"The overgrown wood-choppers!" growled the captain as soon as he had come out on deck and taken in the situation. "Sheer off!" he yelled. "Do you hear?"
"Turn in toward shore," was the answering cry.
"We can't—it's too shallow."
"Is it really too shallow?" asked Dick.
"I think so. We are not in the channel as it is."
"I'm going to get a gun," came from Tom, and off he rushed to secure the firearm.
The raft had now swept so close that several on board could be seen plainly. They were a rough-looking sort, and the man with the long nose was the shrewdest of the lot.
"We'll have to turn in, or we'll be hit!" ejaculated Sam. "Those side logs are bound to strike the cabin!"
He pointed to some timbers that projected over the edge of the raft. They were only a few feet off and might crash into the cabin of the houseboat at any moment.
In anger at being forced to change his course, Captain Starr turned the houseboat toward the bank of the river. Then the big raft began to pass them, just as Tom reappeared, shotgun in hand.
"I ought to have you arrested for this!" stormed
