OCR Text |
Show RFVER We haggled on, about steering duties and knot tying. I conceded every point but one: the trip was going on to New Orleans. "If you don't like that, you can leave," I said. "I just might," he said. "Promises, promises," said Rosie. The next morning I got up and began steering. It was just cold enough to give a hint that winter was fast approaching. The river wound and twisted back and forth and a cold wind blew out of the north. As the morning wore on it warmed up and promised to turn into a beautiful day. I could hear a lot of squabbling going on below decks and toward mid-morning Rosie came up to give me the news. Despite last nighf s promises, the rest of the crew had decided to abandon ship in Memphis. I figured it was inevitable. Rick and Vince came up to take over steering just before we got to Caruthersville. We had to land to pick up some supplies and mail, but we ran out of gas as we were running past the town and we nearly missed the place. We wound up landing at the Caruthersville junk yard. We left Rosie to guard the raft and the rest of us made the short hike into town. I hurried ahead of the rest of the crew, looking for a John. I found one in a gas station. When I came out, Vince and Rick and Julia were sitting across the road. "Whaf s up?" I said. "We're thinking about taking a bus into Memphis," said Julia. "Good," I said. I went to the post office and picked up our mail and went back to the raft while the deserters went looking for the gas station. -89- |