During the rest of the day he shook the box frequently to assure himself that the pearl was still there.
Various “slugs,” pearls of irregular shape and of little value, were found during the next week, and the increasing spoil was gloated over at night.
Narcissus was sometimes added to the working force on the flatboat, which was taken up stream as far as the depth permitted, for a fresh start.
“We’r’ goin’ to drag this ol’ river from stem to gudgeon,” declared Sipes. “W’en we git through the mushrats’ll have a tough time hustl’n’ fer food. We’ll git back in the marsh where the big clams stay in them open places ’mong the splatter-docks, where all them lily-flowers grow, an’ we’ll git some jools that it won’t do to drop on yer foot. I seen a clam in the marsh once’t that was over eight inches long, an’ I bet ’e was a hundred years old.”
One night Narcissus tied his little boat to a tree near the spring. He left some fresh vegetables in it, which he had procured up the river. In the morning it was discovered that the boat had been visited. The unknown caller had eaten most of the supplies. Fragments were scattered about, but no tracks were visible. A pile of green corn and some melons met the same fate a few nights afterward, and Sipes decided to ambush the visitor.
He lay on his stomach in the dark, with his gun beside him, and waited. About midnight he heard splashing in the shallow water along the bank, and, a moment later, the dim light revealed a spotted cow helping herself liberally to the contents of the boat. Evidently she had forded the river somewhere up stream, and had accidentally found a welcome base of supplies.
“Come ’ere, Spotty!” Sipes called softly, as he cautiously advanced. The friendly marauder did not seem at all alarmed, and submitted peacefully to the coil of anchor rope that was taken from the bottom of the boat and gently slipped over her horns. She was led out of the water and tied to a tree. Sipes procured a tin pail at the camp, and “Spotty” yielded of her abundance.
There was cream for our coffee the next day. Spotty was nowhere visible. The old man had conducted her into the woods and “anchored ’er,” with a stake and a long rope, in a hidden glade, where there was plenty of grass.
The following evening we were enjoying our pipes, while Narcissus was cleaning up after a delicious dinner. An old man with a heavy hickory cane hobbled into camp. His unkempt white beard nearly reached his waist. His shoulders were bent with age. He appeared to be over eighty.
“Hello, Ancient!” was Sipes’s cheery greeting, as the patriarch came up to the fire.