Part 22 (1/2)

He pa.s.sed a wide stretch of cultivated fields, mostly planted in tobacco, but he could not recollect what farmer had tobacco down by the creek this year. There were some men at work on a piece of rising ground, but they were a long way off. Still, Harry shouted to them, but they did not appear to hear him.

Then he pa.s.sed on among the trees again, b.u.mping against stumps, turning and twisting, but always keeping out in the middle of the current. He began to be very uneasy, especially as he now saw, what he had not noticed before, that the boat was leaking badly.

He made up his mind that he must do something soon, even if he had to take off his clothes and jump in and try to swim to sh.o.r.e. But this, he was well aware, would be hard work in such a current.

Looking hurriedly around, he saw, a short distance before him, a tree that appeared to stand almost in the middle of the creek, with its lower branches not very high above the water. The main current swirled around this tree, and the boat was floating directly toward it.

Harry's mind was made up in an instant. He stood up on the seat, and as the boat pa.s.sed under the tree he seized the lowest branch.

In a moment the boat was jerked from under his feet, and he hung suspended over the rus.h.i.+ng water.

He gripped the branch with all his strength, and giving his legs a swing, got his feet over it. Then, after two or three attempts, he managed to draw himself up and get first one leg and then his whole body over the branch. Then he sat up and shuffled along to the trunk, against which he leaned with one arm around it, all in a perspiration, and trembling with the exertion and excitement.

When he had rested awhile, he stood up on the limb and looked toward the land. There, to his joy, he saw, at a little distance, a small log-house, and there was some one living in it, for he saw smoke coming from the log and mud chimney that was built up against one end of the cabin.

Harry gave a great shout, and then another, and another, and presently a negro woman came out of the cabin and looked out over the creek. Then three colored children came tumbling out, and they looked out over the creek.

Then Harry shouted again, and the woman saw him.

”h.e.l.lo, dar!” she cried. ”Who's dat?”

”It's me! Harry Loudon.”

”Harry Loudon?” shouted the woman, running down to the edge of the water. ”Mah'sr John Loudon's son Harry? What you doin' dar? Is you fis.h.i.+n'?”

”Fis.h.i.+ng!” cried Harry. ”No! I want to get ash.o.r.e. Have you a boat?”

”A boat! Lors a ma.s.sy! I got no boat, Mah'sr Harry. How did ye git dar?”

”Oh, I got adrift, and my boat's gone! Isn't there any man about?”

”No man about here,” said the woman. ”My ole man's gone off to de railroad. But he'll be back dis evenin'.”

”I can't wait here till he comes,” cried Harry. ”Haven't you a rope and some boards to make a raft?”

”Lor', no! Mah'sr Harry. I got no boards.”

”Tell ye what ye do, dar,” shouted the biggest boy, a woolly-heady urchin, with nothing on but a big pair of trousers that came up under his arms and were fastened over his shoulders by two bits of string, ”jist you come on dis side and jump down, an' slosh ash.o.r.e.”

”It's too deep,” cried Harry.

”No, 'tain't,” said the boy. ”I sloshed out to dat tree dis mornin'.”

”You did, you Pomp!” cried his mother. ”Oh! I'll lick ye fur dat, when I git a-hold of ye!”

”Did you, really?” cried Harry.

”Yes, I did,” shouted the undaunted Pomp. ”I sloshed out dar an' back agin.”