“Well, she won’t take after her pa then, that’s all, Maurice.”

“Why, was he small,” asked the other.

“I always thought so, for a man; not quite as tall as I am; and with a voice like a lady’s.  I liked old The; and I wish he had only lived long enough to deliver his own money to Bunny,” Thad went on.

“I was wondering where that fellow came from, Thad.”

“Who, our visitor of last night and this morning?  Oh!  I suppose he’s got a shack somewhere below here, and was on the way home from an up-river town when he sighted our craft, and crept aboard to see if there was anything he could pick up.”

“That’s about the right thing.  Say, I bet he was hopping mad when he tore open that package, and saw what he had drawn in the lottery, eh, Thad?”

“Mad would never fill the bill.  I hope he don’t wait up for us, and give us a shot or two wlien we sail past his cabin.  I’d hate the worst kind to have my skin filled with shot; and nobody could ever prove who did it.  That’s one reason why I’ve steered further away from the bank than we generally keep, you notice, Maurice,”

“Well, that’s level old head on your shoulders, my boy.  The fellow who gets you napping will have to tumble out of bed right early in the morning, I reckon,” laughed Maurice, patting his chum patronizingly on the shoulders.

“And I keep one eye on the shore, too, pretty much all the time.  Just let me see anybody moving, and I’m ready to drop flat till the storm rolls by.  What’s that over there right now, Maurice?”

He pointed with quivering finger at some object that seemed to be bending down the bushes on a certain projecting point which they happened to be approaching.

“Don’t worry; it’s all right.  That is only a cow, for you can see her horns from here, Thad.”

“But seeing horns sometimes spells trouble.  They say the devil mounts a fine pair, you know.  A cow, Maurice, means human kind near by; that stands for a cabin; and how do we know but what our sorrel-top friend of this morning owns the ranch.  Just lie down behind that box, or go into the cabin till we drift past.  I’ll feel easier when we leave the thing a mile above.”

A hail from the shore presently came floating over the water; but it was a negro who called, and he only wanted to know if they had any coffee they would spare him.

Since their entire stock amounted to just enough for a scant week, with meagre chances for replenishing the caddy when exhausted, since their funds were very low, of course they had to reply in the negative.

The darky was inclined to be talkative, as is usually the case, and even followed them half a mile along the bank, trying to find some basis for a dicker.

“Thank goodness he can’t cross that creek!” exclaimed Maurice, as they passed the mouth of quite a good sized stream that flowed into the enormous river, adding its mite to the gigantic flood.