the _Senator_, and they made money for their owners, and I am
glad of it. That certainly was a gallant enterprise!

She was on this trip jammed full of people, mostly those returning from
the mines. A trip on the _McKim_ implied a certain amount of
prosperity, so we were a jolly lot. The weather was fine, and a bright
moon illuminated the swollen river. We had drinkers, songsters,
debaters, gamblers, jokers, and a few inclined to be quarrelsome, all of
which added to the variety of the occasion. I wandered around from one
group to another, thoroughly enjoying myself, both out on deck and in
the cabins. It might be added that there were no sleepers!

Along toward midnight, as I was leaning on the rail forward watching the
effect of the moon on the water and the shower of sparks from the twin
stacks against the sky, I was suddenly startled by the cry of "man
overboard," and a rush toward the stern. I followed as quickly as I was
able. The paddle wheels had been instantly reversed, and a half dozen
sailors were busily lowering a boat. A crowd of men, alarmed by the
trembling of the vessel as her way was checked, poured out from the
cabins. The fact that I was already on deck gave me an advantageous
post; so that I found myself near the stern rail.

"He was leaning against the rail," one was explaining excitedly, "and it
give way, and in he went. He never came up!"

Everybody was watching eagerly the moonlit expanse of the river.

"I guess he's a goner," said a man after a few moments. "He ain't in
sight nowhere."

"There he is!" cried a half dozen voices all at once.

A head shot into sight a few hundred yards astern, blowing the silvered
water aside. The small boat, which was now afloat, immediately headed in
his direction, and a moment later he was hauled aboard amid frantic
cheers. The dripping victim of the accident clambered to the deck.

It was Johnny!

He was beside himself with excitement, sputtering with rage and uttering
frantic threats against something or somebody. His eyes were wild, and
he fairly frothed at the mouth. I seized him by the arm. He stared at
me, then became coherent, though he still spluttered. Johnny was
habitually so quietly reserved as far as emotions go that his present
excitement was at first utterly incomprehensible.

It seemed that he had been leaning against the rail, watching the
moonlight, when suddenly it had given way beneath his weight and he had
fallen into the river.