Page:Raymond Spears--Diamond Tolls.djvu/240



ELIA was captain, Urleigh was the crew. They were bound down Old Mississip' trying to find Murdong, who was carrying a treasure perhaps without knowing it, and who was being pursued by one of the deadliest of river menaces—a strong-arm diamond specialist of a thief.

There was nothing else they could do—humanity demanded it. They swung down reaches and bends, their glasses turned incessantly toward the banks. Many little white shantyboats fooled them, and they ran in to inquire, only to be disappointed.

They happened upon no one who recalled seeing such a boat as they described, nor such a man as they had in mind. When night fell, Delia steered into an eddy at the foot of a sandbar, and Urleigh threw over the anchor on a long line, giving the boat plenty of swing room.

Then they cooked supper over the gasolene stove in the galley—a supper of quail, toast, fruit, and other light food things. Following supper, they sat in the cabin, which was lighted by storage batteries, Delia 234