onging to General Elting. Certainly it would
not do to allow these to fall into the hands of an excited and
irresponsible mob. Still, the thought of running away was hateful.

As he neared the raft an undefined apprehension caused him to quicken
his steps; and at the sound of Binney Gibbs's shout of warning, he
broke into a run. Then he heard another shout of "Hol' on, Marse Winn!
I comin'!" and the noise of a struggle, in another moment he was in the
thick of it.

Solon had reached the raft just in time to save Binney, who he thought
was Winn, from being dropped overboard by Plater, the "river-trader."
The old negro attacked the big man so furiously with tooth and nail
that the latter gave the lad in his arms a fling to one side, sending
him crashing with stunning force against the "shanty," and devoted his
entire attention to this new assailant. He had just stretched Solon on
the deck with a vicious blow of his powerful fist, when Billy Brackett
appeared and sprang eagerly into the fray. Even Plater's brute
strength was no match for the young engineer's science, and the latter
would have gained a speedy victory, had not Grimshaw, who had been
engaged in casting off the lines that held the raft to the bank, come
to his partner's assistance.

Now, with such odds against him, Billy Brackett was slowly but surely
forced backward towards the edge of the raft. In another moment he
would have been in the river, when all at once two dripping figures
emerged from it, scrambled aboard, and with a yell like a war-whoop,
ranged themselves on the weaker side. A few well-planted blows, a
determined rush, and the struggle for the possession of the raft was
ended. The fighting ardor of Messrs. Plater and Grimshaw was being
rapidly cooled in the icy waters through which they found themselves
swimming towards the shore. At the same time the _Venture_ was gaining
speed with each moment, as, borne on by the resistless current, it
drifted out over the mingling floods of the Ohio and Mississippi.
Billy Brackett, still panting from his exertions, was bending over
Binney Gibbs, who was struggling back to consciousness. Solon was
sitting up, tenderly feeling of his swollen features, and declaring,
"Dat ar man hab a fis' lak de hin laig ob a mewel."

Glen and Winn had manned one of the sweeps, and were trying to get the
raft properly headed with the current. Thus the voyage was really
begun, and the young engineer, who hated t