Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 420 — page 11: what you’re looking at

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

— = which would speedily be spread over the coun- of course reaching her mother in their ’ . *. pleasant Louisiana home. wr The list of the saved would be published, and ii in that list would be neither her name nor Gerald’s, though it was known down yonder | that they had taken passage on the Rowena. It was sad to imagine the anguish of her mother at the receipt of this intelligence, with no news from the dear ones to assure her that even one of them had been saved, and this thought troubled Eva far more than her own | cheerless and still perilous condition. Therefore it was almost with a feeling of joy | that she welcomed Mark Hannafin’s proposal that they should endeavor to cross the remain- ing stretch of water and reach the shore. , As it had proved to be impossible to get away on the rescuing steamboat, the next best thing would be to find some town or settlement from which she could send news of her safety to her mother. While Mark was looking for the shoalest water | and the best chance to make the crossing, a dis- covery was made that promised to be of imme- diate benefit to the little party. A few people bad just come to the shore, hav- ing doubtless been attracted by the smoke and | fire of the burning steamer, and some of them were preparing to launch a skiff. They hailed the three on the sandbar, and promised to bring them off directly. ‘*That is better luck than I had hoped for,” : said Hannafin, ‘‘and now it won’t be long be- | fore we get into comfortable quarters.” | One man got into the skiff as soon as it was : launched, and pulled across to the sandbar. ) As’ be turned to get out of the skiff when it landed there, he was at once recognized by | Hannafin, | | ‘‘ Hello, Bob Shropshire!” he joyfully ex- claimed. ‘I don’t know any man | would be | better pleased to see here than you.” | Bob Shropshire was a tall and brawny young man, dark teataved and rougbly clad, and with | the look of a person whom ove would not care to meet alone on a dark night; but his presence | there with a skiff could not be considered other- wise than as a blessing to the party on the sand- ar. ‘Is it really you, Mr. Hannafin?” he answer- ed. ‘* You’re about the last man I'd ha’ thort o’ strikin' hyar. Was you aboard o’ that boat?” ‘“‘Of course I was, and so were my friends here.” ‘*You're all durned lucky to git away alive, I should say. We-uns smelt the smoke and saw the light, and we heard that a steamboat was burnin’ up byar, and so we hurried down to see what we could do; but none of us had the faint- est notion o’ findin’ you in this scrape. Do you | reckon there’s a chance to pick up anybody else?” | ‘* Not the least chance, Bob. Thestern-wheel- er up yonder took aboard all that could be got hold of, and the rest are long since past saving. ‘ Any goods or anythin’ floatin’ about?” ‘No, indeed. The fire has got them all. If | your skiff will carry us, Bob, we will get in and | let you take us across.” | ‘The skiff ll kerry you well enough. Help the lady in, and one o’ you sit forrud.” ‘ The three passengers took their places care- fully, and in a few moments brawny Bob Shrop- | shire had ferried them safely to the shore, where they climbed the bank, and Bob and his friends hauled the skiff up after them. Two other Shropshires were there, an old man | and a young one, and besides these there were hi two boys and a girl, rustics of the backwoods type, who stared stupidly at the strangers, and | had not.a word to say. ‘Tf I remember right, Bob,” said Hannafin, .| ‘‘it must be as much as a mile from here to “your place. How can we goout there? Is there | any way to get a team to carry us?” “One of us mought go up to the house and git a team, or a hoss for the lady, anyhow.” ‘Ts it worth while to take so much trouble and waste so much time?” inquired Eva, “ For my part, I feel able to walk a mile or so, and that will be better than waiting here.” After a little discussion it was agreed that the attempt should be made, and the three cast- aways with the three Shropshires set out to walk through the woods. _ The tramp was an unpleasant one, to say the least of it, especially for the young lady, whose wet clothing made walking very disagreeable for her: but it was not as bad as it might have n, as the forest trees gave a grateful shade, and the road taken by the party was little traveled and therefore not at all dusty. So Eva trudged along heroically, her com- panions halting now ann then to allow her to rest, and at about the middle of the afternoon they reached the abode of the Shropshires. This was a long and low log house, one of the double variety—that is to say, it consisted of two similar houses, the wide space between them beifig roofed and floored, so