Raftmates: A Story of the Great River

by Kirk Munroe

  CHAPTER XXXVII.

  BIM'S 'COON.

  Through the last week of November and the first three of December ourraftmates drifted steadily southward down the great river. Although itwas the most unpleasant season of the year, and they encountered bothcold rains and bitter winds that chilled them to the marrow, the boysthoroughly enjoyed their experience. They could always retreat to the"shanty," which Solon kept well filled with warmth and comfort, andthey had the satisfaction of an uninterrupted progress. The managementof the raft called for a vast amount of hard and monotonous work; butit gave them splendid muscles and tremendous appetites. They wereobliged to maintain a constant lookout for bars, reefs, snags, andup-bound river craft, and by means of the long sweeps at either end ofthe raft head it this way or that to avoid these obstacles and keep thechannel. They were always on the move from sunrise to sunset, andgenerally travelled on moonlit nights as well. If the night promisedto be dark or stormy they tied up at the nearest bank.

  At such times the outside blackness, the howling wind, drivingrain-squalls, and dashing waves only heightened the interior cosiness,the light, warmth, and general comfort of their floating home. In itthey played games, sang songs to the accompaniment of Solon's banjo,told stories, taught the dogs tricks; or, under Billy Brackett'sdirection, pegged away at engineering problems, such as are constantlyarising in the course of railway construction. Even Winn tried hishand at these; for under the stimulus of his companions' enthusiasm hewas beginning to regard the career of an engineer as one of the mostdesirable and manly in which a young fellow could embark.

  This voyage into the world, with such guides and associates as BillyBrackett, Glen Elting, and Binney Gibbs, was proving of inestimablevalue to this boy. Not only were his ideas of life broadened and hisstock of general information increased by it, but he was rapidlylearning to appreciate the beauty of modest pretensions, and aself-reliance based upon knowledge and strength, as compared with theboastfulness and self-conceit of ignorance.

  Sometimes the _Venture_ was tied up for the night near other rafts, andits crew exchanged visits with theirs. The regular river raftsmen weregenerally powerful young giants, rough and unlettered, but agood-natured, happy-go-lucky lot, full of tales of adventure in thewoods or on the river, to which the boys listened with a never-failingdelight. Nor were the raftmates at all behindhand in this interchangeof good stories; for they could tell of life on the Plains or inCalifornia, of Indians, buffalo, mountains, deserts, and gold-mines, towhich their auditors listened with wide-open eyes and gaping mouths.During the pauses Solon was always ready with some account of thewonderful performances of his long-ago 'coon dog Bijah.

  So wise did our raftmates become concerning 'coons and their habits,from Solon's teachings, that finally nothing would satisfy them but a'coon hunt of their own. Billy Brackett was certain that Bim, who bythis time had fully recovered from the effects of his burns, wouldprove as good at finding 'coons as he had at everything else in whichhe had been given a chance. Solon was doubtful, because of Bim's colorand the length of his tail.

  "I hain't nebber see no fust-class 'coon dawg wha' warn't yallar an'stumpy tail lak my Bijah war," he would remark, gazing reflectively atBim, and shaking his head. "Of cose dish yer Bim dawg uncommonknowin', an' maybe him tree a 'coon 'mos' ez good ez Bijah; but hit's agif, an' a mighty skurce gif 'mong dawgs."

  "Oh, come off, Solon!" Billy Brackett would answer. "You just waittill you see Bim tree a 'coon. He'll do it so quick, after we once getinto a 'coon neighborhood, that your Bijah would be left a thousandmiles behind, and you won't ever want to mention his name again."

  So one night when the _Venture_ was well down towards the lower end ofthe State of Arkansas a grand 'coon hunt was arranged. They drew lotsto decide who should be left behind in charge of the raft, and, much tohis disgust, the unwelcome task fell to Glen. So he remained on boardwith Nanita and Cherub, as the pup had been named in honor of Bim,though it was generally called "Cheer-up," and the others sallied forthinto the woods.

  They were well provided with fat pine torches and armed with axes. Bimwas full of eager excitement, and dashed away into the darkness themoment they set foot on shore. His incessant barking showed him to befirst on this side and then on that, while once in a while they caughta glimpse of his white form glancing across the outer rim of theircircle of torchlight.

  "Isn't he hunting splendidly?" cried Billy Brackett, with enthusiasm.

  "Yes, sah," replied Solon; "but him huntin' too loud. We ain't gettin'to de place yet, an' ef he don' quit he barkin', him skeer off all de'coon in de State."

