initial commit of ebook 13168HEAD main

author: Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> 2025-10-15 04:41:31 -0700
committer: Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> 2025-10-15 04:41:31 -0700
commit: 32cdb59678ed477af94d3f5c42671f267b06aacf (patch)
tree: ca28b398540f82763825b41dcad90835d8559286
81 files changed, 37993 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6833f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+* text=auto
+*.txt text
+*.md text
diff --git a/13168-0.txt b/13168-0.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ba9b17b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-0.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,8552 @@
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13168 ***
+
+Dick
+In the Everglades
+
+BY
+
+A.W. DIMOCK
+
+Author of "Florida Enchantments"
+
+WITH THIRTY-TWO HALF-TONE ILLUSTRATIONS
+FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY
+J.A. DIMOCK
+
+
+NEW YORK
+
+FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
+PUBLISHERS
+
+COPYRIGHT, 1909.
+
+
+[Illustration: author's handwritten note.]
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+Dick in the Everglades is a true story. All that imagination had to
+do with it was to find names for the boys and arrange a sequence of
+events. Other characters, white and Indian, appear under names
+similar to, or identical with their own. Any old alligator hunter,
+familiar with the swamps and the Ten Thousand Islands, can follow
+the course of the explorers from the text of the story. It would be
+possible for two fearless boys, imbued with a love of Nature and the
+wilderness, to repeat, incident by incident, the feats of the
+explorers in the identical places mentioned in the story.
+
+Many of the stories are understatements, seldom is one exaggerated.
+I have been asked if it were possible for a boy to handle a manatee
+in the water as one of the boys was represented as doing. I have
+done it myself three times with manatees three times the size of
+these in the story. In the story the manatees escaped. Two of those
+which I captured were sent to the New York Aquarium, where one of
+them lived for twenty months. The crocodiles which the boys sent to
+the Zoological Park may be seen to-day, alive and well in the
+reptile house. The frequent swamping of canoes and skiffs by
+porpoises, or dolphins, tarpon and manatees are all experiences of
+my own.
+
+Aside from the Government charts which give the coast line only, the
+existing maps of the scene of the story are worse than useless. In
+them a hundred square miles are given to Ponce de Leon Bay, which
+doesn't exist, unless the little depression in the coast which is
+called Shark River Bight is accounted a bay. Rivers are omitted; one
+with a mouth fifty feet wide is represented as a mile broad. A
+little stream four miles long is sent wandering over a hundred and
+forty miles of imaginary territory. I have sailed and paddled for
+days at a time over the watercourses of South Florida, with a
+compass before me and a pad at hand on which every change of course
+was noted and distances estimated, and although no attempt at
+accurate charting has ever been made, I am quite sure that none of
+the natural features or products of the country traversed by the
+young explorers have been misrepresented in the book.
+
+The pictures are from photographs taken on the scene of the
+incidents they illustrate. They show more conclusively than can any
+words of mine, how beautiful is the region traversed by the boy
+explorers and what interesting and exciting adventures they enjoyed.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER
+
+
+I THE CHUMS
+
+II DICK GOES TO SEA
+
+III LIFE ON A SPONGER
+
+IV CAUGHT IN A WATERSPOUT
+
+V OUTFITTING FOR THE HUNT
+
+VI DICK'S HUNT FOR HIS CHUM
+
+VII THE MEETING IN THE GLADES
+
+VIII OLD DREAMS REALIZED
+
+IX THE CAPTURE OF THE MANATEE
+
+X HARPOONING FROM A CANOE
+
+XI GHOSTS AND ALLIGATORS
+
+XII HUNTING IN HARNEY'S RIVER
+
+XIII EDUCATING AN ALLIGATOR
+
+XIV ENCOUNTER WITH OUTLAWS
+
+XV DICK AND THE BEAR
+
+XVI IN THE CROCODILE COUNTRY
+
+XVII AMONG THE SEMINOLES
+
+XVIII DICK'S WILDCAT AND OTHER WILD THINGS
+
+XIX A PRAIRIE ON FIRE
+
+XX DICK'S FIGHT WITH A PANTHER
+
+XXI CONVALESCENCE AND CATASTROPHE
+
+XXII THE RESCUE
+
+XXIII MOLLY AND THE MANATEE
+
+XXIV TO THE GLADES IN THE "IRENE"
+
+XXV IN FLORIDA BAY
+
+XXVI MADEIRA HAMMOCK AND--THE END
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+"THERE GOES YOUR PET. THAT'S THE LAST OF HIM,"
+
+"DICK HUNTED ALL THE TURTLES HE SAW"
+
+"A SILVERY, TWISTING BODY SHOT TEN FEET IN THE AIR"
+
+"THE EVERGLADES AT LAST"
+
+"WE'VE GOTTER HAVE ONE OF THEM YOUNG TURKS IF IT TAKES ALL NIGHT"
+
+"THE SEMINOLE WAS STANDING IN HIS CANOE, LOOKING FIXEDLY AT US"
+
+"HE FOUND DICK STANDING IN WATER SHOULDER DEEP, HANGING ON TO THE
+FLIPPER OF THE MANATEE"
+
+"THE STRICKEN TARPON LEAPED SIX FEET IN THE AIR"
+
+"THE TARPON BEGAN A SERIES OF LEAPS"
+
+"GROUPS OF TALL PALMETTOES, OR MAGNIFICENT TALL PALMS"
+
+"HE HELD THE JAWS OF THE 'GATOR SHUT WHILE DICK SEIZED THE HIND LEGS
+OF THE REPTILE"
+
+"THE TARPON LEAPED AGAINST NED WITH FURY"
+
+"OUT CAME THE REPTILE'S HEAD FROM THE CAVE"
+
+"SEE THE BABY 'GATOR SIT UP, NED!"
