The Ohio was then rising, and the old broadhorn was afloat at its moorings. Yielding slowly to the pull from the horse-boat, it floated out and away—as a coal barge is towed by a tug.
In great but silent glee, our boatmen touched up their horses. They meant to tow Cairo down into the Mississippi, then cut adrift and let it go on a voyage of discovery.
Before they had gone far, however, somebody waked up. First there were drowsy shouts astern, then louder ones and more of them, and then indeed pandemonium broke loose on the old craft. Lights glimmered in the misty darkness and candles were seen dodging to and fro. And now, hearing the clatter of the horse-power and the noise of the paddles from the keel, the Cairoese began hailing vigorously, to learn what was the matter.
“Ho, the barge!” they cried. “You’ve run foul of us! You’ve carried us clean away! Avast thar! Heave-to!”
They thought that some river craft had run into them, and did not for a considerable time discover the hawser, but continued shouting for help to get back to their moorings.
Nearly bursting with suppressed laughter, our arksmen said nothing, but kept the horses hard at work. And with the strong current helping on, both craft were now going down-stream at a great rate.
The Cairoese presently discovered the hawser, and divined the nature of the prank that was being played on them. Their hails for aid and information suddenly changed to threats and execrations not to be recorded here.
Soon, too, a rifle flashed and a bullet sang past; then another, and loads of buckshot began to whistle and to pepper the keel. Our delighted arksmen were all lying low, however, and had the horses well protected. They still held on, and kept the old broadhorn hurrying down the river at twelve-knot speed.
But the denizens of Cairo were not to be long trifled with. Many of them had experience as rivermen, and some were desperate characters. Instead of casting off the hawser, or cutting loose, numbers of them suddenly began hauling their end of it inboard, and despite the draft on it, soon shortened the distance between the two craft, with the evident design of boarding the horse-boat.
But this was what Captain Royce and Shadwell Lincoln had been looking for, and before much progress had been made, the former quietly cut adrift himself, and veering off, let Cairo go on its involuntary voyage down-stream.