CHAPTER XXIII

THE RISING WATERS

"IT _is_ rising, Roger," admitted the older boy, seriously, as he surveyed the tumbling waters, rushing along with a noise like the churning of a score of grist mills, such as the one near the St. Louis settlement.

"Do you think it will keep on increasing all day, Dick?" asked the other, with a ring of alarm in his voice.

"It may," was the reply. "That will depend on how far up the river that heavy rainfall extended. If it covered the whole watershed, then the river here must keep on getting bigger for a good many hours before it reaches a crest."

"But we never knew the Missouri to rise at this late time in the summer, did we, Dick?"

"Not anything like this, that's sure, Roger. Of course, after a heavy storm it always creeps up. But this is really a flood, and will bother the exploring expedition for a day or two, I think."

"Oh, but they have boats, and will think little or nothing of it, Dick," the younger boy went on. "But what a bad fix it finds us in! What if the water does keep on coming up and up all day; won't it cover this little island and perhaps wash it away?"

"Oh! hardly that," Dick hastened to answer. "It has stood many floods in the spring time, because these trees have had a chance to grow."

"But even if that rushing water only covers the island, where will we be then, I'd like to know? Ugh! it makes me shiver to think of it," and Roger turned to look once more at the roaring river.

"Of course I don't know where we'll be," Dick observed, calmly; "but if we've got the good sense I think we have, chances are two boys about our size will be perched in the branches of the largest tree on the island, with all their stores about them, waiting for the waters to go down again."

"Oh! and I never thought of that, either!" exclaimed Roger, apparently somewhat relieved in his mind, as he noted that one of the trees was of some size.

"The worst thing about that plan," continued Dick, "is that we've got to lose our horses; and I hate to think of that more than I can tell you."

"Will they be drowned, do you think?"

"Well, horses can swim, you know; and they might get ashore if we turned them loose in good time. But even then, we'd never be able to track them; and our job of overtaking the expedition would be made all the harder. Still, we will not be the ones to give it up, Roger. Nothing could make us do that, could it?"

"No, indeed, it could not," replied the other boy, firmly. "But, Dick--"

"Yes, what idea has come into your mind now?" asked the other lad, encouragingly.

"Why, when you spoke of turning the horses loose, and letting them have a chance of reaching the shore, I thought what a fine thing it would be if we were holding on to the saddles at that time. Why, they'd just tow us to land with them, you see!"

"Yes, if they got there, which isn't a sure thing at all," replied Dick. "But we will decide all that later on. Perhaps the river will rise only a little more, and then come to a stand-still. And, in case of the worst, we've always got that tree there. Even if it should be undermined by the flood, and carried away, we might stick in the branches."

"And float down the river, you mean," added Roger. "That would save our lives, of course; but think how we'd feel, going away from Captain Lewis mile after mile. Why, this makes me think of what our fathers told us about that flood up along the Ohio, that was the cause of their coming further West."[5]

"That's a fact, it does; and they came near being drowned in that same flood, too, didn't they?" said Dick. "But let's begin to get our packages ready, in case we have to climb this tree. It's just as well to be prepared, even if we never have to carry out that plan."

"But you really think we will have to, don't you, Dick?" persisted the other.

"If the water gets high enough to cover our island, yes," was the reply; "because there's really no other way. But these summer floods come and go quickly. It isn't like the early spring time, when the ground is frozen, and the downpour can find no way to soak into it, so that it all rushes off."

Dick was a good fellow to have along on an occasion of this kind. He always managed to appear cheerful, no matter how seriously the conditions affected him; and besides this, he was so very fertile in resource. Seldom did there arise a sudden emergency but that Dick proved himself capable of suggesting an immediate remedy. In this particular he resembled his father, Bob Armstrong, who, in the old days on the Ohio, used to be looked up to by his younger brother, Sandy, on this account.

It was far from cheerful work, however, standing there keeping track of the gradual rise of the river. And it lacked the interest that they might have found in the task had they been at home, and only curious to know what height the water would reach before starting to as speedily decline.

Now they had everything at stake; and it meant great peril to them if the little island should be completely submerged.