+
+"A FEW OF THE HOMELESS BEES LIT ON THE COMB"
+
+"ALL BEYOND THE DARK MEADOW WAS A LIVID MASS"
+
+"THE BARB CAUGHT IN THE REPTILE'S LOWER JAW"
+
+"THE COON SCRAMBLED TO THE TOP OF A LITTLE TREE"
+
+"HE SAW THE GENTLY SWAYING HEAD AND THE LIGHTNING PLAY OF THE FORKED
+TONGUE"
+
+"NED FOUND A GOOD CAMPING SITE MARKED BY A FREAK PALMETTO"
+
+"THE LYNX SPRANG INTO THE CANOE AND SEIZED ONE OF THE FISH"
+
+"PORPOISES ROLLED THEIR BACKS OUT OF THE WATER"
+
+"THE HARD, POINTED HEAD OF THE BIG TARPON TORE THROUGH THE BOTTOM OF
+THE FRAGILE CANOE"
+
+"THE INDIGNANT BIRD PUNCHED HOLES THROUGH HIS HAT"
+
+"THE LIGHT FROM THE BULL'S-EYE SHOWED THE HEAD AND BODY OF THE
+REPTILE"
+
+"SLOWLY LIFTING HIS HUGE HEAD OVER THE SIDE OF THE SKIFF"
+
+"YOUNG HERONS SPREAD WINGS AND STRETCHED LONG LEGS AS THEY FLED"
+
+"THEY SAW A CROCODILE SWIMMING UNDER WATER NEAR THEM"
+
+"THE HARPOON STRUCK THE FISH IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS BROAD BACK"
+
+"SIXTEEN FEET OF FIERCENESS LAY STRANDED ON THE BANK"
+
+"THEY HAULED THE HEAD OF THE BRUTE OVER THE SIDE OF THE BOAT"
+
+"HE TOOK THE BABY CROCODILE IN HIS ARMS"
+
+
+
+
+DICK IN THE EVERGLADES
+
+[Illustration: MAP SHOWING DICK'S CRUISE IN A CANOE]
+
+
+
+
+DICK IN THE EVERGLADES
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE CHUMS
+
+
+"Come in!"
+
+The doctor's voice had a note of sternness which was not lost on the
+two boys waiting outside his study door. The taller of the two, Ned
+Barstow, turned the handle and stepped into the study, followed
+immediately by Dick Williams. The doctor, sitting behind his desk,
+looked decidedly uncompromising as he said:
+
+"Now, Barstow and Williams, you were absent from your room last
+night. Where were you?"
+
+"Camping in Farmer Field's woods, sir," replied Ned Barstow.
+
+"How often has this happened before?"
+
+"Twice, sir."
+
+"Was any one else with you?"
+
+"Only last night, sir. Another boy was with us then," said Ned.
+
+"Who was he?"
+
+"I can't tell you, sir."
+
+"Williams, you may go now. I will see you later."
+
+After the door had closed on Williams, the doctor turned again to
+Barstow, and said:
+
+"Barstow, I have always felt that I could rely upon your influence
+with the younger boys being for good. Now, I find you aiding to
+upset the whole discipline of the school by this camping affair. I
+hope there has been nothing worse. You know I never insist on
+tale-bearing regarding mere boyish escapades, but I would like to
+know if there was any other reason for your refusing to give up your
+companion's name."
+
+"Yes, sir, there was. We had a chicken for supper, that was taken
+from Farmer Field's poultry-house."
+
+"Did you or Williams steal that chicken, Barstow?"
+
+"No, sir, but we knew about it and helped eat it, and are just as
+much to blame as the boy who took it."
+
+"And, now, you mean to protect the thief?"
+
+"Well, you see, Doctor, a good many fellows don't look at hooking
+apples, or nuts, or chickens as real stealing."
