So he has persuaded Solon that it is their duty to keep that raft in sight until it is tied up again, and then he'll telegraph to us.

It is more than likely that the raft will stop at St.Louis, in which case they must be nearly there by this time, and we ought to hear from Winn very soon.
That is my theory, and now I'll run up to the telegraph office and see if a despatch has come." There was no message for any one named Brackett, and so, after leaving word to have anything that came for him sent to the hotel, the young man hastened back.

An up-river steamboat had just made fast to the levee, and the two anxious men went down to see if her pilot had seen anything of the _Whatnot_.

As they approached they saw by her splintered bows that she had been in a collision.

Others had noticed this also, and already a crowd of people was gathered about her gang-plank to learn the news.