Roger had constructed a contrivance whereby they were able to know just how fast the water rose. This was a stick which he had marked off in inches, and driven into the ground at the edge of the river. By consulting it every little while they were enabled to learn the truth, and it was a continued disappointment.

"It looks as if we'd have to climb, sooner or later, Dick," declared Roger, when several hours had passed, and they had three times been forced to retreat before the advance of the flood, removing their "tally stick" on each occasion.

"I'm sorry to say it's getting that way," replied the other, shaking his head.

"But what about the horses?" demanded Roger.

"Well, we've got them here by the tree, and when we have to mount up among the branches we can turn them loose," answered his cousin.

"But, Dick, if they have to go, poor things, why make it harder for them?"

"I see what you mean, Roger; you think we ought to cut the ropes now, and let them swim for the shore. It does you credit, too; but I hardly believe it would work."

"Why wouldn't it?" asked Roger.

"For this reason," came the reply. "Horses are affectionate. They get accustomed to people, and these ones know us well, because we've raised them from colts. Now, the chances are that, if we turned them loose at this minute, they would refuse to leave us until the water forced them to swim. Even if you pushed one off the island, I feel sure he would try hard to get back again. So what's the use of turning them loose now?"

"Perhaps that's so," admitted Roger. "I was only thinking of giving the poor beasts a better chance to get ashore; because the higher the water rises the harder it will be for them to swim."

After that they stood watching and waiting; but with only the most dismal forebodings as to what was to come. And indeed it was anything but pleasant to think of being made prisoners in a tree that would be completely surrounded by a raging flood, perhaps for another night and day. And then the loss of their horses was going to make their task of overtaking the expedition all the harder.

So the morning passed, and while on several occasions Roger indulged in new hopes that the water had come to a stand at last, these were only fated to be dashed to the ground on his next anxious inspection of his "tally stick," when he learned that the flood was actually making up for lost time.

"How much longer will we have, Dick?" he asked, when, for the third time, he had made this unpleasant discovery.

"At the rate it seems to be crawling up our stake, it will only be two hours until the water will be at the foot of this tree," replied the other, who had already figured all this out.

"Two hours isn't much time, is it, Dick?"

"Well," replied the other, with a smile, "that all depends on the conditions. You can look back to lots of times when it would seem like an eternity. Remember that night when you slipped and fell over that precipice, just managing to get hold of a bush, and holding on while you shouted for me to come and help you up, because you couldn't do anything yourself? If you'd had to hang there, kicking your heels in space, two hours, instead of ten minutes, I think they'd have seemed the longest you ever knew."

"That's so," admitted Roger, smiling a little himself at the scene which his comrade's words recalled. "And just as you say, Dick, we have been through a good many hard scrapes together, haven't we; and always, up to now, managed to come out on top? Perhaps we'll do the same this time, too."

"Why, to be sure we will," declared the other, stoutly, "don't let any other notion get hold of you, Roger. It's all bound to come out right; haven't we been told that many times by our mothers, when things looked a little black--and didn't the sky clear every time? We'll escape from this island, overtake the expedition, get that paper signed by Jasper Williams, and bring joy to all our dear ones at home. Why, I'm just as sure of that, Roger, as that we're standing here right now, wondering how we're going to get ashore. But a way will be provided, mark my words."

Never was a prophecy more speedily fulfilled. Hardly had five minutes passed than Roger clutched the sleeve of his cousin's tunic, and in a voice that trembled with emotion, burst out:

"Look! oh! look, Dick, are my eyes going back on me--is this one of those mirages they told us we would meet with on the prairies; or is that really a boat--yes, two, _three_ of them--down at the bend below, and working up against even all this fierce current? Three boats, Dick--wasn't that what Captain Lewis had with him when he started away from St. Louis? Oh! speak and tell me if I am going out of my mind, and seeing things that I've been dreaming about so long!"

Dick laughed, and hugged his cousin with rapture.

"No, no, Roger, your eyes are all right, and the boats are there!" he cried. "We've only managed to get _ahead_ of the expedition, that's all. And we'll be saved now, Roger! We've won out at last!"

FOOTNOTE:

[5] See "Pioneer Boys of the Mississippi."