+
+"What do you think about it?" asked the doctor.
+
+"I think it was wrong and I am very sorry it happened. It won't
+occur again."
+
+"I have no fear that it will. But it is too serious an offence to
+be lightly passed over. In the first place you and Williams must see
+Farmer Field, tell him what you have done and pay for the chicken
+that was--taken. After that I will talk with you. Now send Williams
+to me."
+
+When Dick Williams came in the doctor began:
+
+"Williams, how much do you love your mother?"
+
+"Why, more than anyone else in the world, sir."
+
+"She is keeping you here at considerable expense. Don't you think
+you owe it to her to pay more attention to your studies?"
+
+"Yes, Doctor, and I am going to do better hereafter."
+
+"How will your mother feel when she hears of this chicken-stealing
+episode?"
+
+"Oh! Doctor; she mustn't hear of it that way. We didn't think of it
+as stealing last night, but this morning Ned and I talked about it
+and we are going to see Farmer Field and tell him what we did and
+pay for the chicken."
+
+"Do you mean, Dick," and the good doctor's voice shook a little as
+he asked the question, "that you and Ned decided to tell Farmer
+Field about the taking of his chicken, before you knew that I had
+heard of your camping out?"
+
+"Why, yes, sir. I supposed Ned had told you."
+
+"Your friend Ned is rather a curious boy, but when you are in doubt
+about the right and wrong of anything, you might do worse than ask
+his advice."
+
+"Oh! I get enough of that without asking for it," said Dick.
+
+And the doctor laughed, but he soon looked pretty serious again, and
+said:
+
+"Dick, I think no one will tell your mother and she need never know,
+but I hope you will tell her all about it of your own accord."
+
+"Sure!" said Dick, "I couldn't keep that or anythink else away from
+Mumsey for five minutes after I saw her."
+
+There was a significant pause, during which the doctor stroked his
+chin meditatively before asking:
+
+"Now, what in the world made you two boys go on that camping
+escapade? I want you to tell me that, Dick."
+
+The boy hesitated a moment and then said:
+
+"Why, I really don't know, Doctor--we just wanted to. You see, there
+are so many things to see and listen to at night that way. Birds and
+animals, I mean. Ned and I are going to be explorers some day, you
+know."
+
+"Hum!" said the doctor.
+
+"Well, that will do for the present, Williams. I hope you understand
+that you are escaping serious trouble very easily and that you mean
+to be as good as you can for the rest of the time you are at the
+school."
+
+Fanner Field received Ned and Dick with an air of gruffness that was
+belied by twinkling blue eyes and, when Ned had finished telling
+his story and offered to pay for the chicken, said:
+
+"Did you take that chicken out of my poultry-house?"
+
+"Not exactly, but it's the same thing. We knew about it and helped
+eat it."
+
+"Was it tender?" asked the farmer.
+
+"No, sir, it was the toughest thing I ever put in my mouth."
+
+"I thought so. Why, that rooster was a regular antique. He must have
+been a hundred years old. Next time you want a chicken for a late
+supper, better let me choose it for you. Who helped you eat that
+rooster?"
+
+"Please don't ask us that. We'll tell you anything about ourselves,
+but we can't give him away."
+
+"Wouldn't think much of you if you did. No need of it anyhow. I know
+who it was."
+
+"He must have told you then, for we haven't told anybody."
+
+"Do you remember that while you were cooking that rooster out in my
+woods, Steve Daly, your companion, said he heard somebody in the
+bushes and you said it was only a dog?"
+
+"Yes, I remember it. I did say that."
+
+"Well, I was that dog!"
+
+"And you never told on us?" asked Dick. "Then you've been mighty
+kind and I'm ashamed to look you in the face."
+
+"Never be ashamed to look anyone in the face, my boy. It isn't good
+to take even a little thing that doesn't belong to you, but that
+won't happen again to you. But weren't you playing truant when you
+had that tough supper in my woods? Doesn't your conscience trouble
+you at all about that?"
+
+"Not a bit," said Dick; "that wasn't mean."
+
+It was fortunate for Dick's peace of mind that his conscience wasn't
+troubled by mischief, for he was never out of it and was at the root
+of about all the purely mischievous happenings at the school.
+
+Even the lesson of the camping incident and the doctor's kindly talk
+wore off in a fortnight. Yet he was popular with teachers as well as
+pupils. His head was crowned with a mass of sandy hair and his
+impertinent face plastered with freckles. The boy was quick and full
+of grace as a wildcat and so well built and lithe that he was a
+terror on the football team.
+
+Dick was often too busy to attend to his studies and fell behind in
+his lessons, until the good doctor sent for him and gave him an
+earnest but understanding talk which sent the boy back to his books,
+filled with remorse and determined to get to the head of his class
+in a hurry. One of these resolves was usually effective for about a
+week. After which Dick generally suffered a severe relapse.
