"What do you want?"

"I would like to have you take this cotton to Cairo for me," answered the
man.

"Are you a loyal citizen?" asked the captain.

"Yes, sir; and here is a permit from Admiral Porter to ship my cotton;"
and, as the man spoke, he held up a letter to the view of the captain.

"Bring her into the bank, Mr. Smith," said the captain, addressing the
pilot; "and, Mr. O'Brien," he continued, in a lower tone, turning to an
officer who stood near, "go down and stand by that howitzer. Perhaps there
is no treachery intended, but it is well to be on the safe side."

As soon as the Milwaukee touched the bank, Frank and Simpson, with two
others, sprang ashore with a line, and, after making it fast to a tree,
returned on board, and commenced pushing out a plank, so that the cotton
could be easily rolled on, when, suddenly, several men rose from behind
the levee, and the quick discharge of their rifles sent the bullets around
those standing on the forecastle, like hailstones; and Simpson, who was
standing directly in front of Frank, uttered a sharp cry of pain, and sank
heavily to the deck. The next moment the guerrillas, with loud yells,
sprang down the bank in a body, intending to board the boat and capture
her. But they had not taken her so much by surprise as they had imagined,
for a shell from the howitzer exploded in their very midst, and one of the
rebels was killed, and three disabled. The others turned and hastily
retreated behind the levee. Frank took advantage of this, and lifting the
insensible form of his friend, retreated under cover, and laid him on a
mattress behind a pile of coal, where he would be safe from the bullets of