when the explosion occurred, the wind was nearly dead ahead, and we were floating with the current, which was the particular reason why we had come so near being run down by the contestants.
"what's the matter?" asked flora, alarmed by the noise, but unable to explain the cause of it.
"one of those steamers has burst her boiler. didn't you see the pieces fly?" i replied.
"but where are the people we saw laughing and talking as she went by?" continued she, with a shudder.
"a good many of them will never laugh and talk any more."
"hookie!" shouted sim, as soon as he comprehended the nature of the disaster. "that's wus'n fallin' in the river."[213]
"get out the sail, sim!" i added, sharply.
"what you want the sail for?" inquired he. "the wind ain't right for it."
"up with it, and we will talk about that afterwards."
letting go the steering oar, i hastened to sim's assistance, while the raft whirled in the current as she went down the mighty river. we hoisted the sail, hauled in the braces, and i took my place on the platform again. after no little labor at the steering oar, i succeeded in putting the raft before the wind, thus heading her up the river.
"what are you going to do, buckland?" asked flora, who was watching the scene of the accident with the most painful interest.
"hundreds of those poor people have already perished, and more will be drowned, unless they have some help," i replied, much excited. "i am going to try and get up there, so as to be of some service."
"o, i hope you will! but there are boats out picking them up already," added she, wringing her hands, as she realized more vividly the nature of the terrible catastrophe.[214]
"i'm going to do all i can," i replied, thrilled by the exciting scene, which, though a mile distant, we could understand and realize.
i expected the hull of the steamer would float down the river with the swift current, bringing with it all its fearful surroundings; but in her haste to outstrip her competitor, she had run into the shallow water, and when riven by the explosion, had sunk. the awful scene, therefore, did not come down the stream, as i anticipated. in a few moments, three steamboats, besides the one which had been engaged in the race, were hovering about the wreck, and at least a dozen boats were busy in picking up the sufferers.
i found that it was utterly impossible to make any progress against the current with the raft. though the wind was tolerably fresh from the southward, and the sail drew well, it barely held its own. the wreck and the raft remained about the same distance apart as at the moment of the explosion. but it was a consolation to know that our services were not absolutely needed, so abundant was the assistance afforded from the shore, and from the passing steamers.[215]
in a short time parts of the wreck began to come down the river. we picked up a broken door, and other pieces of the wood-work, but nothing of any great value. we kept a sharp lookout for any survivors who might have been overlooked by the boats about us; but as yet we saw none, or even any who had been killed. finding we could be of no service, i was about to turn the raft, and resume our voyage, when flora called my attention to an object floating at some distance from us.
"it's a woman, buckland!" exclaimed she, clasping my arm with convulsive energy.
"so it is," i replied, with my heart almost in my throat.
we were all too young and inexperienced to behold a human being apparently at the gates of death without a tremendous sensation of horror.
"hookie!" gasped sim, after he had gazed an instant at the object, his breath collapsing as he uttered the favorite expression.
"can't you save her?" cried flora, in trembling tones.
"i will if i can."[216]
"o, do save her. it's terrible."
"she is clinging to a piece of wood, and has her head quite out of water," i added, as i turned the raft.
the unfortunate person was still some distance farther up the stream than the raft. i told sim to trim the sail, and i hoped to get my clumsy craft in such a position that the current would bring the woman towards it, so that we could intercept her.
"help! help!" called the sufferer, in faint and fearful tones, as we came nearer to her.
"hold on a few moments longer," i replied.
"i can't!" she answered, evidently chilled by the cold, and exhausted by her fruitless struggles.
"only a moment," i added.
that moment was a fearfully long one, and at the end of it came failure. the raft disappointed me. the current was bearing the helpless female by it, but not more than fifty feet distant. it might as well have been a mile, so far as our capacity to overcome the space between us was concerned.
"down with the sail, sim!" i shouted, sharply.[217]
"hookie!" gasped sim, still standing with his mouth wide open, gazing at the poor woman.
"down with it!" i repeated, giving him a kick to sharpen his wits.
he stumbled to the sail; but his fingers were all thumbs, and he could not untie the halyard. i was obliged to do it myself, for the sail had filled aback, and it was retarding the progress of the raft.
