out the secret of the Carmi Chums? Guess I'll be the biggest man on the
New Orleans levee, after all. Yes, certainly--of course some ladies'll
go--and a preacher, too, if there's such a man aboard. Hold up,
though--we'll _all_ go. Take your soundings, quick, and we'll drop the
steamer just below the point, and tie up. I wonder if there's a preacher
aboard?"

No one responded for the moment; then the Judge spoke.

"Before I went into the law I was the regularly settled pastor of a
Presbyterian Church," said he. "I'm decidedly rusty now, but a little
time will enable me to prepare myself properly. Excuse me, ladies and
gentlemen."

The sounding-boat pulled away, and the Judge retired to his stateroom.
The ladies, with very pale faces, gathered in a group and whispered
earnestly with each other; then ensued visits to each other's
staterooms, and the final regathering of the ladies with two or three
bundles. The soundings were taken, and, as the steamer dropped
down-stream, men were seen cutting a path down the rather steep clay
bank. The captain put his hands to his mouth and shouted:

"Dig only _one_ grave--make it wide enough for two."

And all the passengers nodded assent and satisfaction.

Time had been short since the news reached the steamer, but the
_Bennett's_ carpenter, who was himself a married man, had made a plain
coffin by the time the boat tied up, and another by the time the grave
was dug. The first one was put upon a long handbarrow, over which the
captain had previously spread a tablecloth, and, followed by the ladies,
was deposited by the side of the body of Red. Half an hour later, the
men placed Black in the other coffin, removed both to the side of the
grave, and signalled the boat.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen," said the captain.

The Judge appeared with a very solemn face, his coat buttoned tight to
his throat, and the party started. Colonel May, of Missouri, who read
Voltaire and didn't believe in anything, maliciously took the Judge's
arm, and remarked:

"You didn't finish your story, Judge."

The Judge frowned reprovingly.

"But, really," persisted the colonel, "I don't want curiosity to divert
my mind from the solemn services about to take place. Do tell me if they
ever caught the rascals."

"They never did," replied the Judge. "The sheriff hunted and advertised,
but he could never hear a word of either of them. But I'd know either
one of them at sight. Sh--h--here we are at the gra