launch were three poles of good size, each fixed so that
a small, square board could be fastened to one end. Dick took one of
these poles and Tom and Sam seized the others.

"Now, Hans, Fred, and Songbird, get in the stern," said Dick.

"That's the talk, and I'll try to back her at the same time!" cried
Harold Bird. "All ready?"

In a minute they were ready to try the experiment and the power was
turned on. As the screw churned the water and mud once more, the
three Rovers pushed on the poles with all their might.

"Hurrah! she's moving!" cried Fred.

He was right, the _Venus_ was slowly but surely leaving the bank of
mud. Suddenly she gave a twist and then ran backwards rapidly, and
then the power was shut off again.

"Free at last!" cried Tom. "Now what's the next move?"

"We must find the proper channel into the bayou," answered the owner
of the launch.

Dick and Tom went to the front with their poles and the power was
turned to a slow speed forward. The Rovers felt their way in the
water with the poles, calling to turn to the right or the left, as
the case required. By this means they soon left the treacherous mud
bars behind and reached a point where forward progress was more certain.

"Now then, let us look around and see if we can find any traces of
the _Dora_," said Dick.

"The houseboat couldn't have come over that spot--she would have been
stuck sure," said Fred.

"Years ago Solly Jackson used to be a riverman," said Harold Bird.
"He would probably know exactly how to get the houseboat into the
bayou. Gasper Pold couldn't run the craft himself, so he had to take
in a fellow like Solly."

As the gasoline launch entered the bayou all kept their eyes on the
alert, and presently Songbird set up a shout:

"Look over yonder--there are some sort of marks on the bank!"

He was right, and they turned the launch in the direction indicated,
advancing slowly. There was a sharp cut in the mud and also several
pole holes which looked to be rather fresh. A few feet further on
they came to a piece of a pole painted blue.

"That settles it," exclaimed Dick. "They certainly brought the
houseboat in here. Our poles were painted blue, and that is a piece
of one."

"The very one I cracked in the storm," added Sam.

"I can explain it," said Harold Bird. "They got the houseboat around
the mud bars, but the force of the current, combined with the current
in the bayou, swung the craft up against this bank. Then t