  So Bim was called in, and restrained with a bit of rope until acorn-field was reached that Solon pronounced the right kind of a placefrom which to make a start. Then the eager dog was again set free, andin less than a minute was heard giving utterance to the peculiaryelping note that announced his game as "treed."

  "What did I tell you?" shouted Billy Brackett, triumphantly, as hestarted on a run for the point from which the sounds proceeded. "How'sthat for--" but at that instant the speaker tripped over a root, andmeasured his length on the ground with a crash that knocked both breathand powers of speech from his body. The others were so close behindthat they fell on top of him like a row of bricks, and in the resultingconfusion their torch was extinguished.

  Hastily picking themselves up, and without pausing to relight the pinesplinters, they rushed pell-mell towards the sound of barking, bumpinginto trees, stumbling over logs, scratching their faces and tearingtheir clothes on thorny vines. But no one minded. Bim had treed a'coon in the shortest time on record, and now if they could only getit, the triumph would be ample reward for all their trials.

  Finally, bruised, battered, and ragged, they reached the tree whichBim, with wild leapings, was endeavoring to climb. Their first movewas to illumine the scene with a huge bonfire. By its light theyproceeded to a closer examination of the situation. The tree was ahuge moss-hung water-oak, evidently too large to be chopped down, asall the 'coon trees of Solon's stories had been. So Winn offered toclimb it and shake out the 'coon. As yet they had not discovered theanimal, but Bim was so confident of its presence that they took hisword for it.

  Solon had raised a false alarm as the first gleam of firelightpenetrated the dark mass of foliage above them by exclaiming:

  "Dar he! Me see um! Lookee, Marse Brack, in dat ar crutch!"

  But what the old negro saw proved to be a bunch of mistletoe, and whenWinn began his climb the 'coon's place of concealment was stillunknown. Up went the boy higher and higher, carefully examining eachlimb as he passed it, until he was among the very topmost branches ofthe tree. The others stood on opposite sides of the trunk, with axesor clubs uplifted, and gazed anxiously upward until their necks ached.

  At length Winn became aware that from the outermost end of a slenderbranch just above his head a pair of green eyes were glaring at him.The glare was accompanied by an angry spitting sound. "I've found him,fellows! Look out below!" he shouted, and began a vigorous shaking ofthe branch. All at once the animal uttered a sound that caused asudden cessation of his efforts. It also caused Winn to produce amatch from his pocket, light it, and hold the tiny flame high above hishead. Then, without a word, he began to descend the tree.

  As he dropped to the ground the others exclaimed in amazement, "What'sthe matter, Winn? Where's the 'coon? Why didn't you shake him down?"

  "He's up there," replied Winn, "but I don't want him. If any of youdo, you'd better go up and shake him down. I'd advise you to take atorch along, though."

  Not another word of explanation would he give them, and finally BinneyGibbs, greatly provoked at the other's stubbornness, declared he wouldgo up and shake that 'coon down--in a hurry, too. He so far acceptedWinn's advice as to provide himself with a blazing knot, and then up hestarted. In a few minutes he too returned to the ground, saying thathe guessed Winn was about right, and they didn't want that 'coon afterall.

&n
bsp; "What in the name of all foolishness do you mean?" cried BillyBrackett, impatiently. "Speak out, man, and tell us, can't you?"

  But Binney acted precisely as Winn had done, and advised any one whowanted that 'coon to go and get it.

  "Well, I will!" exclaimed the young engineer, almost angrily; "and Ionly hope I can manage to drop him on top of one of your heads."

  With this he started up the tree, and disappeared among its thickbrandies. He quickly made his way to the top. Then the rustling ofleaves ceased, there was a moment of silence, followed by a mutteredexclamation, and Billy Brackett came hastily down to where the otherswere expectantly awaiting him.

  "Let's go home, boys," he said, as he picked up his axe and started inthe direction of the river. "Come, Bim; your reputation as a 'coon dogis so well established that there is no need to test it any further."

  Poor Solon, who was too old and stiff to climb the tree, was completelymystified by these strange proceedings; but his expostulation of,

  "Wha--wha's de meanin' ob dish yer--!" was cut short by the departureof his companions, and he was obliged to hasten after them.

  A few minutes after the 'coon hunters had gone a big boy, and a littlegirl with a tear-stained face, who had come from a house just beyondthe corn-field, reached the spot, to which they had been attracted bythe firelight. As they did so, the child uttered a cry of joy, sprangto the water-oak, and caught up a frightened-looking little black andwhite kitten that was cautiously descending the big trunk backward.

  To this day the outcome of that 'coon hunt remains a sealed mystery topoor Solon, while Bim has never been invited to go on another.