CHAPTER VI.
IN WHICH PHIL WANDERS ABOUT ST. LOUIS, AND HAS A GLEAM OF HOPE.
When I had completed my toilet, I hastened to find Captain Davis. I wasindignant at his course in leaving Kansas City, and I felt that he hadbeen guilty of treachery to me and to the Gracewoods. I went all overthe boat, from the wheel-house to the main deck; but the captain wasnot to be seen. The engineer, in answer to my inquiry, told me CaptainDavis had been up till after midnight, and probably had not yet turnedout.
"What time did the boat leave Kansas City?" I asked.
"About eleven o'clock; possibly it was half past eleven."
"Did you see anything of the Daylight?"
"Not a thing; and you won't see her till we have been in St. Louis twoor three days," replied the engineer. "She can't keep up with the Fawn.Besides, we are full of freight and passengers now, and shall make nolong stops anywhere."
"That's mean," I growled, as I left the engineer.
I wanted to cry with vexation; but I had made up my mind that it wasnot manly to shed tears. I walked up and down the hurricane deck tillbreakfast time. This exercise had a tendency to cool my hot blood, andI considered the situation in a calmer state of mind. I could be of noservice to the Gracewoods, and the father of the family was abundantlyable to take care of them. If I could only have been assured of theirsafety I should have been satisfied.
I went to breakfast; but Captain Davis did not appear till most of thepassengers had left the table. I suspected that he did not wish to seeme; but that did not prevent me from taking a seat at his side, even atthe risk of spoiling his appetite.
"You told me you should not leave Kansas City till the Daylightarrived, Captain Davis," I began.
"Not exactly, Phil. I told you she would probably be there in themorning, or something of that kind."
"Why did you leave, then, before morning?"
"Because my passengers were indignant at the delay I had already madefor your friends."
"It was mean."
"Steady, Phil."
"It was mean to serve me such a trick."
"You seem to think, Phil, that we run this boat simply for youraccommodation. You are slightly mistaken. I have done more now thanmost captains would have done. However, I suppose you feel bad, and Iwon't blame you for being a little cross."
"I didn't mean to be cross," I added, rather vexed that I had spoken sohastily. "I do feel bad. I have lost my money, and lost my friends."
"And I have done the best I could to help you find both."
"You have, Captain Davis. Excuse me for speaking so hastily."
"All right, Phil; but it's a poor way to blame your friends when thingsgo wrong."
"I know it is. Mr. Gracewood had all my money except what I lost, andI haven't a dollar left."
"Well, your passage is paid to St. Louis, and, when the Fawn arrivesthere, we will see what can be done for you."
"Thank you, sir. You have been very kind to me, and I am sorry I saidanything out of the way."
"That's all right now. I have no doubt your friends will come down inthe Daylight, and then all will be well with you. Keep cool, and don'tfret about anything."
I tried to follow this advice, but I found it very hard work. I talkedover all the possibilities and probabilities with the captain, and Iwas almost convinced that I was worrying myself for nothing. We shouldarrive at St. Louis in a couple of days more, and the Daylight wouldsoon follow us. I watched the ever-changing scene on the shores ofthe river with far less delight than when Ella Gracewood sat at myside. We passed large towns and small ones, and I saw the capital ofMissouri, with its State House and other public buildings. Early on themorning of the third day after leaving Kansas City we passed into theMississippi. A little later in the day we were approaching the greatcity of St. Louis.
I gazed, with wonder and astonishment, at the vast piles of buildings.I saw the crowds of people hurrying to and fro on Front Street, whichborders the river; and I could not help feeling what an insignificantmite I was in the mass of humanity. At the Castle, where I was broughtup, I was a person of no little consequence; but here, if I were tofigure at all, it must be as a zero. The people on board of the Fawnseemed to catch the infection of bustling activity, for they began tohurry back and forth, collecting their baggage, and making preparationsto land.
The boat ran up to the levee, and another lively scene ensued. Hackmenstruggled for the passengers, and porters and draymen added their shareto the din. I was bewildered, and gazed with my mouth wide open atthe bustling life before me. In about an hour the passengers had alldisappeared, and I was almost alone on the boiler deck, from which Iviewed the panorama of civilization, so new and strange, which waspassing before me. The drays were carting off the freight which wehad brought, some of it from the vicinity of the Rocky Mountains. Thecaptain had told me I might occupy my state-room, and take my mealswith him in the cabin, till the arrival of my friends. I had nothingto do but wait, and when the scene in the vicinity of the Fawn becamerather tame, I went on shore. The levee for half a mile was flankedwith steamboats, and in several places the excitement I had justwitnessed was repeated.