"help! save me!" cried the unhappy person again, but fainter than before, as hope appeared to desert her.
"hold on a moment more!" i shouted to her.
i grasped the steering oar, and vainly struggled to turn the raft, so as to bring it near enough to the sufferer to enable me to haul her on board; but the only effect was to cause it to whirl in the current. both the woman and our craft were carried along by the stream, fifty feet apart; but neither had the power to approach any nearer to the other.
"i'm sinking!" called the woman, throwing one of her hands up into the air.
"no! hold on for your life!" i shouted, as loud as i could scream.[218]
my voice had some effect upon her, for she grasped the stick to which she was clinging.
"o, buckland!" cried flora, wringing her hands and sobbing hysterically. "can't you do something?"
"i can, and will!" i replied, with some of the earnestness that thrilled my soul; and i felt that i ought to die myself rather than permit the poor sufferer to perish before my eyes.
"do!" gasped my poor sister; and i knew she would have sacrificed her precious life to save that of the stranger.
"come here, sim!" i called.
my blundering deck hand came promptly at my call, and i gave him the steering oar, bidding him keep the raft steady before the current. i took the long lines, which i used as mooring ropes, and tied them together, making a cord at least a hundred feet in length. i took off all my clothes but my pants and shirt, and secured the cord around my body, making fast the other end to the raft.
"sim!" said i, startling him with the sharpness of my tones.[219]
"yes; i'm here, buck! hookie!" stammered he.
"mind what you're about!"
"o, yes! i will!"
"when i tell you, let go the oar, and pull in on this rope."
"i'll help him," said flora.
"don't you touch the rope, flora. you may get dragged overboard."
"what shall i do?"
"you may make a fire in the stove, if you can," i answered, wishing to get her out of the reach of danger if i could.
"i will, buckland;" and she went into the house.
i was a powerful swimmer, and nerved by the peril of the stranger in the water, i felt able to do anything. i let myself down into the river, and struck out with all my strength towards the sufferer. the current of the mississippi is swift and treacherous. it was the hardest swimming i had ever known; and, dragging the rope after me, i had a fierce struggle to make any progress. in going those fifty feet, it seemed to me that i worked hard enough to accomplish a mile.[220]
i reached the sufferer, and grasped the stick to which she clung. i was nearly exhausted myself by the violence of my efforts. i waited a moment to regain my breath, before i attempted to deal with the difficulties of the situation. i glanced at the person for whom i was to struggle. she was not a woman, but a girl of fourteen. she was in a sinking condition, apparently more from the effects of fear than actual suffering, for the stick to which she clung afforded her ample support.
afraid that the act of hauling us in would detach her from the stick, i grasped it firmly with one hand, and clasped her around the waist with the other. her frame quivered with the cold and the terror of her situation. as all persons in peril of drowning are apt to do, she was disposed to cling to me.
"don't be afraid," said i to her. "you are safe now."
"save me!" gasped she, hardly loud enough to be heard.
"haul in!" i shouted to sim.
i felt the rope cutting my waist as sim jerked [221]and tugged at it with all his strength. there was no lack of zeal on his part, but if anything had depended upon coolness and skill, we might both have been drowned. i kept a firm hold upon my helpless charge, and managed to keep her head above the water, though my own was dragged under several times by the clumsiness of my willing friend.
sim pulled and hauled with energy, if not with skill. when he abandoned the steering oar, the raft began to whirl, and thus to complicate his labor. i caught a glance of the simple-minded fellow, as the craft turned, and i heard him yell, "hookie!" he was nonplussed by the change of the raft; but he did not know enough to follow it round upon the outside. i am not sure this freak of the current did not save us from a calamity, for as it revolved, and the rope became tangled in the platform, we were thrown against the raft, thus saving my helpmate half his toil. fortunately the end of the stick on which i floated struck the logs first, and broke the force of what might otherwise have been a stunning blow.[222]
"tie the rope, sim!" i called to my assistant, who was now on the other side of the raft.
"o, buckland!" cried flora, as she came out of the house and gazed at me with an expression of intense pain.
"hookie!" ejaculated sim, rushing to the point where i had seized hold of the raft.
after the explosion.—page 221.
he stood there, jumping up and down on both feet, bewildered and helpless.
