All at once he caught a peculiar drumming sound. It reminded him
of a partridge that he had once heard in the woods, but it seemed
a long way off and he could not identify it.
"I guess it must be my heart, up somewhere near my mouth, that I
hear," said the boy with a short mindless laugh. "Maybe I am
going to pieces. If I am I deserve to drown."
About that time Phil decided to turn over on his back and rest
for a moment.
The instant he did so he uttered a sharp exclamation. His eyes
caught sight of something that he had not seen before. It looked
to him like some giant shadow, from which twinkled hundreds
of lights.
"It is the 'Marie'!" cried the boy. "They are coming back
for me. No, no, it cannot be the 'Marie,' for this boat
is coming from the opposite direction. Yes, it surely is
a steamboat!"
Though Phil did not know it, this was one of the big river
packets bound down the river from St. Louis.
"I must get out of the way, or they will run me down, but I want
to keep close enough so I can hail them. I hope this is where I
get on something solid again.
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