+
+During his last winter at school, he frequently took long tramps in
+the woods in the hours when he should have been at his books, and
+was finally taken to task by his chum for the bad example he was
+setting the younger boys by playing truant.
+
+"But, Ned," said Dick, "I just can't keep away from the woods, and
+they do me good, I know they do. I am a whole lot better every way
+after a good long tramp by myself through the thickest woods I can
+find. I'd like to camp out in them to-night and I believe I will."
+
+"That's all right, Dick. I'll camp with you; only we've got to have
+Doc's permission. He trusts us a lot, and we can't go back on him."
+
+"Nice chance we've got of getting that. Maybe he'd camp with us!"
+said Dick satirically.
+
+"Shouldn't wonder if he would. You don't understand Doc. Did you
+ever know him to refuse a fellow anything he squarely asked for,
+unless he simply had to do it? Come along."
+
+And the boys walked together to the study.
+
+"Doctor," said Ned, "Dick and I want to camp out to-night in Farmer
+Field's woods, if you have no objection."
+
+"Want to camp out? Well, so do I, only I am afraid I might be needed
+here. Do you know how to camp? What do you expect to take with you
+and how will you keep warm?"
+
+"We thought of taking a hatchet, a blanket for each of us and some
+potatoes to roast. Then we will make a bed of hemlock boughs, build
+a fire near it and roll up in our blankets."
+
+"Well, you may go, and I will help out your commissariat with a
+loaf of bread and a chicken. But be sure you have plenty of fuel
+ready before dark. It will be a cold night and you will have to
+replenish your fire three or four times before morning."
+
+"Thank you, Doctor. You don't know how much obliged we are to you
+for your kindness."
+
+"And you don't know how much trouble I am in for, when the rest of
+the boys hear of this escapade of yours."
+
+But after the study door closed the doctor smiled quietly to himself
+and said under his breath:
+
+"Just like myself at their age--have the woods instinct."
+
+Ned and Dick slept little that night. There was about a foot of snow
+on the ground and they scraped bare a place for their camp-fire
+beside a big stump and gathered enough fuel from windfalls for the
+night. Then they rolled a log beside the fire for a seat and built a
+soft bed with fragrant branches of hemlock and spruce. They roasted
+the chicken over a thick bed of glowing coals and baked potatoes in
+the ashes of the fire. The chicken was carved with their pocket
+knives and they got along without forks or plates. By using bark
+gathered from a birch and softening it over their fire they made
+cups with which they brought water from a nearby brook. When supper
+was finished the boys rolled up in their blankets and lying on the
+bed they had built on the snow, inhaled its fragrance as they
+watched the eddying smoke of their camp-fire and the stars that
+shone through the spreading branches above them and listened to the
+voices of the night, from the distant cry of an owl to the whish of
+falling snow, shaken from evergreen boughs by the breeze. They had
+visions of camps, scattered from the equator to the poles, some of
+which were destined to be realized. Ned formed a plan that night, of
+which he wrote to his father, but of which he said nothing at the
+time to his chum.
+
+But as Dick stood beside Ned in their last hour at Belleville, and
+the sadness of parting was in the face and eyes from which fun
+usually bubbled, Ned said:
+
+"My father owns a tract of land in the Big Cypress Swamp of Florida.
+There is a lot of fine timber on it and he intends to set up a
+lumber mill in the swamp and perhaps build a railroad from Fort
+Myers to some part of it. A surveyor with a guide is going into the
+swamp this fall to locate the best timber and I'm going with them.
+You know how we have planned to do real camping and exploring
+together. Well, here's our chance. I've written to Dad and he
+invites you to go with me. We can start any time. When can you be
+ready, Dick?"
+
+"Ned, I'd give all I have in the world to go with you, but I
+can't--I can't. Mother has spent more than she could afford to keep
+me at this school and sometimes I'm ashamed when I think how I've
+wasted my time. Now I don't mean to be an expense to her or anyone
+else hereafter. I won't take a penny that I don't earn, from
+anybody, and I won't go on any trip, even with you, until I can pay
+my own way, every cent of it."
+
+"But, Dick, your companionship and the work you can do will be worth
+all it costs, twice over, to me and to Dad and he will feel just
+that way about it."
+
+"It's like you, Ned, to say all that, but it's no use and you know
+it. You've been mighty good to me ever since I came to this school
+and I'm going to keep your good opinion by not accepting your offer
+to go with you now. Some time, when I can keep up my end, I'll be
+with you bigger than an Injun. If you ever find strange footprints
+down in those Everglades, better foller 'em up. They'll likely be
+mine. Good-bye, Ned."
+
+The boys clasped hands and as Dick walked away tears rolled down his
+freckled cheeks.
