XVII. At Anchor 161 XVIII. At Breakfast 170 XIX. Scuttle Chatter 179 XX. At Memphis 190 XXI. A Wrestle with the River 198 XXII. In the Fog 209 XXIII. Through the Crevasse 219 XXIV. A Little Amateur Surgery 228 XXV. A Voyage in the Woods 236 XXVI. The Crew and their Captain 245 XXVII. A Struggle in the Dark 251 XXVIII. A Hard-won Victory 261 XXIX. Rescue 278 XXX. A Yazoo Afternoon 291 XXXI. An Offer of Help 304 XXXII. Publicity 312 XXXIII. Down “The Coast” 324 XXXIV. A Talk on Deck 336 XXXV. Looking Forward 348 XXXVI. The Last Landing 361 XXXVII. Red-Letter Days in New Orleans 370 XXXVIII. “It” 379 The Last of the Flatboats CHAPTER I THE RESCUE OF THE PIGS “Give it up, boys; you’re tired, and you’ve been in the water too long already. And, besides, I’ve decided that this job’s done.” It was Ed Lowry who spoke. He was lying on the sand under a big sycamore tree that had slid, roots and all, off the river bank above, and now stood leaning like a drunken man trying to stand upright. Ed was a tall, slender, and not at all robust boy, with a big head, and a tremendous shock of half-curly hair to make it look bigger. The four boys whom he addressed had been diving in the river and struggling with something under the water, but without success. Three of them accepted Ed’s suggestion, as all of them were accustomed to do, not because he had any particular right to make suggestions to them, but because he was so far the moral and intellectual superior of every boy in town, and was always so wise and kindly and just in his decisions, that they had come to regard his word as a sort of law without themselves quite knowing why. Three of the boys left the river, therefore, shook the water off their sunburned bodies,--for they had no towels,--and slipped into the loose shirt and cottonade trousers that constituted their sole costume. The other boy--Ed’s younger brother, Philip--was not so ready to accept suggestions. In response to Ed’s call, he cried out in a sort of mock heroics:-- “Never say die! In the words of the immortal Lawrence, or some other immortal who died a long time ago, ‘Don’t give up the ship!’ _I’m_ going to get that pig if it takes all summer.” The boys all laughed as they threw themselves down upon the sand by Ed. “Might as well let him alone,” said Will Moreraud; “he never will quit.”