CHAPTER XXII

CAUGHT IN A RIVER TRAP

"HURRAH! I've got one already, Dick! See him pull, will you? Oh! this is worth waiting for, I tell you. And now, I wonder what kind it is, one of those slippery catfish, or the strongly built buffalo fish. Whoo! he nearly jerked the line out of my hands, then. But he's just got to come along. We want fish for supper, don't we, Dick?"

Calling out in this joyous strain Roger pulled his line in, hand over hand, until he finally landed his fish.

He did not stop work, but went at it again, baiting his hook eagerly, although that one capture ensured them all they wanted for a single meal. And Dick, as soon as he was through with the several little duties he had taken upon himself, started to clean the fish. Perhaps he, too, felt hungry for a change in diet, since one type of food is bound to become more or less monotonous.

The sun had set, and night began to draw near, as they started their small fire in the secluded spot where even Dick declared there was not a chance in the world for any passer-by to discover it.

He had seen no sign of an Indian village up or down the river, on either bank; but then, of course, since they had come down to get upon the island their range of vision was limited.

The supper was all that they had expected, and as the fish was fried to a turn in the pan, with some bear fat to keep it from sticking, both boys enjoyed their meal about as well as any they had eaten.

Afterwards Roger went back to his fishing, for he had not thus far been lucky enough to pull in a second captive; and the one they had eaten tasted so fine he was of a mind to repeat the programme for breakfast, if only he could coax another victim to take hold.

As for Dick, he lay thinking of the thousand-and-one things it was natural for a healthy boy to have passing through his mind. Going back, he could picture all the strange events that had happened to them ever since that day when they said good-by to the dear ones at home, and, with their boyish hearts seemingly in their throats, urged their horses for the last time over the well-worn trail leading to the woods, where they had so often swung the axe, and felled the trees in order to clear the land for crops.

Finally, when after a long and tiresome siege of it, Roger succeeded in landing a duplicate of his first capture, the boy declared himself satisfied. So he put away his fish lines, and joined his companion.

"I don't exactly like the looks of the sky," Dick remarked. "It was yellow at sunset, instead of being red, as we like to see it."

"Does that mean rain?" asked Roger; though he knew it did, according to the way frontiersmen looked at the signs of the weather.

"Yes, and that was why I thought it just as well to put our blankets in under that ledge of rock. If the worst comes, we will have some kind of shelter."

"It was smart in you to think of that, Dick," declared the other; "but, then, I'm so used to having you do the right thing that I'd have been surprised if you let a chance go by for getting some sort of a roof over our heads."

But at the time they settled themselves down for the night, taking advantage of the rocky cover, no rain had fallen, and Roger expressed his hope that it might after all prove a false alarm.

Hours later the boys were awakened by a crash of thunder, and the first thing that greeted them when they sat up in their limited quarters was the sweep of the rising wind through the trees.

"It's coming, after all, Dick!" cried out Roger, in a disappointed tone.

"Looks like we might be in for it," replied the other.

"Can we do anything?" demanded Roger, eagerly.

"I'm going out to make sure the horses are fast before we have the rain pouring down on us," said Dick, starting to crawl from under the rocky roof.

"But, Dick, what if the river should rise, and cover this island; don't you think we'd better be getting ashore?" called out Roger.

"It's too late to try that now, for I can hear the rain coming down the river, and we'd be right in the worst of the storm. Stay where you are, Roger; I'll be back in a jiffy."

Dick may not have known just what a "jiffy" was, but he certainly made pretty quick time of it, after finding that the horses were standing under the cottonwood trees, with their tails toward the coming storm, as horses, and indeed all animals of their type, are wont to do.

"Whew! it's right on us; and such a roar as the wind and rain make, as they come rushing down the river," Dick said, as he crawled once more under the rocky roof, and joined his anxious companion.

"Anyhow, I'm glad we can swim," Roger remarked, showing that he was still thinking of a possible flood, and the fact that their position on the island placed them in a serious predicament in case the river rose rapidly, so as to cover the highest point, which was not many feet above the spot where they had camped.

