: their day is past. Next, instead of calling out a
score of hands to man the stage, a couple of men and a hatful of
steam lowered it from the derrick where it was suspended, launched it,
deposited it in just the right spot, and the whole thing was over
and done with before a mate in the olden time could have got his
profanity-mill adjusted to begin the preparatory services. Why this new
and simple method of handling the stages was not thought of when the
first steamboat was built, is a mystery which helps one to realize what
a dull-witted slug the average human being is.

We finally got away at two in the morning, and when I turned out at
six, we were rounding to at a rocky point where there was an old
stone warehouse--at any rate, the ruins of it; two or three decayed
dwelling-houses were near by, in the shelter of the leafy hills; but
there were no evidences of human or other animal life to be seen.
I wondered if I had forgotten the river; for I had no recollection
whatever of this place; the shape of the river, too, was unfamiliar;
there was nothing in sight, anywhere, that I could remember ever having
seen before. I was surprised, disappointed, and annoyed.

We put ashore a well-dressed lady and gentleman, and two well-dressed,
lady-like young girls, together with sundry Russia-leather bags. A
strange place for such folk! No carriage was waiting. The party moved
off as if they had not expected any, and struck down a winding country
road afoot.

But the mystery was explained when we got under way again; for these
people were evidently bound for a large town which lay shut in behind
a tow-head (i.e., new island) a couple of miles below this landing.
I couldn't remember that town; I couldn't place it, couldn't call its
name. So I lost part of my temper. I suspected that it might be St.
Genevieve--and so it proved to be. Observe what this eccentric river had
been about: it had built up this huge useless tow-head directly in
front of this town, cut off its river communications, fenced it away
completely, and made a 'country' town of it. It is a fine old place,
too, and deserved a better fate. It was settled by the French, and is a
relic of a time when one could travel from the mouths of the Mississippi
to Quebec and be on French territory and under French rule all the way.

Presently I ascended to the hurricane deck and cast a longing glance
toward the pilot-house.

Chapter 24 My Incognito is Exploded

AFTE