- self stood amidship on the starboard side. The gunwale at this point was little better than punk, and he knew that the least lick on it there would precipitate disaster. It was near noon on the second day of their voyage when their fragile ark glided out into the open waters of Pecan Bayou. “Mistuh Bain, hits a-runnin’!’’ yelled Channy excitedly. Instinctively the eight men who were paddling—four to the side—held their stroke. The high-riding light shell imme- diately felt the impulse of the live water. “Paddle on your side, Willie!’ Bain warned sharply. ‘‘Back water, Anderson— all on this side back hard!” Before the dangerous momentum given by the unexpected current could be counter-. acted by the paddles, the barge spun -half around, and darted like a sentient thing for the bushy top of a submerged water elm. The springy limbs ensnared the drifting boat. In half a second it lay at rest in the tree top. No holes were punched in the hull, so far as they could see. oe ‘Don’t move,” called Bain to the fright- ened negroes. “If you start rushing around we’re sunk.” He crept forward carefully through the limbs, knife in hand, lopping off the smaller branches as he moved. “We is ridin’ on a even keel, anyhow,” said Channy thankfully. Bain completed his rapid survey. “We can get off, all right, but we’ll have’ to work like walking on eggs. These limbs are stiff enough to hold us, but they ain’t any good to stand on.” “Want us to be cuttin’ dese limbs, Cap,” asked the scar:faced negro respectfully. - “Go to it,” answered Bain. : If he hesitated to place an ax in the man’s hands, the fact that he had no gun would be apparent. The manager himself handed the desperado an ax, treating him precisely as he did the others. “Careful!’’ he cautioned. in the side, ’s to pay.” “Boss,” suddenly asked Robert, “‘is dis. up-stream or down-stream from dem flat cars loaded wid logs?” ‘“Up-stream—about two hundred yards.” ‘Dats luck, sho, ain’t it, Mistuh Bain?” “Yeah. If we get loose we can shove out into this current and go right down. If we, have to swim it'll be easy to make, if we don’t freeze.”’ ‘ “If we gits to there, we is all right,” vol- unteered Willie Thompson cheerfully. - “De water over de railroad bed won’t be overly deep. Us kin wade out if we gits to dem flat cars.” “If you stave COMIGDIOOKSEEO