+
+Four months after the parting of the two friends, at Belleville,
+Dick received a letter postmarked "Immokalee, Florida," which was
+headed:
+
+/#
+   Big Cypress Swamp, 20 miles from anywhere,
+
+   October 10th.
+
+   DEAR CHUM:
+
+   Here I am! on a prairie inside the Big Cypress Swamp, about
+   which we used to talk and where we planned to camp some day.
+   Well, it's bigger than anything we ever dreamed of and every
+   foot of it is alive. Sometimes I sleep in a tent, but more
+   often under the stars. Last night I heard the scream of a
+   panther, so near that it made me shiver, and the next minute
+   a frog dropped from the branch of a tree over my head and
+   fell on my face. I must have screamed louder than the
+   panther, for I scared Chris Meyer, the surveyor, who is
+   camping with me, pretty badly. The guide we expected didn't
+   come, so we are guiding for ourselves. I hope Chris knows
+   where we are, for I am sure I don't. We measure the big
+   cypress trees with a tape line and Chris calculates the
+   number of feet of lumber in each tree. Then we estimate the
+   trees in an acre and guess at the number of acres. At least
+   that's the way the business looks to me. Sometimes the
+   walking is easy, but to-day we had to wade through mud
+   waist-deep and the moccasins were pretty thick. I watched out
+   for the ugly things and it kept me on the jump, but Chris
+   marched straight ahead and paid no attention to them,
+   excepting once when a big cotton-mouth that was coiled on top
+   of a stump struck at him. Then he fell over backward into the
+   mud, and I had a good laugh at him--afterwards. Chris killed
+   that snake. It was a short, thick snake and about as pretty
+   as a Bologna sausage, but its mouth opened five inches and
+   its long, needle-like fangs were dripping with venom. I am
+   hungry all the time and enjoy our bill of fare very much,
+   although it is only bacon, grits and coffee, morning, noon
+   and night. We are traveling light, for we carry all our
+   baggage on our backs. We see deer and wild turkey every day
+   and it's pretty hard to keep my hands off my rifle, but I
+   promised Dad not to shoot anything out of season. In three
+   weeks the law will be off and then it will be bad for the
+   first buck I meet. Chris says it's good for me to see a lot
+   of deer before I shoot at any. He says I won't be so likely
+   to miss or only wound them when I really hunt them. I guess
+   he's about right, for when I first saw a deer--it was a big
+   buck and only twenty yards away--I had a regular attack of
+   buck ague and I couldn't have hit the side of a house even if
+   I'd been inside it. Now I can look at one, point a stick at
+   him and say _bang_, with my nerves just as quiet as if it
+   were a cow. I have seen a few bears, but they are very shy.
+   We'll turn loose on them, too, when we get round to hunting,
+   but in the mean time we are sticking to our timber job for
+   all there is in it.
+
+   An old alligator hunter is camping beside us to-night. He is
+   bound for Boat Landing, with a lot of alligator hides and
+   otter skins, and I am finishing up this letter to send by
+   him. Just as soon as this surveying business is over I am
+   going to have a glorious hunt. If only you were here we would
+   start out by our lonesomes and have all the adventures we
+   ever talked about. Probably Chris will go with me. I haven't
+   quite the pluck to try it alone, as I know you would do in my
+   place. I may brace up to it, though. Dad has given me
+   permission to do just as I please. He says he trusts me not
+   to be foolish or foolhardy and to keep him informed of my
+   plans. Isn't he a good Dad? Come if you can. Come when you
+   can.
+
+   Always and forever your chum,
+
+   NED.
+#/
+
+Dick's mother read Ned's letter and was quiet and sad all the rest
+of the day. After Dick had gone to bed she went into his room, sat
+down on the bed beside him, kissed him and said:
+
+"Dicky boy, mother wants you to take a good, long vacation. You've
+worked hard and been a great comfort to her since you left school
+and now she's going to send you to your chum Ned, down in Florida
+where she knows your heart is. Now--don't speak yet--mother knows
+what you want to say. dear, but she can perfectly well afford to
+send you and you will hurt her feelings if you don't let her."
+
+Dick put his arms around his mothers' neck and as soon as he could
+speak, half sobbed out:
+
+"Oh, Mumsey, I can't take your money. You've got so little."
+
+"But mother wants you to, so much."
+
+Dick held his mother's face close to his own for a minute and then
+said, very slowly:
+
+"Mumsey, I'll go--and it's really and truly because you want me
+to--but I won't take any of your money. Hush, now! Don't you say a
+word, or I'll--disown you. I've got a ten-dollar bill of my own and
+I'll keep that in my pocket just so you won't worry for fear I'm
+hungry; and I will bet you ten dollars I'll bring that same bill
+back to you and I won't go hungry one day either."
