"There is little danger of that," said Captain Starr. "The wash would have to be much heavier before it could do any damage."
The morning passed pleasantly enough. The ladies spent the time over their fancy work, while the girls and boys read, played games and also sang and played. There was a piano on the Dora, and the boys had a guitar and a banjo along.
They were at dinner and discussing their next stopping place, when, without warning, there came a shock that threw Aleck flat on the floor, with a trayful of cup-custards over him.
"Fo' de lan' sake!" gasped the colored man. "Has we struck a stone wall?"
"Whow!" ejaculated Fred, who had had some hot coffee spilled on his knee. "This isn't pleasant, I can tell you."
Dick was already running on deck, and the others followed. They saw that Captain Starr's face was full of concern. Not another craft of any kind was in sight, and they were a good two hundred feet from shore.
"Didn't we strike something, Captain?" asked the eldest Rover.
"Reckon we did, sir," was the answer.
"What?"
"A sunken tree, most likely. They are the worst things to be met with on the Mississippi. More than one boat has been sunk by a hidden tree trunk."