although i was abundantly able to take care of myself in the water, and even to do a little more than that, i was really afraid to approach sim gwynn, he struggled so violently. i was satisfied, if i did so, that he would swamp me as well as himself. we were both floating down the stream with the current, and all the chances seemed to be against us.
sim had struggled till his strength was in a measure wasted. i saw that he was going down again, and though i feared it would cost me my own life, i decided to grapple with him. a couple of strokes with my arms brought me to him, and i seized him by the collar. the moment he was conscious of the presence of something near him, he began to struggle more violently than ever. he [144]threw his arms tight around my body, and hugged me in what i thought would be the death-gripe.
vainly i tried to shake him off. the more i labored, the closer he clung to me, as if fearful that i should escape his grasp. i believed that my last moment had come. i gave myself up in despair, and thought of flora—what would become of her. i asked god to forgive all my sins—which seemed like a mountain to me in that awful moment.
i rested but an instant while these thoughts rushed through my brain. i felt myself going down. it was useless to do so, i felt; but i could not help making one more struggle for the boon of life. it would have been useless if a kind providence had not come to my aid, for my strength was nearly exhausted, and i was utterly inadequate to the task of bearing up the heavy burden of my companion.
my head struck against a log, one end of which had grounded on the shore, while the other projected out over the deep water of the stream. i clutched it, threw my arms around it, and hugged it as though it was the dearest friend on earth. i threw myself across it, so as to bring sim's head out of the water, [145]and waited to recover my wasted breath. our united weight on the end of the log detached it from the shore, and we were again floating down the stream. i clung to my support; and such a sweet rest as that was i had never before known. the life seemed to come back to me, and every breath of air i drew in was a fountain of strength to my frame.
still sim clung to me, and appeared not to know that there was anything else to sustain him. as my powers came back to me, i drew myself farther up on the log, and tried to release my body from the gripe of my senseless companion.
"sim!" i shouted.
he did not answer me. was he dead? i trembled at the thought.
"sim!" i cried again, louder than before.
"ugh!" said he, with a shudder that thrilled my frame.
he was not dead, or even wholly unconscious. with one arm hugging the log, i tried with the other to release myself from his bearish gripe.
"let go of me, sim!" i screamed to him.[146]
but he would not, or could not. after a desperate effort, i succeeded in throwing one of my legs over the log; and, thus supported, i found myself better able to work efficiently. with a mighty struggle, i shook him off, and he would have gone to the bottom if i had not seized his hand as he threw it up. i placed his arm on the log, and he grappled with it as though it had been a monster threatening his destruction.
after pausing a moment to rest, i pulled him farther up on the log. then, for the first time, i felt safe. the battle had been fought, and won. i believed sim had lost his senses. he was stupefied, rather than deprived of any actual power. it was the terror rather than any real injury which overcame him. i permitted him to remain quiet for a moment, to recover his breath.
"sim!" said i, when he began to look around him, and show some signs of returning reason.
"ugh! that's what i wanted to see you for, buck," gasped he.
i could not laugh, though his wild stare and incoherent words were ludicrous.[147]
"you are safe now, sim," i added.
"i'm dead—drownded."
"no, you are not. you are safe."
"no! am i? hookie!"
i had placed myself astride the log, and was now in a comfortable position. i moved up to him, when i found it was safe to approach him, and assisted him into an easier posture. gradually i restored him to his former self, and finally assured him that he was still in the land of the living, where he might remain if he would only be reasonable.
"where are we going to?" he asked.
"down the river."
"down to new orleans?"
"not yet, if you will behave like a man. have a little pluck, sim."
"i dassent!" replied he, with a shake of his frame.
"now hold on tight! i'm going to try to get ashore," i called to him, as i saw that the current would carry us under the overhanging branch of a tree, which i could reach by making a strong effort.[148]
"don't leave me, buck!" pleaded he, in his terror.
"i won't leave you. cling to the log," i replied, as i jumped up, and succeeded in grasping the branch of the tree.
i pulled it down till i got hold of a part strong enough to check the progress of the log; but the current was so swift that i was nearly dragged from it. by twining my legs around the log, i held on till its momentum was overcome; and then i had no difficulty in drawing it in till the end touched the shore. after much persuasion i induced sim to work himself along the stick till he reached the dry land; for we had passed beyond the greatest depression in the swamp, where the stream did not cover the banks.
eagerly he passed from the log to the bank, and actually danced with joy when he found himself once more on the solid earth.