+
+"But, Dick--"
+
+"Not one word, Mumsey, except to say you'll take that bet. I can get
+a ride to New York on a boat, any day. Then I'll go to the Mallory
+Line and work my way to Key West on one of their boats; and from Key
+West I can find a fishing boat that will land me on the west coast
+of Florida somewhere within a hundred miles of Ned, and I'd walk
+that far just for the fun of surprising him."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+DICK GOES TO SEA
+
+
+Three days after Dick's talk with his mother, he boarded a Key West
+steamer just as it was leaving its New York pier. He sat on the deck
+and watched busy ferry-boats in the river, fussy tugs and
+chug-chugging launches in the harbor, and the white-winged yachts
+and great ocean steamers in the lower bay. He looked back from the
+Narrows upon the receding city, to the east upon Coney Island with
+its pleasure palaces, and to the southwest upon the great curve of
+Sandy Hook. Every step upon the deck near him brought his heart into
+his mouth in dread of what he knew he had to face. When the steamer
+was opposite Long Branch and there was small chance that he could be
+sent back, he inquired for the captain, whom he found talking to
+some young girls among the passengers. This somewhat reassured
+Billy, for he felt that the captain wouldn't eat him up in the
+presence of the young ladies, and he stood waiting with his cap in
+his hand until the captain spoke to him.
+
+"Do you want to see me, my boy?"
+
+"If you are Captain Anderson, I do, sir."
+
+"All right, go ahead."
+
+"I want you to set me to work, sir."
+
+"Why should I set you to work? Do you belong on the boat?"
+
+"Not yet, but you see it's this way. I had to get to Key West and I
+thought I'd work my passage with you."
+
+"Why didn't you ask me before we left the dock?"
+
+"Because I was afraid you wouldn't take me, if you could help it,
+and I had to go."
+
+"You cheeky little devil, I believe I'll chuck you overboard."
+
+"Oh!" said a brown-eyed girl who stood beside the captain, "you
+mustn't do that!"
+
+The captain laughed and said to Dick:
+
+"I hope you understand that you owe your life to this young lady.
+Now, go and report yourself to the cook and tell him to put you on
+the worst job he's got."
+
+"Thank you very much, Captain, but couldn't you make it the engineer
+instead of the cook? I'd rather work than wash dishes."
+
+"I'd like to oblige so modest a boy. Report to the chief engineer,
+give him my compliments and tell him you are to have the hottest
+berth on the boat. He'll probably set you to shoveling coal."
+
+Dick thanked him again; then looking into the face of the girl, he
+said:
+
+"Thank you, Miss Brown-Eyes, for saving my life," and, bowing low,
+turned away.
+
+"Captain, couldn't you see that he was a gentleman? What made you
+give him such hard work?" asked the girl.
+
+"Because he was such a cheeky gentleman that if I let him stay on
+deck he would take command of the boat by to-morrow and all you
+young ladies who helped him would be guilty of mutiny and would have
+to be executed."
+
+Dick was put to work in the engine-room, oiling the machinery. Some
+of the work was easy and safe, some of it was easy but not safe. Oil
+cups had to be filled as they flew back and forth, bearings must be
+oiled after great steel rods had flashed by and before they
+returned. The swift, silent play of the great piston and the steady
+motion of the resistless, revolving shaft, half hypnotized the boy
+and he stood, dazed and in danger, until called down by the sharp
+rebuff of the engineer.
+
+"'Tend to your business, there. Don't watch that shaft or you'll go
+dotty."
+
+On the second day of the trip there was trouble in the fire-room.
+The steamer had started on the trip short of firemen and now a
+fireman who had fallen in the furnace-room, striking his head on the
+steel floor, was lying unconscious in his berth. The pointer on the
+steam-gauge fell back, the engine slowed down, crisp commands came
+from pilot-house to engine-room, sharper messages passed between
+engine and fire rooms, while overworked men grew sullen and
+threatened to throw down their shovels.
+
+Dick offered to do the work of a fireman, but the engineer shook his
+head and said:
+
+"That's a man's work, boy."
+
+"Give me a shovel and a chance."
+
+And they were given him. He soon learned to throw the coal evenly
+and feed the furnaces like a fireman, but his unseasoned body shrank
+from the fierce heat; he staggered back from the hot blast every
+time he swung open a great furnace door and, until the clang of its
+closing, he could scarcely draw a breath. He threw off his jumper
+and his white skin fairly gleamed in that grimy place. The other
+firemen looked curiously at that slight, boyish form which was doing
+a man's work like a man and there was no more shirking in front of
+those furnaces. The fireman nearest the boy often pushed him aside
+and spread shovelfuls of coal over his grates, rushing back to his
+own work that it might not fall behind. A strong beam wind sprang up
+and the boat rolled badly, while Dick, with his hands blistered,
+fought fiercely to keep off seasickness and to keep up his fire.
