se bright and beautiful, but my fellow-voyagers still slept. I enjoyed
the scene, and I permitted them to slumber as long as they would.

CHAPTER XVIII.

AT THE MOUTH OF THE OHIO.

It must have been eight o'clock when Flora opened the window of her
room. She told me she had slept soundly, and felt as well as ever she
did in her life. I think Sim would have snored till noon if I had not
called him; but he had slept at least six hours, and I concluded that he
could stand it till night. I gave him the steering oar, and Flora and I
got breakfast. Our first meal on board was not entirely satisfactory,
for we had no table, and only one chair.

I took the helm again while Sim ate his breakfast, and then went to bed
myself; for I found, after my night of watching and excitement, I was in
no condition to work. My companions were as considerate of me as I had
been of them, and permitted me to sleep till the middle of the
afternoon. I was "as good as new" then; and, after we had dined, I put
up a table, and made a couple of stools.

During the day, we met two steamboats, and passed a huge flat-boat
loaded with grain; but no one on board of them seemed to take any
particular notice of us. Every kind of a craft is seen on the great
western rivers, and none is so strange as to excite a sensation in the
mind of the beholder. At six o'clock we had been afloat about twenty
hours; and, according to my estimate, it was nearly time for us to see
the Mississippi. The Wisconsin had widened as we advanced, and I was
sure that we should be in the great river before midnight.

After supper, I discussed with Sim the subject of keeping watch during
the night, and we decided that four hours were enough for each of us to
steer at one time. But we had no means of measuring time in the night,
and we could only guess at the length of the watch. I was to serve from
eight till twelve, and Sim from twelve till four, when I was to take my
place again.

Flora retired early on the second night, and I sent Sim to bed as soon
as it was fairly dark. I was alone again, in the solitude of that waste
of waters. The novelty of the scene had in some measure worn off. I had
nothing but my own thoughts to amuse me. The river appeared still to be
widening, and, as I had anticipated, before my watch had ended, the raft
entered the Mississippi. The river was high, the current much stronger
than it had been in the Wisconsin, and the progress of the raft wa