s man with him."

"Was he a young fellow; a mere boy, in fact?"

"Oh, bless you, no! He was past middle-age. Small, thin man, with a
smooth face; and the other was a big man with a beard."

"And what became of the cook, the negro, whom you rescued?"

"He's down below somewhere, getting dry. I told the mate to look after
him."

"But where is my niece Sabella? The little girl that was on board the
_Whatnot_," asked Cap'n Cod, with a pitiful quaver in his voice.

"Little girl?" repeated the steamboat Captain, in surprise. "There
wasn't any girl on board. This is the first mention I have heard of
any such person, and Mr. Caspar would surely have spoken of her if she
had existed. What are you men driving at, anyway?"

With a forced calmness, and ignoring this question, Billy Brackett
asked if they might see the rescued negro.

"Certainly, I've no objections. Only you'll have to be spry about it,
for I'm going to pull out of here inside of a couple of minutes. I
only stopped to land Mr. Caspar."

They found Solon just getting into his dried clothing, and the faithful
fellow's face lighted as he saw them. There was, however, a
reproachful tone in his voice as he exclaimed, "T'ank de Lawd, yo' is
safe, Marse Cap'n, an' Marse Brack. Ole Solon feelin' mighty bad when
yo' ain't comin' to see him, an' Marse Winn too. But dese yeah folk
ain't tellin' me nuffin of Missy Sabel. She gettin' saved same as de
res' of us, ain't she? Say de good word, Marse Cap'n, an' don't tell
de ole man dat honey lamb done got drownded. Don't tell him dat ar?"

There was no time for explanations then, so they hurried Solon ashore
and up to the hotel. There his replies to their questions, and his
questions in turn, only served to deepen the mystery in which the fate
of the _Whatnot's_ passengers had become involved. He could not be
persuaded that they had not been on board at the time of the accident.
Sabella had boon talking to him of what her "Uncle Billy" had just told
her only a few minutes before it occurred. He was also positive that
Winn had been on board the ill-fated craft. He was certain that Reward
died at his post of duty, though of Don Blossom's fate he knew nothing.
How he himself had escaped he could not explain, for he remembered
nothing after the shock of the collision.

"It is evident," said Billy Brackett, at length, "that we must get to
St. Louis as quickly as possible, and strive to unravel this mystery