eir feet the stout timbers
quivered with such uneasy movements that it seemed as though the end of
the _Venture_ had come, and that a few more seconds or minutes must
witness its total destruction. Still they clung to it and to each
other, for they had no other refuge, and in the absolute darkness
surrounding them it would have been worse than folly to seek one.

After a while the first rush of waters passed, and they settled into a
strong smooth flow like that of the great river from which they came.
The uneasy movements of the raft ceased, and its shivering occupants
again began to breath freely.

"I guess it is all right, boys!" called out Billy Brackett. "I believe
we are stranded at the foot of the bagasse-burner; but the old craft
has evidently made up its mind to hold together for a while longer, at
any rate. So I move that we crawl into the 'shanty' again. It's a
good deal warmer and more comfortable in there than it is out here."

So, very cautiously, to prevent themselves from slipping off the
steeply-sloping deck, our raftmates worked their way back into the
little house that had for so long been their home. They found the
lower side of the floor about two feet under water.

All hands were greatly depressed by the calamity that had overtaken
them. Mr. Manton, Worth, Sumner, and old Solon grieved over the ruin
of Moss Bank. Glen and Binney feared for the safety of General
Elting's valuable instruments. Billy Brackett wondered if Major
Caspar, or any one else, would ever again have confidence in him as the
leader of an expedition, while Winn, who had never ceased to reproach
himself for the manner in which the voyage of the _Venture_ had been
begun, was now filled with dismay at its disastrous termination.

He, as well as the others, realized that the raft was a fixture in its
present position, that it would never again float on the bosom of the
great river, and that all dreams of selling it in New Orleans must now
be abandoned. He knew how greatly his father was in need of the money
he had hoped to receive from it. He knew what a blow the loss of the
wheat had been. Now the raft was lost as well. As the unhappy boy's
thoughts travelled back over the incidents of the trip, and he
remembered that but for him the wheat would not have been lost, and but
for him the raft would probably have been sold in St. Louis, his
self-accusations found their way to his eyes, and trickled slowly down
his cheeks