ter background of sky. In the other direction all was
apparently water, a turbulent waste, and one glance deciding my action,
I quickly struck out, partially breasting the downward sweep of the
current, in a desperate struggle to attain land.

I discovered this to be no easy task, as the swirl of the river bore
strongly toward the opposite shore, yet I had always been a powerful
swimmer, and although now seriously hampered by boots, and heavy,
sodden clothing, succeeded in making steady progress. A log swept by
me, white bursts of spray illuminating its sides, and I grappled it
gratefully, my fingers finding grip on the sodden bark. Using this for
partial support, and ceasing to battle so desperately against the
down-sweep of the current, I managed finally to work my way into an
eddy, struggling onward until my feet at last touched bottom at the end
of a low, out-cropping point of sand. This proved to be a mere spit,
but I waded ashore, water streaming from my clothing, conscious now of
such complete exhaustion that I sank instantly outstretched upon the
sand, gasping painfully for breath, every muscle and nerve throbbing.

The night was intensely still, black, impenetrable. It seemed as
though no human being could inhabit that desolate region. I lifted my
head to listen for the slightest sound of life, and strained my eyes to
detect the distant glimmer of a light in any direction. Nothing
rewarded the effort. Yet surely along here on this long-settled west
bank of the Mississippi I could not be far removed from those of my
race, for I knew that all along this river shore were cultivated
plantations and little frontier towns irregularly served by passing
steamboats. We had not been far to the northward of St. Louis at
midnight, and Thockmorton confidently expected to tie up the _Warrior_
at the wharf before that city early the next morning. So, surely,
somewhere near at hand, concealed amid the gloom, would be discovered
the habitations of men--either the pretentious mansion of some
prosperous planter, or the humble huts of his black slaves. Could I
attain to either one I would be certain of welcome, for hospitality
without questioning was the code of the frontier.

The night air increased in chilliness as the hours approached dawn, and
I shivered in my wet clothes, although this only served to arouse me
into immediate action. Realizing more than ever as I again attempted
to move my weakness and exhaustion