QUARREL WITH THE CAPTAIN. 97 



join her children, but who had not wherewithal to pay 

 her passage. An old Ponnsylvanian had informed me 

 that the captain had been abusing me. This, and the 

 question, " Who gave me permission to give away the 

 provisions ? " put me in a rage, and I asked him, rudely, 

 in return, "If he would rather that I should throw 

 them overboard ? " The " yes " was hardly out of his 

 mouth, when plate and food were floating in the 

 Arkansas. He gave vent to his rage by springing on 

 me, and seizing me by the breast ; in return I sent him 

 sprawling against the opposite side. He was quickly 

 up again, and snatching up a piece of broken hand- 

 spike, made a desperate blow at me, which I luckily 

 avoided. My fury now knew no bounds ; I grasped 

 his throat, and was dragging him to the side to throw 

 him overboard, when his cries brought the engineer 

 and boatswain to the rescue. One of them pulled the 

 captain away by his legs, while the other took me by 

 the shoulders, and then both carried the captain, whose 

 head was bleeding severely, into the cabin. I was 

 ordered to go directly to the book-keeper, received my 

 pay, the steamer stopped, I was landed on the bank, 

 the boat returned on board, and I found myself in quite 

 a new and extraordinary position. 



All around me was a solitary wilderness — the river 

 behind me, the ground frozen hard, and covered with 

 a thin sheet of snow — a cold north wind blowing 

 through the leafless branches. I felt in my pocket 

 for my fire apparatus — it was all wet; not a single 

 grain of powder in my powder-horn, and only one 

 barrel loaded. I thought it would never do to dis- 

 charge my gun for the sake of lighting a fire, and remain 

 9 



