," I said.

"Well, not exactly," added the captain. "We have been very sorry, for
the last hour and a half, while we were dragged down the river by that
building, that we did not follow your example, and hang up for the
night."

"Where did you pick up that house, captain?" asked Owen.

"I kept a sharp lookout on the top-gallant forecastle; but none of us
saw the building until it was too late to get out of the way," replied
Captain Blastblow. "Following the example of Captain Alick, I kept as
close to the shore on the port side as possible. About an hour after we
left you, I saw something black loom up before me, and the next instant
we struck her at full speed. The house had floated out of a bayou, I
found, which was the reason we did not see it sooner. It was a building
where they worked on rice. It was stretched across a creek, so that the
rice could be dropped into a boat under it. We have a white man and two
negroes on board that we saved from it."

After a long talk, in which Captain Blastblow did me the honor to say
that I was a "smart boy," he returned to his craft, and the rest of us
turned in.

CHAPTER XXIII.

AN EMBARRASSING SITUATION.

I was on my feet at daylight; but I found that Moses Brickland and Dyer
Perkins were up before me. They had opened up the fires, drawn the
clinkers from the furnaces, and were now oiling the engine. They had
nearly steam enough to enable us to start up the river. Everything
looked very quiet on board of the Islander, and there was no smoke
issuing from her smoke-stack.

I jumped ashore, and the first thing I noticed was that the water was
more than a foot higher than it was the night before. It seemed to me
that there must be an inundation above us. I found no one stirring on
board of the consort, and I went on deck. I knocked at the door of the
chief engineer. I told him I intended to get under way in the course of
fifteen minutes, and I did not care to leave the Islander behind. He
got up at once, and called his starboard fireman.

Without standing on any ceremony, I walked into the captain's
state-room, and told him I should be off in fifteen minutes. I found he
had given no orders about starting, but I assured him his engineer and
fireman were attending to their duty. I bantered him a little, saying I
did not leave him behind for fear he would get into trouble. He was
good-natured about it, and replied that he should sail in the company
of the Sylvania