+
+Up in the main saloon and around the deck a young girl wandered as
+if she wanted something without quite knowing what it was. She
+climbed stairs under the sign "passengers not allowed," went in and
+out of the pilot-house and, meeting the captain, asked if she
+couldn't go wherever she wished on the boat. He replied:
+
+"Yes, Miss. I appoint you third mate, with power to give any orders
+you please and go wherever you wish."
+
+A little later, with a dark waterproof drawn tightly over her light
+dress, she opened the door leading to the engine-room, and clinging
+to the heavy brass rail, climbed slowly down the narrow, greasy iron
+stairway till she stood beside the mighty engine. The engineer
+hastened to her side.
+
+"It's against the rules and very dangerous, Miss, for a passenger to
+come into this room."
+
+"But the captain told me I could come."
+
+"All right, but please be very careful and hold tight to that rail.
+I am afraid I haven't any right to let you stay, anyhow."
+
+"Thank you very much and I'll be very careful."
+
+The girl watched the engine for some time and then crept slowly
+along a steel bridge that looked like a spider's web, from which she
+could look into the furnace-room, with its roaring fires, scorching
+heat and constantly clanging iron doors. For some minutes she gazed
+silently, then turning quickly, hurried across the bridge, up the
+greasy stairs and on to the main saloon where she found her father
+in a big arm-chair, buried in a book. The girl first pulled the book
+out of her father's hands, then, sitting on the arm of his chair,
+clasped her hands on his shoulder and whispered eagerly into his
+ear.
+
+"Daddy, I want you to get that boy out of that hot place down in
+the bottom of the boat where he is at work. I know he's sick, for I
+saw him lean up against the wall and shut his eyes and he was just
+as white--"
+
+"Why, Molly, where have you been to see all this?"
+
+"First, I went where the big engine is, then I went a little farther
+and saw--Oh! Daddy, hurry, please; if you don't I know he'll die."
+
+"So you want me to get this boy up in the saloon to play with you?"
+
+"I don't mean that at all, Daddy. I should think you'd hate to see
+anybody worked to death down in that hot hole."
+
+"Well, I'll see the captain about it as soon as I have finished my
+book."
+
+"Don't you think you'd better see him now? I'm quite sure you won't
+enjoy your book while I'm here and I've decided to stay with you for
+the present."
+
+"All right, Molly, come along," and they hunted up the captain, whom
+they found sitting near the pilot-house.
+
+"Captain, I have taken an interest in that stowaway of yours. Is
+there any objection to having his name put on the cabin list, at my
+expense, of course?"
+
+"No kick coming from me," said the captain, "though we _are_
+short-handed in the fire-room and the boy has been doing a man's
+work there. I don't believe he will accept your offer, for he's an
+independent little cub and, as I have put him to work, I can't
+insist upon it."
+
+The captain sent a deck-hand for Dick, and the boy appeared on deck
+in overalls and jumper, cap in hand.
+
+"Dick," said the captain, "this gentleman has put your name on the
+passenger list. The purser will give you a room and a seat at the
+table."
+
+"Oh, Captain, please don't take me from my work. I know I've got to
+leave it if you say so, but--"
+
+"No, you haven't," interrupted the captain; "you are on the pay-roll
+and can hang on to your job as long as you do your work."
+
+Dick's face was still troubled as he turned toward Molly and her
+father, meeting a reproachful look from the girl, which made him
+wonder if he had seemed ungrateful for the kindness shown him, and
+said:
+
+"I want to thank you a thousand times for your kindness and I will
+come to the cabin if you think I--Have you any boy of your own,
+sir?"
+
+"Yes, I have a boy of about your age."
+
+"If he were here, in my place, what would you like to have him do?"
+
+"I'd be proud of him if he did just what you're doing, my boy."
+
+Tears were in Dick's voice as he said:
+
+"Thank you very much, sir," then, turning to Molly, a roguish smile
+lit up his face as he bowed to her, saying:
+
+"Thank you again, Miss Brown-Eyes."
+
+The next day when Dick was off duty, instead of going to his bunk,
+he dressed himself carefully and went up on the promenade deck. It
+was quite contrary to the rules, but the officers only smiled and
+looked away, while many of the passengers spoke to him, for the
+story of his having refused cabin passage was pretty well known on
+the boat. He walked about restlessly, as if in search of something
+or somebody, until he caught sight of a girl in the extreme bow of
+the boat, looking down upon the water twenty feet below her. Dick
+suddenly discovered that he wanted to look over the bow, too. A
+minute later he was leaning on the rail behind the girl, looking
+down upon a school of porpoises, or herring hogs, which were playing
+about the boat. A jet of water and spray curled upward from the
+cutwater of the steamer, which was running at high speed, but the
+graceful little creatures kept abreast of her without apparent
+effort. There were twenty or thirty of them, gliding in and out as
+gracefully as if they were moving to the measure of a waltz.
