up to the hospital or stays with us,
I'll be glad to have you for your help and company."

"I'm in luck." Terabon laughed with relief.

Just that way the Mississippi River's narrow channel brought the River
Prophet and the river reporter together. Terabon went up town and bought
some clothes, some writing paper, a big blank notebook, and a bottle of
fountain-pen ink. With that outfit he returned on board, and a delivery
car brought down his share of things to eat.

The doctor said Prebol ought to go into the hospital for at least a
week, and Terabon found Prebol's pirate friends, hidden up the slough on
their boat, not venturing to go out except at night. They took the
little red shanty-boat up the slough, and Prebol went to the hospital.

Rasba, frankly curious about the man who wrote for newspapers for a
living, listened to accounts of an odd and entertaining occupation. He
asked about the Palura shooting which everyone was talking about, and
when Terabon described it as he had witnessed it, Rasba shook his head.

"Now they'll close up that big market of sin?" he asked. "They've all
scattered around."

"Yes, and they scattered with my skiff, too, and probably robbed Carline
of his boat----"

"Carline! You know him?"

"I came down with him from Yankee Bar, and we went up to Palura's
together. I lost him in the shuffle, when the big cop killed Palura."

"And Mrs. Carline, Nelia Crele?" Rasba demanded.

"Why--I--they said she'd landed in. She's gone, too----"

"You know her?"

"Why, yes--I----"

"So do I. Those books," he waved his hand toward the loaded shelves,
"she gave them all to me for my mission boat!"

Terabon stared. He went to the shelves and looked at the volumes. In
each one he found the little bookmark which she had used in cataloguing
them:

Nelia Carline,
A Loved Book.
No. 87

A jealous pang seized him, in spite of his reportorial knowledge that
jealousy is vanity for a literary person.

"I 'low we mout 's well drop out," Rasba suggested. "Missy Crele's down
below some'rs. Her boat floated out to'd mornin', one of the boys
said."

CHAPTER XXX

Carline had discovered his wife in the excitement at Palura's, and with
the cunning of a drunken man had shadowed her. He followed her down to
Mousa Bayou, and saw her go on board her cabin-boat. He watched, with
more cunning, to see for whom s