"You try it, if you dare. If I see one of you take to the water, I'll knock him on the head with an oar."
Tony had not only brought himself safely out of a very dangerous situation, but he had very neatly turned the tables upon those who had intended to rob him, and he felt very jubilant over it. Well, it was something to be proud of, and it was a great pity that he should go deliberately to work and spoil it all by his foolishness.
"I have earned a hundred dollars by this day's work," said Tony, as he wiped the big drops of perspiration from his forehead, "and as soon as I get it safe in my hands, I shall bid a long farewell to St. Louis."
Tony uttered these last words very slowly, as if he were talking about one thing and thinking about another. And so he was. Why should he return to St. Louis at all? he asked himself. Before he left home that morning, something had prompted him to put into his pocket the twenty-five dollars he had saved to buy his sailor's outfit when he reached New Orleans. Why not add to that at least a portion of the amount which Mr. Vandegriff had told him he might retain if he got into a fight with the negroes and came off first best? It is true that he had no clothes except those he carried on his back, and he told himself that he did not want any more. It would be a waste of time to go back to the city after a supply, and he would run the risk of being seen by somebody when he crept out of his father's house with a valise in his hand. There was something about such a proceeding that did not suit Tony. He thought it would make him look too much like a sneak-thief. Besides, he wanted to forget his home entirely, and he could not do it so long as he was wearing any of the clothes his father's money had purchased for him.
"It is now or never," said Tony, to himself "I can go down the river in this skiff to Cairo, purchasing my supplies at farm-houses along the way, and there I shall find some Cincinnati or Pittsburgh boat whose officers will not question me, because they are not acquainted with me. I don't feel just right about taking that money, but I have fairly earned it—I wouldn't go through such a battle again for ten times one hundred dollars—and Mr. Vandegriff said I might have it. Good-by!" he shouted, waving his hand to the negroes, "I'll go and hurry up the tug."
As Tony said this, he pulled toward the Missouri shore, and when he had got out of the current, he turned and rowed up the river. As long as he remained in sight of the barge, he kept his eyes fastened upon the negroes, expecting to see them take to the water and strike out for shore; but as they did nothing of the kind, the boy finally came to the conclusion that they could not swim. At last the current carried them and their floating prison into the bend around which the Armada had disappeared half an hour before, and when the barge was out of sight behind the point, Tony ceased his efforts at the oars and began to look about him.
CHAPTER XII. TONY FINDS A FRIEND.
"The first thing is to find a place in which to hide for awhile," said Tony, to himself. "That tug can't be far away—Mr. Vandegriff said she would come up with the barge by the time the Armada had taken all the coal she wanted—and I must keep out of sight until she takes the barge in tow and goes up the river again. I don't know what folks will think when she goes back to St. Louis without me, and I don't care, either. I don't expect to see any of them again for long years to come. I will send Mr. Vandegriff his money as soon as I reach Cairo, and that will make me square with him. I believe that is the spot I am looking for."