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[Illustration: On the top of the ridge-boards, the lads saw a
half-dressed <DW64> boy.]




THE RIVER MOTOR BOAT BOYS
ON THE MISSISSIPPI

OR

On the Trail to the Gulf

By HARRY GORDON

Author of

  "The River Motor Boat Boys on the Colorado,"
  "The River Motor Boat Boys on the St. Lawrence,"
  "The River Motor Boat Boys on the Amazon,"
  "The River Motor Boat Boys on the Columbia,"
  "The River Motor Boat Boys on the Ohio."

A. L. BURT COMPANY

NEW YORK




Copyright, 1913

By A. L. Burt Company

THE SIX RIVER MOTOR BOYS ON THE MISSISSIPPI




Contents

  I--A Rambler Reception Day
  II--Alex. Goes Fishing
  III--A Waif from the River
  IV--Two Boys Get a Tumble
  V--A New Captain on Board
  VI--Captain Joe Makes a Hit
  VII--Searching for the _Rambler_
  VIII--Faces at the Window
  IX--Red Declines to Talk
  X--More River Outlaws
  XI--Fire-Faces on the Island
  XII--Half Full of Diamonds
  XIII--A River Robber in a New Role
  XIV--Alex. Breaks Furniture
  XV--The Leather Bag Missing
  XVI--What Dropped on Deck
  XVII--Getting out of the Mud
  XVIII--Swept Into a Swamp
  XIX--Pilgrims from Old Chicago
  XX--The Darkey up the Tree
  XXI--Dodging a Police Boat
  XXII--The Sheriff Knows a Lot
  XXIII--A Night in New Orleans
  XXIV--Something Doing All the Time
  XXV--Commonplace, After All




THE SIX RIVER MOTOR BOYS ON THE MISSISSIPPI




CHAPTER I

A RAMBLER RECEPTION DAY


A white bulldog of ferocious aspect lay sound asleep under a small
table. Lying across the dog's neck, with his soft muzzle hidden
between capable paws, was a quarter-grown grizzly bear. Now and then
Captain Joe, as the dog was named, stirred uneasily in his sleep, as
if in remonstrance at the liberties which Teddy, the cub, was taking
with his person. The bulldog and the cub snored in unison!

The table under which the animals slept stood in the middle of the
small cabin of the motor boat _Rambler_, and the _Rambler_ was pulling
at her anchor chain in the muddy water of the Mississippi
river--pulling and jerking for all the world like a fat pig with a
ring in his nose trying to get rid of the line which held him in
captivity.

Although early in November, there were wandering flakes of snow in the
air, and a chill wind from the northwest was sweeping over the
Mississippi valley. There had been several days of continuous rain,
and, at Cairo, where the motor boat lay, both the Mississippi and the
Ohio rivers were out of their banks.

In spite of the wind and snow, however, the cabin of the _Rambler_ was
cozy and warm. In front of the table where the bulldog and the young
bear lay stood a coal stove, on the top of which two boys of sixteen,
Clayton Emmett and Alexander Smithwick, were cooking ham and eggs, the
appetizing flavor of which filled the little room. A dish of sliced
potatoes stood not far away, and over the cherry-red coils of an
electric stove at the rear of the cabin a great pot of coffee was
sizzling and adding its fragrance to rich contributions of the frying
pan.

While the boys, growing hungrier every second, stirred the fire and
laid the table, footsteps were heard on the forward deck of the motor
boat, and then, without even announcing his presence by a knock, a
roughly-dressed man of perhaps forty years stepped into the cabin and
stood for a moment staring at the bulldog and the bear, stood with a
hand on the knob of the door, as if ready for retreat, his lips open,
as if the view of the interior had checked words half spoken. Alex.
Smithwick regarded the man for a moment with a flash of anger in his
eyes, then he caught the humor of the situation and resolved to punish
the intruder for his impudence in walking into the cabin without a bit
of ceremony.

"Look out for the bulldog and the bear!" he warned. "They consumed two
river-men last week! The bulldog tears 'em down, an' the bear eats
'em!"

"What kind of a menagerie is this?" began the visitor, but Alex. gave
the bulldog a touch with his foot, and the dog