"hookie! hookie!" shouted he, opening his mouth from ear to ear, while his fat face lighted up with an expression of delight, like a baby with a new rattle.[149]
"are you going to let me go down stream, sim?" i called to him, reproachfully, for he seemed to have more regard for his own safety than for mine.
"what shall i do?" he asked, blankly; and he appeared to have an idea that i could not possibly need any assistance from him.
"catch hold of the end of the log, and haul it up so that i can get ashore. if i let go the branch, the log will go down stream again."
sim lifted the log, and hauled it far out of the water. he was as strong as an ox now, though he had been as weak as an infant a few moments before. i crawled up the stick, and went ashore. the moment i was fairly on the land, sim threw his arms around my neck, and hugged me as though i had been his baby, blubbering in incoherent terms his gratitude and love.
"hold on, sim! you have hugged me enough for one day," said i, shaking him off.
"hurrah! hurrah!" shouted he.
"silence, sim," i added.
i threw myself on my knees, dripping with water as i was.[150]
"o lord god, i thank thee for saving my life, and for saving sim's life. in my heart i thank thee, o lord. may it be a good lesson to him and me. may we both try to be better boys, and obey thy holy law as we have never done before."
i had never prayed before in my life, but i could not help it then. i felt that god had saved my life, and that i could not be so wicked as not to pray to him then. my heart was full of gratitude, and i felt the better for speaking it.
i opened my eyes, and saw sim kneeling before me, very reverently, and i realized that he was as sincere as i was. he was not satisfied with hearing. he uttered a prayer himself, using nearly my own words. he finished, and both of us were silent for several minutes. however long i may live, i shall never forget the agony of that fearful moment, when, with sim clinging to me, i felt myself going down, never to come up; never to see the light of the blessed sun again; never more to look into the eyes of my loving sister. the influence of that thrilling incident will go with me to the end of my days, and i am sure it has made me a better man.[151]
we walked through the swamp to the open prairie beyond, where the sun shone brightly. we took off our clothes, and wrung them out, and then lay in the sunshine to dry them. we talked of the event of the afternoon, and sim, in his bungling speech, poured forth his gratitude to me for saving his life. i staid there till it was time for me to go back to the house. my clothes were still wet, and i crept through the back entry up to my chamber and changed them. squire fishley was going home that day, and was to ride down to riverport with me.
i was sorry he was going, for during his visit our house seemed to be a paradise. mrs. fishley was all smiles, and never spoke a cross word, never snarled at flora or at me. if the squire had been a steady boarder at his brother's, i should have been content to cut my raft adrift, and let it go down the river without me. he was going home, and there would be a storm as soon as he departed.
during the week of the senator's stay, not a word was said about miss larrabee's letter; and ham appeared about the same as usual. i observed his [152]movements with interest and curiosity. sometimes i thought he was more troubled than was his habit. after the thrashing his father had given me, he seemed to be satisfied that i had been "paid off," and he was tolerably civil to me, though i concluded that he did not wish to have any more difficulty during the visit of the distinguished guest.
after supper, with my passenger, i drove down to riverport. on the way he talked very kindly to me, and gave me much good advice. he counselled me to "seek the lord," who would give me strength to bear all my troubles. he told me he had spoken to his brother about me, but he was afraid he had done more harm than good, for the captain did not seem to like it that i had said anything to the guest about my ill usage.
i bade him good by at the hotel, where he was to spend the night; and we parted the best of friends, with a promise on his part to do something for me in the future. after changing the mail-bags at the post-office, i went to several stores, and picked up various articles to furnish the house on the raft, including a small second-hand cook-stove, with eight [153]feet of pipe, for which i paid four dollars, and a few dishes and some table ware.
i succeeded in placing these things in the wheelbarrow, back of the barn, without detection. early in the morning sim wheeled them down to the swamp. when i joined him after breakfast, i found he had waded through the water to the branch, and brought up the small raft, upon which he had loaded the stove and other articles. before noon that day, the outside of the house was done, and the cook-stove put up. i went home to dinner as usual, that my absence might not be noticed.
"where have you been all the forenoon?" demanded captain fishley, in the most uncompromising of tones.
the storm was brewing.