as to form an open ball. There was no fencing about the house, and but little appearance of cultivation or any sort of farm work in sight. In fact, the house wore a slouchy and uncared- -- ae — —— -—__ ——_ ee = eee place, and the present occupants had no interest in their surroundings. CHAPTER XII. THE NERVE ‘‘ DOWN YONDER.” TALCOTT’s LANDING was not so called because it was in any sense a town, as it was merely a landing, the only bui'dings in sight, besides those connected with the Talcott mansion, be- ing a cotton press anda general store near the river-bank. It was located in a big bend of the Mississippi, with a large island in front of it, and on all | sides but one a fertile and well-cultivated plan- | tation. | The Talcott mansion was a conspicuous ob- | ject from the river, and was generally admired, | not because it was a magnificent structure, but | because it was large, roomy and otherwise at- | tractive, having the appearance of a dwelling exactly suited to the country and the climate. It was, indeed, quite too large for the needs of Mrs. Talcott and her two children, especially as ' one of them had been absent from home during the greater part of three years, and the other was then away on a trip that combined business with pleasure. When they were both at home, however, the big house was usually filled with guests, and there was a jolly time on the Talcott planta- tion. Mrs. Talcott had been a widow with two children when she marricd Colonel Talcott, a very wealthy but somewhat ancient widower with no children, and the match was not gener- ally approved of by the old and aristocratic | families of the neighborhood, to whom the new Mrs. Talcott was a ncbody whom theold gentle- man, as they said, picked up somewhere at the north. Yet it had been in every respect and to all concerned a most happy marriage, and Mrs, ‘Talcott, gentie, ladylike, and fully equal to her position, had soon succeeded in becoming a gen- eral favorite, even among those who envied her. Colonel Talcott had not only been very fond of Ins wife, but had loved her children as if they were his own, his affection for them being such that he had caused them to take his name, and by his will had given them all his property, | reserving the use of the house and a sufficient income for Mrs. Talcott during her life. One of the closest friends of Mrs. Talcott, if not the very closest, was Colonel Bastrop, a planter living near by, who was a widower with one grown son. It was supposed by some that he aspired to the hand of the widow; but it became fully and fairly known that she was decidedly opposed to this idea of taking a third husband, and Colonel Bastrop abandoned his aspirations, if he had any, in favor of his son wrence, who was known to be infatuated with Eva Talcott. So Mrs. Talcott, at the time we meet her, was a well-preserved and still handsome matron, who wanted nothing in the world but to see her children safe at home. It was uneasiness concerning them that caused her to be seated on the veranda, overlooking the river, anxiously watching Colonel Bastrop and his son as they rode up to the house. Aside from any such personal feeling, they were both weil worth looking at, the father be- ing a fine-looking man of middle age, and Law- rerpce a handsome young fellow of twenty-three. ‘** Any news yet, colonel?” she asked as they came up on the veranda after hitching their horses, ‘**T have brought none, my dear Mrs. Talcott. Lawrence and I rode over to ask if received any, and to wait for the packet, which surely ought to bring some tid- ings of the absent ones. I am glad to see you looking so well, bhouge there isa cloud upon your face which I would willingly banish.” ‘*T try to. banish it, Colonel trop, but all my efforts are in vain. I must confess that I am becoming very uneasy about my children.’ ‘Would that there were no cause for your un- easiness; but I am afraid that there is, as the same feeling afflicts me. Is it certain that they left Louisville on the Rowena?” ‘* There can searcely be adoubtof that. They both wrote that they had engaged their pas- sage on that boat, and if they had changed their minds they would have written again. Is it possible that the Rowena has gone down the river?” ‘With those two on board, and without landing here? Quite impossible, my dear lady. Besides, there has been a good watch kept on the river, and at the present stage of water no boats go on the other side of the island. No, madam, it is safe to say that the Rowena hus not passed Talcott’s Landing.” ‘* But she is surely due here.” __ ‘*T am sorry to say that she is more than cue. According to the best information I can get, she should have been here, at the very latest, two Gaye ago.” wrence Bastron undertook to say that steamboats from up the river were often deluged and taking on freight, by grounding and by various