ich ran from the stern forward to the bank ahead of the bow, so
as to hold the boat offshore far enough to keep it afloat in case the
river should fall appreciably during the night. The pilot emerged behind
them, glanced down at the captain overseeing the mooring operations, and
then spoke to Tom, who made him acquainted with Patience and invited him
to join them. He gladly accepted the invitation and soon had interested
listeners to his store of knowledge about the river. Darkness now had
descended and he pointed at the stream.

"There's somethin' peculiar to th' Missouri," he said. "Notice th' glow
of th' water, several shades lighter than th' darkness on th' bank? On
the Mississippi, now, th' water after dark only makes th' night all th'
blacker; but on this stream th' surface can be seen pretty plain, though
not far ahead. We take full advantage of that when we have to sail after
dark. We would be goin' on now, except that we got news of a new and
very bad place a little further on, an' we'd rather tackle it when we
can see good."

"Oh," murmured Patience. "A ghost road leading through a void."

A long, dark shape appeared on the "ghost road" and bore silently and
swiftly down upon the boat, struck the hull a glancing blow, scraped
noisily, ducked under, turned partly and scurried off astern. It was a
trimmed tree trunk, and by its lowness in the water it told of a journey
nearly ended. Before long one end would sink deeper and deeper, finally
fastening in the alluvial bottom and, anchoring securely, lie in wait to
play battering ram against some ill-fated craft surging boldly against
the current.

The lanterns on shore began to move boatward as the last of the wooding
was finished and the fuel boxes again were full. Farther back among the
trees some trappers had started a fire and were enjoying themselves
around it, their growing hilarity and noise suggesting a bottle being
passed too often. Gradually the boat became quiet and after another
smoke the pilot arose and excused himself, saying that it was expected
that the journey would be resumed between three and four o'clock in the
morning.

"How long will it take us to reach Independence Landing?" asked
Patience.

The pilot shook his head. "That depends on wind, water, and th' strength
of th' current, though th' last don't make very much difference
sometimes."

Tom looked up inquiringly. "I don't just understand th' last part," he
confessed. "Mebby I didn'