He now had not only
Winn, the raft, and himself to consider, but Glen and Binney, and the
valuable instruments belonging to General Elting. Certainly it would
not do to allow these to fall into the hands of an excited and
irresponsible mob. Still, the thought of running away was hateful.
As he neared the raft an undefined apprehension caused him to quicken
his steps; and at the sound of Binney Gibbs's shout of warning, he
broke into a run. Then he heard another shout of "Hol' on, Marse Winn!
I comin'!" and the noise of a struggle, in another moment he was in the
thick of it.
Solon had reached the raft just in time to save Binney, who he thought
was Winn, from being dropped overboard by Plater, the "river-trader."
The old negro attacked the big man so furiously with tooth and nail
that the latter gave the lad in his arms a fling to one side, sending
him crashing with stunning force against the "shanty," and devoted his
entire attention to this new assailant. He had just stretched Solon on
the deck with a vicious blow of his powerful fist, when Billy Brackett
appeared and sprang eagerly into the fray. Even Plater's brute
strength was no match for the young engineer's science, and the latter
would have gained a speedy victory, had not Grimshaw, who had been
engaged in casting off the lines that held the raft to the bank, come
to his partner's assistance.
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