“I was right. When the boat slackened speed and then slid her nose into the mud, stopping with that queer, slow suddenness with which a boat does stop on a bank, we all went outside to see the two men off. I was surprised to see that it was daylight, for I had not thought it was so late. But, looking around, I saw the pilot had chosen an excellent spot for the purpose in hand. He had run so close to a wooded knoll in the forest that it was easy to put a gangplank out to reach the firm ground. “As he stepped toward this gangplank Captain Foss paused, and, addressing the mate, said, so that we could all understand him, ‘Do not allow any one to go ashore for half an hour after I do. If neither I nor Major Nevins should return in that time, take four men and come after us.’ Then he turned to Major Nevins, who was close beside him, and said something to him which no one else could hear. The Major nodded, and the two stepped ashore together. “Walking side by side, they disappeared among the trees. Almost breathlessly, it seemed to me, we all listened for a long time. I don’t know how long, though I noticed the mate kept his watch in his hand. Suddenly we heard two shots, almost together. Then there was a pause, then another shot, then another, then silence. “Three or four minutes after this we saw Captain Foss walking back alone toward the boat. Coming on board, he stopped beside the mate and gave him some orders in an undertone, then passed on to his own room. The mate saluted, and, calling two men to him, went somewhere aft, presently returning with a folded cloth in his hand which looked like a sheet. The two men brought a cot with them, and, following the mate with two more men, to whom he called, they went ashore and disappeared in the woods. “When they returned, some quarter of an hour later, there was a burden on the cot, which all four men were carrying, and over this burden the sheet was spread, decently and smoothly. It was carried to Major Nevins’s room and deposited inside. Then the door was locked and the key taken to the Captain’s room. “The boat moved on, and when we reached Helena, which was the next stopping-place, Captain Foss went ashore alone. In an hour’s time he returned to the boat with the Coroner of the town, the local undertaker, and two or three of his assistants. The burden on the cot was taken ashore, and after a little time the boat went on down the river. “If there was ever any prosecution I didn’t hear of it. All I know is that it was then the custom in Arkansas to allow the survivor to go on his own recognizance in any case in which the Coroner was satisfied that there had been a fair fight.” He Played for His Wife _A FREEZE-OUT GAME BETWEEN A HUSBAND AND HIS RIVAL_