grin. "Now I noticed an elderly old
gentleman with a young lady, gettin' aboard jest before I did. They was
leavin' you when I showed up. Happen to know 'em?"

"You shouldn't 'a' give back th' glove when you did," laughed the
officer. "You should 'a' had yore quarrel with Schoolcraft first, so you
could 'a' waited till we was under way before you handed it back to her.
That would 'a' give you a better chance to get acquainted. I've heard
that frontierin' sharpens a man's wits, but I dunno. Want to meet 'em?
Th' old sport's interesting when he ain't tryin' to beat th' gamblers at
their own game. An' he's plumb successful at it, too, if there ain't too
many ag'in him."

Tom had the grace to flush under his tan, but he thankfully accepted the
bantering and the suggestion. "What you suppose I've risked wastin' my
time talkin' to you for?" he demanded.

"You know cussed well you wasn't wastin' it," retorted the purser. "Come
on, an' meet one of th' finest young ladies in St. Louis. She won't care
if you pay more attention to her uncle."

A few minutes later Tom had been made acquainted with the couple and
they soon discovered that they had mutual friends in the city. Time
passed rapidly and Patience Cooper and her uncle, Joseph, took a keen
interest in their companion's account of life on the prairies. He found
that the uncle was engaged in the overland trade and was going out to
Independence to complete arrangements for the starting of his wagons
with the Santa Fe caravan. Finding that they were to be seated at
different tables they had the obliging steward change their places so
they could be together, and after the meal the uncle begged to be
excused and headed for the card room, which brought a fleeting frown to
the face of his niece. Tom observed it without appearing to and led the
way to some chairs on deck near the rail.

The blast of the whistle apprised them of a landing in sight and soon
they picked it out, as much by the great piles of firewood as by any
other sign. This was the little hamlet of St. Charles, and here came on
board several plainsmen and voyageurs who, having missed the packet at
St. Louis, had hastened across the neck of land to board it here. As
soon as the gangplank touched the bank a hurrying line of men depleted
the great wood pile, and in a few minutes the landing stage swung aboard
again and the _Missouri Belle_ circled out into mid-channel, a stream of
sparks falling astern.

An annoy