There was really no time for further exchange of words. With a rush and a roar that were appalling, the storm burst upon them. They could hear the rain beating down in torrents, while the thunder crashed until the island seemed to shake under the heavy reverberations, and the lightning kept up a constant flashing that dazzled their eyes.

And yet there was a sort of fascination about the play of the storm that riveted their attention, so that they could not drag their eyes away, but, crouching there, continued to gaze, spell-bound.

Both boys thought more than once how fortunate it was that the rocky ledge under which they had found shelter for their bodies, as well as their few belongings, chanced to face in an opposite direction from that in which the storm was coming.

Had it been otherwise they must have been drenched to the skin; for the driving wind would have sent the heavy sheets of falling rain far under their cover.

They knew not what time of night it was, for not a star could be seen in that black sky.

"Will it ever stop?" shouted Roger, when there was finally a little lull in the wild racket--at least enough to admit of his voice reaching the ears of his comrade, close at hand.

"Yes, it's bound to," replied Dick, being wiser, for he placed his lips close to the ear of his cousin; "but already it seems to me the river is rising. I can surely hear the noise of it rushing along between us and the shore."

His words of course caused Roger more or less uneasiness, for he had himself been haunted latterly with visions of what a terrible thing it might prove for them if their escape should be cut off by morning, and the flood even threaten to wipe the island out of existence.

They could do nothing to better their condition, since it was now too late to think of trying to make the mainland. Their horses would prove unmanageable, with all that lightning to frighten them; and the chances were disaster must follow any attempt to ford the swollen stream before dawn came to show them just what perils they had to face.

That was surely a night never to be forgotten by the boys. And the longer it kept up, the greater grew their apprehension. Indeed, numbers of times Roger even loudly protested that he could feel the water coming into their shelter, though happily enough it proved every time that this was only some trickling rivulet, caused by a temporary shift of wind, and not an invasion by the encroaching river.

"Will daylight ever come?" he kept saying, time and again; for it was the utter darkness more than anything else that appalled them, with the storm beating down steadily, and the river rising all the while.

There could be no doubt about this, for whenever the wind ceased for a brief interval, and the growling of the thunder died away, they heard that rushing sound, such as could only be made by great volumes of water speeding along.

Once Dick attempted to sally forth in order to learn just how matters stood, and whether the poor horses were enduring the downpour all right; but he did not get very far away, because another rush of rain caused him to dodge back to shelter.

Roger even dozed a little, being more or less accustomed to the noise by this time. But he was electrified to hear Dick suddenly call out:

"I really believe it's getting lighter, because I can see things out there that I couldn't a while ago."

"Yes, you're right, Dick!" exclaimed the other, as he thrust his head out; "and let me tell you, for one, I'm not sorry that day's coming. When there's anything wrong I like to see what I have to meet. This thing of being left in the dark gives me a cold shiver. See, it's getting lighter every minute. Oh! look at the river, will you? It doesn't seem like the same one we fished in last night."

Nor did it, for the heavy rain must have fallen all along the stream, which was rising very fast, and was likely to continue to do so for several hours to come. A flood at this late summer day was doubtless a rare occurrence; but, then, the Missouri has always been known to do the least expected of things, so, with such a cloudburst to help along, even that was liable to happen.

"But thank goodness the rain seems to have stopped, even if the clouds are still hanging overhead," Roger declared, as he drew his stiffened figure from under the overhanging ledge, and tried to straighten up.

Then the two went, first of all, to see if the horses were there, and to their satisfaction found the poor beasts standing under a tree, as wet as they could possibly be, but apparently not otherwise harmed by the storm.

Afterwards they turned to survey the raging flood.

Between the island and the shore, where the horses had easily waded, there now rushed a torrent that must have been over their heads, and so fierce that even the hardiest swimmer could never have held his own against its power.

"That's bad enough," admitted Roger; "but just see how the water is still creeping up on us. It looks to me as if the whole island would soon be covered!"