y a steam ferry-boat with a peculiar
name and of peculiar construction. The _Cahokia_ looked like a regular
river steamer, except that she had no visible paddle-wheels, not even
one behind, like a wheelbarrow, as some of the very shoal-draught boats
had. For some time Glen could not discover what made her go, though go
she certainly did, moving swiftly and easily across the broad expanse of
tawny waters towards the smoky city on its farther bank. He would not
ask Mr. Hobart, for he loved to puzzle things out for himself if he
possibly could. At length he discovered that the boat was double-hulled,
and that its single paddle-wheel was located between the two hulls. Glen
was obliged to ask the object of this; but when he was told that it was
to protect the wheel from the great ice-cakes that floated down the
river in winter, he wondered that he had not thought of that himself.

So he forgot to look for his governor, or ask about him until they
reached the hotel where they were to get breakfast and spend a few
hours. Then he was told that the person in whom he was interested was
probably General Elting, who had just completed a term of office as
governor of one of the territories, and who was now acting as treasurer
of the very railroad company for which he was to work.

Glen regretted not having seen the ex-governor, but quickly forgot his
slight disappointment in the more novel and interesting things that now
attracted his attention. He had never been in a city before, and was
very glad of a few hours in which to see the sights of this one; for the
train that was to carry them to Kansas City would not leave until
afternoon.

As the offices of the company by whom Mr. Hobart was employed were in
St. Louis, he was obliged to spend all his time in them, and could not
go about with Glen. So, only charging him to be on hand in time for the
train, the engineer left the boy to his own devices.

Glen spent most of his time on the broad levee at the river's edge,
where he was fascinated by the great steamboats, with their lofty
pilot-houses, tall chimneys, roaring furnaces, and crews of shouting
negroes, that continually came and went.

This seemed to be their grand meeting-point. On huge placards, swung
above their gang-planks, Glen read that some of them were bound for New
Orleans and all intermediate ports. Then there were boats for the Red,
Arkansas, Yazoo, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, and a dozen other rivers,
tributary to