shipped and all the lines cast free. Churning the stained waters
into foam with her great paddles, the _Mount Vernon_ swung slowly
out into the narrow stream.

[Illustration: The Captain pulled a bell rope.]

"Now, Captain Rogers," went on Captain Carlisle, tersely, "tell, me
who's aboard;" and presently he began to ponder the names which, in
loose fashion, the clerk assembled from his memory and his personal
acquaintance.

"Hm, Hm!" commented the listener, "very few whom I know. Judge
Clayton from the other side, below Cairo. State Senator Jones,
from Belmont--"

"You know Mr. Jones? Old 'Decline and Fall' Jones? He never reads
any book excepting Gibbon's _Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_.
Always declines a drink when offered, but he's sure to fall a
moment later!" Thus the smiling clerk.

"Well, I may see Mr. Jones, possibly Judge Clayton. There's no one
else." He seemed not dissatisfied.

Alas! for human calculations and for human hopes! Even as he left
the captain's room to ascend the stair, he met face to face the
very man whose presence he least desired.

"Dunwody!" he exclaimed.

The gentleman thus addressed extended a hand. "I see you are safe