"That's the
very name of Winn's uncle; and if I make believe you are my uncle, I
shall have an Uncle Billy as well as he. I think that's better, too,
because you know a girl couldn't have but one own papa, but she might
have a hundred uncles if she wanted. So we'll make that a bargain, and
I'll give you a kiss if you like, because Uncle Aleck says that's
always the other part of a bargain."
With the kiss of the innocent child warm on his lips, William Gresham
returned to the upper deck. His heart was very tender at that moment,
and though he did not express any resolve in words, he knew that a
black page of his life had just been closed, never to be reopened. He
met Plater coming to find him, for he was wanted to aid in keeping the
sharp lookout that the fog rendered necessary.
With all their senses alert and strained, the "river-traders" kept on
for two hours without discovering a trace of the raft. Then they knew
they must have passed it, and so headed the _Whatnot_ up-stream again,
hoping to meet it. Now they barely held their own, without making any
progress, for they knew the raft would drift in the channel with the
strongest current, and therefore that where the water ran swiftest they
must await its coming.
Solon, fully occupied with his duties as engineer and with preparations
for dinner, paid little heed to Sabella when she looked in at the
galley door to inform him that her Uncle Billy said everything was all
right.
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