ing a cargo of wild Kentuckians and other passengers on board, among
whom was an old lady, who, having bought a winter stock of bacon, pork,
&c., was returning to her home on the banks of the Mississippi. The
"Burster" was a St. Louis boat, having on board a lot of wild
back-woodsmen, &c. The two rivals met at the confluence of the Ohio and
the Mississippi. Beat or burst was the alternative. Victory hung in one
scale; in the other, defeat and death. The "Screecher" was a little
ahead; gradually the "Burster" closes. The silence of a death-struggle
prevails. The Screechers put on more wood, and place more weight on the
safety-valve; she bounds ahead. Slowly, but surely, the "Burster" draws
nearer. The captain of the "Screecher" looks wistfully at the fires, for
the boilers are well-nigh worn out. The "Burster" is almost abreast. The
enraged Kentuckians gather round the captain, and, in fury, ask--"Why
don't you put more weight on?"

CAPTAIN--"Boilers are done; can't bear it nohow."

KENTUCKIANS--"Can't bear it? You chicken-hearted coward--"

Knives are drawn, pistols click, a hundred voices exclaim, "Get on it
yourself, or I'll bury this knife below your outer skin." Their eyes
gleam--their hands are raised for the deadly blow. Wild boys, these
Kentuckians; the captain knows it too well. A choice of deaths is before
him; excitement decides--he mounts the breach. The "Screecher" shoots
through the waters, quivering from head to stern. The Kentucky boys yell
with delight and defiance. Again the "Burster" closes on her rival.
Kentuckians brandish their knives, and call to the negroes, who are
already half-roasted, "Pile on the wood; pile like agony; I'll ram a
nigger into the fire for every foot the 'Burster' gains." Soon a cry of
exultation is heard on board the "Burster," as she shoots up close to
her rival. The enraged Kentuckians shout out, "Oil, I swear!--oil, by
all creation!" "I smell it!" exclaims the old lady with the store of
bacon. Her eyes flash fire; a few words to her slaves Pompey and Caesar,
and casks of bacon, smashed quick as thought, lay before the furnace. In
it all goes; the "Screecher" is wild; the captain bounds up and down
like a parched pea on a filing-pan; once more she flies ahead of her
rival "like a streak of greased lightning." Suddenly--horror of
horrors!--the river throbs beneath; the forest trees quake like aspen
leaves; the voice of many thunders rends the air; clouds of splinters
and hum