s not on the lookout for me. I ran
alongside, and leaped upon the platform; but my clumsy assistant did not
present himself to give me a welcome. A cold chill crept through my
veins again, as I thought that he might have tumbled into the water, and
been swept away by the current. The door of the house was closed, as I
had left it, in order to keep the night air from Flora. Dreading lest
some mishap had overtaken her also, I pushed the door open and rushed
in.

My fears had been vain and foolish. Flora sat in her arm-chair at the
stove, just as I had so often seen her in the kitchen of Captain
Fishley, as calm and composed as though she had been on the dry land.
Opposite her Sim Gwynn sat on the floor, fat and happy, and wholly
undisturbed.

"What are you about, Sim?" I demanded, sharply; for I was vexed to see
him taking it so coolly, while I had almost worried the life out of me.

"About nothin'; been waiting for you," replied my deck hand, with his
customary grin.

"What did you let the raft go adrift for?"

"I didn't let it go adrift."

"Why didn't you keep her up to the shore?"

"She kept herself there."

"No, she didn't."

"Well, she's here--isn't she?"

"She is here, just where she ought not to be," I added, puzzled by the
apparent stupidity of Sim. "You ought to stay outside when I leave you
to take care of her."

"Miss Flora called me in to have me tell her what the matter was, and
she kept talking to me ever since," pleaded Sim.

"Don't scold him, Buckland. It was my fault; but I did not know anything
was wrong," interposed Flora.

"I'm not scolding him; but he should look out for the raft when I leave
her in his care."

"Well, I did look out for it. It didn't run away from me, and here it
is."

"If it didn't run away from you, it ran away with you."

"No, it didn't; here it is just as you left it."

"But the raft has come down stream more than half a mile since I left
it."

"Hookie! What's that?" asked Sim, opening his eyes.

"Didn't you know the raft had broken loose, and travelled down stream
half a mile or more?" I asked, filled with astonishment.

"I didn't know anything at all about it," protested Sim, vigorously.

"I'm sure I did not know that she had moved an inch," added Flora.

"That's strange," I continued, laughing. "When I came out of the swamp,
I couldn't find the raft, and I was afraid you would get to New Orleans
before I could catch you. Then I feared Sim had falle