"I have not seen him; but I have heard of the raft, and there is no
question as to its safety. We reached the mouth of the creek without
discovering a trace of it. Then we went down the river as far as the
Elbow, where we waited in the slack-water to hail up-bound steamboats.
The first had seen nothing of the raft; but the second, one of the
'Diamond Jo' boats, reported that they had seen such a raft--one with
three shanties on it--at daybreak, in the 'Slant Crossing,' ten miles
below. If I could have got a down-river boat I should have boarded her
and gone in pursuit, sending the men back to tell you what I had done.
As we were unable to hail the only one that passed, I gave it up and
came back to report progress."
"Oh, I am so glad you did!" cried Mrs. Caspar.
"So am I," said the young stranger, speaking for the first time since
the Major's entrance. The latter had glanced curiously at him once or
twice while talking to his wife, but without a gleam of recognition.
Now, as he looked inquiringly at him again, Mrs. Caspar exclaimed:
"Why, John, don't you know him? It's William--my own brother William,
just come from California."
"So it is," replied the Major, giving the young man a hearty
hand-shake--"so it is, William Brackett himself. But, my dear fellow,
I must confess I was so far from recognizing you that I thought your
name was--"
"'Mud' I reckon," interrupted the other, laughing; "and so it will be
before long, if I don't get a chance to clean up.
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