Him a mighty knowin' young gen'l'man, dat ar Unc' Billy am, fo' shuah." As the day advanced, there were occasional rifts in the fog, and in one of these Mr.Gilder, as we will still call him, caught a momentary glimpse of the raft.

It was drifting at some distance to the right of them, and in a few moments would be again out of sight.

His first impulse was to announce this discovery to his companions, and his second was to remain silent.

He acted upon the second, and was almost doubtful if he had really seen the raft at all, so quickly did it again disappear.

Suddenly there came a sound of blows, as though some one were chopping wood on board the raft.
There was an exulting shout from the pilot-house, the steering-wheel was put hard over, and the boat began to swing slowly at right angles to the current.