Leaving Front Street, I walked up Market Street, till I came to theCourt House. Following Fourth Street, I halted, absolutely bewilderedby the magnificent proportions of the Planters' Hotel, which I believehas since been destroyed by fire. But there was no end to my amazement,and I will not attempt to paint the impressions of a green boy as hegazed for the first time upon the elegant public buildings of St.Louis, and at the splendid private residences. All day long I wanderedabout the city, with my mouth, as well as my eyes and ears, wide open.I gazed at the rich displays of dry goods in the shop windows, andconcluded that the people of the city were made of money if they couldafford to buy such gorgeous apparel. I looked for hours at the picturesat the print-sellers', and stared at the costly equipages in whichelegantly-dressed ladies were riding. I only returned to the steamerwhen my legs ached so that they would hardly sustain the weight of mybody.
In the cabin, at supper, I astonished the captain with a glowingaccount of what I had seen, just as though the scene was as new andstrange to him as to me. The next day I repeated my explorations; butat dinner time I examined all the steamers at the levee to satisfymyself that the Daylight had not yet arrived. I ventured inside of thePlanters' Hotel, and some of the public buildings, and the interior ofthem was even more wonderful to me than the exterior had been.
Two days familiarized me in some degree with the wonders of the greatcity, and after that I was able to walk through the streets with mymouth shut. I felt that I ought to be at work. It was time for me tocommence my new career of existence. In my walks through the city,I had stopped frequently to observe the work where new buildings werein process of erection. After examining the work for a while, I cameto the conclusion that I had a great deal to learn before I could be acarpenter. However, I intended to make a beginning as soon as I could.
PHIL AND CAPTAIN DAVIS. Page 67.]
"The Daylight is just coming in, Phil," said Captain Davis, as I camein to supper after the tramps of the second day in the city.
"I am so glad!" I exclaimed.
"Eat your supper, Phil, and I will go with you then to the place whereshe lies."
"Do you suppose the Gracewoods are on board of her?"
"I have no doubt they are; but I should not be at all alarmed even ifthey were not."
"Why not?"
"They may have missed the boat; but we won't guess at anything again.The Daylight passed us just as you came on board, and will make alanding below."
I bolted my supper, and was so excited I could not have told whether Iwas eating bread or shavings. When the captain had finished his meal,we hastened down the levee, and were soon on board of the Daylight. Thepassengers were just going on shore, and I watched the stairs by whichthey were descending to the main deck to catch the first glimpse of anyfamiliar face. But I was disappointed; and when the last
one came down,my heart sank within me.
Captain Davis ascended to the cabin, and I followed, actually tremblingwith anxiety. We found the clerk in his office, at work upon themanifest.
"Did you take on any passengers at Delaware City?" asked Captain Davis.
"Yes; a dozen of them."
"Any by the name of Gracewood?"
"No," replied the clerk, after he had consulted the list.
"Are you sure, sir?" I asked, unwilling to believe the unpleasantstatement.
"Very sure."
"Please to look again," said I.
"You must excuse me; I am very busy. There is the list; you canexamine it for yourself."
I looked over the names, but that of Gracewood did not occur.
"They are not here, Phil," said Captain Davis.
"No, they are not," I replied, gloomily.
"We will wait a little while, till the hurry is over, and then we mayascertain something about your friends."
We went out upon the boiler deck, where we could overlook everythingthat transpired. The deck hands were landing freight and baggage, andeverybody was hurrying as though his life depended upon his celerity.
"I shall believe they were all drowned if I don't hear something fromthem soon," I said.
"That is not at all probable, and I shall not believe anything of thatkind till I have positive evidence of it. It is just as easy, and agreat deal more pleasant, to think everything is right with them,instead of wrong, until we get the facts."
"You haven't the same interest in the matter that I have, captain."
"That may be; but I don't believe in making myself miserable aboutanything on mere guesswork. I think it is all right with your friends.But I must say, if you don't hear from them to-day, we must makedifferent arrangements for you, for my owners intend to send the Fawndown to New Orleans with a freight which we take on at Alton. We shallgo up there to-morrow."
"What will you do with Mr. Gracewood's goods and baggage?"
"Send them to the storehouse. There!" exclaimed he, suddenly, as hepointed to a man who was wheeling a box on shore. "That is one of thehands who went with the Gracewoods in the small boat. And there is theother. We shall soon know what has become of your friends."
The fact that these two men had come down in the Daylight was hopeful,at least, and Captain Davis and I hastened down to question them; butthe master of the steamer would not release them from their work, andwe were obliged to wait till the hurry was over before we obtained thecoveted information.