think of abandoning it. I was going to build a house upon it;
and my fancy pictured its interior, and the pleasure we might enjoy in
it, floating down the river. It was a very brilliant ideal which I had
made up in connection with the new craft.

In due time I reached Riverport, and obtained the mail-bag. At the
post-office, I happened to meet the landlord of the hotel, who wanted to
know how Squire Fishley was. I told him he was quite well.

"They say there was a man drowned in the river last night," he added.
"I'm glad to hear from Squire Fishley."

"It wasn't the squire," I replied. "He went home with me."

"It was somebody else then; but nobody seems to know who it was."

I did not enlighten him. In the Riverport Standard there was an item in
regard to the accident, which stated that "an elderly gentleman, under
the influence of liquor, had fallen from the gang-plank of the steamer
into the river," and that "a young man had attempted to save him; but,
as neither of them had been heard from, it was supposed that both were
drowned. But it was possible they had been saved, and had continued on
their journey in that or some other steamer." I learned that a great
deal had been said about the affair in the town, and I never heard that
any satisfactory solution of the mystery was obtained. The squire was
safe, and that was all I cared for.

At a store where I was not known I purchased ten pounds of nails, and
such other articles of hardware as would be needed in carrying on the
work upon the raft. The method of supplying Sim with provisions was a
more difficult problem; but, at a restaurant near the steamboat landing,
I bought a boiled ham, which I thought would keep my hungry assistant
alive for several days. I also purchased a keg of crackers, half a
cheese, a couple of loaves of soft bread, and a basket to carry them in.
I was rich, and did not mind the expense.

When I arrived home, I took the basket and the hardware to the back side
of the barn; but before I went to bed I saw Sim, and told him where they
were. Before I made my appearance in the morning he had carried them
away to the swamp. Everything had worked successfully thus far. Sim was
in no danger of starving, and I was relieved of the necessity of feeding
him from the buttery of the house.

I gave Squire Fishley a copy of the Standard, and pointed out to him the
paragraph in relation to the "elderly gentleman under the influence of
liquor." He turned