" because, even at the
outset, it contained two attractions besides the panorama, and he hoped
in the course of time to add still others.

Those already on hand were a monkey and a hand-organ, both of which
were much greater rarities in the Mississippi Valley at that time than
they are now. They formerly belonged to an Italian, who, sick,
penniless, and friendless, had sunk exhausted by the road-side a few
miles from Dubuque. Several persons passed him without heeding his
feeble appeals for aid before Cap'n Cod happened along and discovered
him. The old soldier at once engaged a team, carried the dying
stranger home, and there, with Sabella's pitying aid, cared for him
until the end, which came a few days later. During these last days his
monkey was the man's inseparable companion. It cuddled beside him in
bed, and answered his feeble terms of endearment with voluble
chatterings. With his latest breath the dying stranger consigned his
helpless pet to the same pitying care that had helped him over the
bitterest of all human journeys. He said, "Monka, Don Bolossi, you
keep-a him alway."

So Don Bolossi, Americanized to "Don Blossom," transferred all his
affections to Sabella, and with the hand-organ, for which no claimant
could be found, was added to the attractions of "Cap'n Cod's Great
Panoramic Show."

One of the Captain's last bits of work in Dubuque was to build a skiff
for Sheriff Riley, and with the money thus earned to defray immediate
expenses, the _Whatnot_ started on her voyage down the river at sunrise
of the very morning on which Winn Caspar unconsciously drifted past
Dubuque in that very skiff. Being deeper in the water, the show-boat
drifted somewhat faster than the skiff, and so had nearly caught up
with it by the time the tow-head was reached. Here Cap'n Cod
determined to tie up for the night, as he did not wish to stop at a
town until his final preparations for an exhibition were made.

Among these was the painting of a life-sized representation of Don
Blossom hanging by his tail from the limb of a tree, which was to be
displayed on the outside of the boat as an advertisement. This was the
labor upon which the Captain was engaged when Winn Caspar discovered
the _Whatnot_. Sabella had undertaken to hold the restless little
model from which the white-headed artist was painting, and the peals of
laughter that attracted Winn's attention were called forth by the
absurdities of this situation.