CHAPTER x.x.x.
UP ANOTHER RIVER AND HOME AGAIN.
Colonel Shepard looked somewhat perplexed, for while we were going "Up the River," not a word had been said about going "Down the River."
Doubtless all our pa.s.sengers thought the steamers would have to return by the way they came, and had taken it for granted that this must be the case. I had a different view of the matter.
"Do you mean to go up to Lake Itasca?" asked Colonel Shepard, as he lighted his cigar, indicating that he meant to have the talk out, and the future course of the steam yachts decided upon.
"It would be rather difficult to get over the Falls of St. Anthony," I replied. "Billy Bell don"t know the way up there."
"Of course you mean to sail around to New York, and from thence to Lake St. Clair by the way you came?" suggested the colonel.
"I am happy to say that I don"t mean anything of the kind," I answered with a smile. "I am afraid it would be rather tedious for our pa.s.sengers to go over the same route again so soon."
"I supposed they would cut across the country by railroad and steamboat. I had intended to go from St. Louis to Pittsburg by boat."
"I hope you won"t give up the voyage so soon," I protested. "I am only afraid the ladies will be sea-sick again."
"Give up!" exclaimed the colonel. "Of course there is an end to navigation in this direction. We can run up the Missouri for a week or two, up to St. Paul"s, or up to Pittsburg; but I do not see the point of following either of these routes, unless it be the latter, which will bring us so much nearer to New York."
"I don"t think the Sylvania has any particular business in New York, and I had not thought of taking her there again," I added. "I can"t say that I should care to descend the Mississippi, cross the Gulf of Mexico, and follow the coast by the way we came. I am in favor of variety in our yacht trips."
"So am I; and for that reason, I am in favor of going to New York by steamer and railroad from here. I have three weeks more to spare, and if you wish to go up to St. Paul"s or Pittsburg, I am entirely willing to go with you, Captain Alick."
"As your plans seem to be different from mine, we ought to have considered this subject at Cairo, for you have come over two hundred miles out of your way, if you intend to go to Pittsburg."
"It makes little difference to me, or to my family, where we go, for we have enjoyed this trip so much that none of us were in a hurry to bring it to an end. Mrs. Shepard has entirely recovered from her nervous debility, and I know she will be sorry when we have to part company."
"Then you had better allow the Islander to continue in the fleet; and I promise that you shall not be any farther from New York at any time than you are now, or at any point where it will take you longer to get there. More than this, the Islander shall land you twelve miles nearer New York than Pittsburg."
"Then I will go with you," replied the colonel.
"But it will take much longer to go by my way," I added.
"Will it take more than three weeks longer, Captain Alick?" asked the owner of our consort.
"You shall be in New York in half that time, if you wish."
"I suppose it is no use for me to ask what this marvellous route is to be!" queried the colonel.
"Not the least," I replied, decidedly. "No one has said a word as to where we were going for the last month, or since we decided to go up the river. n.o.body seemed to care."
"We all took it for granted that the steamers were to return by the way they came," said Colonel Shepard. "I was talking with your father about the matter one day, more than a week ago; and he had the same view of the subject I had."
"We will sail at nine o"clock to-morrow morning, if you please."
"Certainly if that is the pleasure of the commander of the fleet,"
answered Colonel Shepard.
I had kept my own counsel so far, and I thought I had better continue to do so for a while longer. Washburn and I had settled the question, even before we left Detroit, and had procured all the information necessary to carry out our plan, for the mate first suggested it. We had taken in coal sufficient to run the steamer about two days. With this supply, we drew a little less than eight feet of water, just enough to sink the propeller.
Before night I engaged two pilots, one for each steamer, for I was not sure we could lash boats much longer. At the time appointed all our pa.s.sengers were on board, and we backed out from the levee. It was so much more social to lash boats, that we did so at the request of the ladies. Recent heavy rains all over the western states had again raised the river several feet above the level it was when we arrived at St.
Louis.
"Won"t you explain the great mystery to me, Captain Alick?" asked Miss Margie, as I pa.s.sed her, seated on the quarter-deck, reading a novel.
"What great mystery?" I inquired, taking a chair by her side.
"Why, the mystery of where we are going," she replied, with a bewitching laugh. "All the pa.s.sengers are trying to solve the riddle; and no one has done it yet."
"What book are you reading, Miss Margie?" I asked.
"Little Dorrit. What has that to do with it?" said she, looking at me with surprise.
"Perhaps nothing; but before I explain to you the great mystery, as you call it, let me tell you how the book you are reading comes out. You have got acquainted with Little Dorrit, the Father of the Marshalsea, and----"
"Now, stop! I don"t want you to tell me how it comes out!" protested the fair maiden, vehemently. "I wouldn"t have you do it for the world.
It would utterly spoil all the pleasure I might have in reading the book."
"Is that so? Why shouldn"t I explain this great mystery, as well as the other? I am sure I should deprive you of half the excitement of the trip if I should tell you beforehand all about it."
"Then you needn"t tell me a word!" And I did not.
At lunch-time we were in the midst of another great inland sea, at the mouth of the Missouri. Some of us wished we were going up that great river, to explore it where there were no towns, or other evidences of civilization. As that was not our present purpose, we forgot all about it as soon as we were out of sight of its mouth. Twenty miles more brought the fleet to another broad expanse of water, in which were several islands.
"Adieu to the Mississippi!" I shouted, walking from one end to the other of the steamer. But I made no further explanation.
There was a call for maps and guide-books then, succeeded by an anxious study for a few moments.
"This is the mouth of the Illinois River!" exclaimed Miss Margie, rushing up to me.
"I don"t deny it," I replied. To avoid more questions, I went to the pilot-house.
"We are making about twelve miles an hour," said the pilot of the Sylvania.
"How can that be? The most we could make in the Mississippi was seven miles against the strong current."
"The current is the other way here," added the pilot.
"Do you mean that the stream runs up?"
"Precisely that," answered the man, laughing at my perplexity. "When the Mississippi is very high, it flows the water back in the Illinois for seventy miles. We get a little current here to help us. After a while, it will really be still water."
In this part of the river, the stream was full to the top of its banks, and in some places it overflowed them. The river had furrowed out a deep channel in the alluvial soil, and at low water, it had tolerably high bluffs on each side of it. It was almost as wide as the Father of Waters, where we had left it, at its lower part; but in a few hours the width began to diminish a little.