other contingencies that must be allowed for; but his well-meant ef- rou have icksburg ; by dischargin 0 The Old River Sport. LLL LLL LL A — 11 j for look, as if it were but a temporary abiding- | forts did not tend to restore the confidence of the older people. The delay had already been too great to be accounted for by the necessities of business, and the river was at too good a stage to admit the supposition of grounding. ‘*T am afraid that there has been a disaster,” said Mrs. Talcott in a suppressed tone. ‘Is the Rowena regarded as a safe boat?” ‘* As safe as any,” answered Colonel Bastrop, ‘* She is one of the best on the river.” A steamboat whistle sounded, and Mrs. Tal- cott started, her painful excitement driving the blood from her face. ‘‘Calm yourself, my dear lady,” entreated her old friend. ‘* You may need all your forti- tude. That whistle sounded from down the river, and it must be the packet that is coming ge Directly there came pufling into the bend from below a boat wick was at once recog- nized as the Vicksburg packet. ‘‘T will go down to the landing, Mrs. Tal- cott,” said Colonel Bastrop, ‘‘ and we will soon get the news if there is any to be had.” ‘* Better let me run down there, father,” in- sisted Lawrence. ‘*I am lighter on the heels than you are. Stay here and comfort Mrs. Tal- cott; and I will bring up what letters and pack- ages there are as soon as possible.” ‘* Be sure to get a paper from the boat,” or- dered his father, and pt salle hastened away. The packet shoved her nose in at the bank, transacted her business at the little landing, and speedily steamed away. and shortly Law- rence Bastrep came back to the house at his fastest walk. ‘*Here are a couple of letters for you, fa- ther,” said he; ‘‘ but they must be business let- ters; and here is one for Mrs. Talcott, which seems to be in the same category, and that is all there was for any of us.” | ‘Did you get a paper?’ demanded Colonel Bastrop. ‘* Yes, sir, I got the Vicksburg Herald. I will lock it over immediately. Perhaps it will have some news that will interest us.” Colonel Bastrop began to open his letters a little nervously, at Lawrence proceeded to clance at the paper, anxiously watched by Mrs. ‘Talcott. Hardly had he opened the sheet when there came such a sudden and startling change over his face as drew’a sharp cry from Mrs. Talcott; and compelled Colonel Bastrop to look up in alarm. ‘‘ What is the matter, my son?’ demanded the old renileman. Lawrence was not able to answer immediate- ly, and when he did speak his voice was feeble and t roken. “This is terrible,” he said, ‘*‘ Mrs. Talcott;. you must try to control yourself.” ‘* What has happened?” ‘‘The worst, I am afraid. The Rowena has been cestroyed by fire, and the loss of life was frightful. Ihave not yet read the account; but the headlines tell the story.” ‘* But some were saved, Lawrence,” insisted his father. ‘‘ Yes, sir. Here is alist of the saved, as far as they are known, and the names we want to find are not there.” ‘** Is there a list of the lost?” ‘Only asmallone. You know how that is. A few names, and those cf our friends are not among them.” Of course it was so, and it could not be other- wise. Just as it Always is when a river steamer is destroyed by fire or explosion—the pa list burned with the boat or sunk in the safe, the clerk among the lost, and no way of getting at the names of the missing, except through the re- collections of the saved, who necessarily know little about their fellow passengers. So the news came to many homes, arriving — late and in an unlooked for manner, giving as- surance only of a calamity that could not be measured, Scarcely any knowledge but that of those who were sure that their loved ones had been on board the ill fated boat, and among such unfor- tunates Mrs. Talcott was to be reckened. She had borne the disclosure bravely up to the words last uttered by Lawrence Bastrop, show- ing only a white face full of horror and despair; but then the strain became too great for her, and she fainted. The servants were hastily called, and while they were attending to their stricken mistress — paper account of the Rowena disaster. There was little to add to the information he had already given, except the location of the ca- lamity, and the fact that all the passengers” who were known to be saved had been taken to Mem- phis on the rescuing steamer. ; When Mrs. Talcott had recovered from her swoon, her friends spoke of action at once, be- lieving that to be better calculated to comfort her than any mere verbal sympathy. ‘‘Do you suppose it is possible that either of my children can have escaped?” she asked. ‘There is at least a chance of the safety of both of them,” answered Colonel Bastrop. ‘‘ Ger- ald isa strong and active young man, and we LL (E(@) 00 (E ‘S Lawrence Bastrop read to his father the news- ‘. SS eee , —