+Sometimes one touched the prow or side of the boat; usually they
+kept pace with the steamer as evenly as if they were a part of it;
+but occasionally one darted ahead at a speed which left the boat
+behind as if it were standing still. At last the girl, long
+conscious that some one was standing beside her, putting out her
+hand to that somebody, said:
+
+"Aren't they dears? Oh!" she added, as her hand was taken and she
+looked around, "I thought it was Daddy. Please excuse me."
+
+Dick looked as if he might be persuaded to forgive her, and for some
+minutes they stood in silence, leaning over the rail and looking at
+the playful porpoises beneath them, when he said:
+
+"I hope you don't think I didn't appreciate your father's lovely
+offer. You will never know how grateful I really was to him--and to
+somebody else, too, who, I think, had something to do with it."
+
+"Of course I don't think you were ungrateful, but I did hate to see
+you at work down in that hot place and I don't see why you couldn't
+have come up in the cabin and been comfortable and not had to wear
+such greasy clothes."
+
+"How did you know where I was at work?"
+
+"I happened to be looking at the big engine and I walked along a
+little way and saw you way, way down near the bottom of the boat in
+front of a hot furnace, shoveling coal into it."
+
+"Now I know where that offer came from," said Dick, "and I want you
+to see why I couldn't accept it. I wanted very, very much to get to
+Key West and I was very glad of the chance to work my passage.
+Perhaps it was wrong to come aboard the way I did. I guess it was.
+But Captain Anderson gave me a job and made it all right. Now I'm
+not ashamed to look anyone in the face, even when I have on my
+fireman's clothes, while if I gave up my work and let a stranger
+give me what I could earn myself I would feel like a charity scholar
+and I don't think I'd have the cheek to speak to you or any one else
+on board."
+
+Molly told her father of her talk with Dick and he said:
+
+"I can use that kind of a boy in my business. I'll have a talk with
+him when we get to Key West."
+
+Three days later the great steamer lay beside her wharf in Key West.
+Dick was paid the full wages of a fireman for the trip and when he
+said he wasn't worth so much, was good-naturedly told to shut up and
+advised that if he refused to take money that was offered him in
+that town he was likely to be caught and exhibited as a freak. He
+shed his jumper and overalls and exchanged hearty good-byes with the
+whole crew of the steamer. He walked through the saloons, but it was
+early, most of the passengers were yet in their berths and neither
+Molly nor her father was to be seen. Dick went out on the dock to
+inquire for a boat to Chokoloskee, Caxambas or Marco. He was
+referred to a Captain Wilson, who told him that the boat for
+Chokoloskee had just sailed, was beyond hailing distance and
+wouldn't leave again for a week, and that there was no Caxambas or
+Marco boat in port. Dick found the captain so genial and friendly
+that he told him something of his story.
+
+"I'll fix you out," said Captain Wilson. "I own a sponging outfit
+and am just starting out on a cruise, but I'm one man short. So you
+come in his place. It will be a short trip, not over four weeks.
+You'll make good wages and I'll find you a chance to get to
+Chokoloskee when we get back. You can live on board till I find it.
+If you stay here you are bound to lose a week and your board
+anyhow."
+
+"I'd like to go first rate, but I don't know anything about
+sponging."
+
+"You'll learn fast enough. Can you scull?"
+
+"A little. I can row better."
+
+"Have to scull in sponging, but you'll pick that up. Can you come
+aboard now? I want to be off."
+
+"I need some clothes and would like to say 'good-bye' to some
+friends on the steamer."
+
+"I can fit you out on board with all the clothes you will need on
+the cruise, so hurry up and see your friends. I'll wait here for
+you."
+
+But Molly and her father had left the steamer and Dick went with
+Captain Wilson aboard his sloop, which sailed at once.
+
+The captain hunted up some clothes for Dick to wear while sponging
+and as the boy came on deck after putting them on, his first glance
+fell on the white sails of a schooner yacht which had just passed
+them, but was then two hundred yards away. The beauty of the boat
+appealed to Dick and his eyes rested lingeringly upon her. How much
+greater would have been his interest had he known that the two
+forms which he could see on the deck of the yacht, near the
+companionway, were the Molly of whom he was thinking at that moment,
+and her father, and that they were talking of him. What a pity that
+he couldn't have known that Key West had been searched for him and
+that Molly's father had offered a reward for his name and address!
+Had Dick come on deck two minutes sooner the bow of the yacht
+_Gypsey_ would have been thrown up in the wind and that tiny launch
+lowered from the boat's davits in less time than it takes to tell of
+it. And then, had Molly's father known Dick's name, he would have
+taken the boy to his yacht, if he had had to tie him to do it, but
+if Dick had once heard the name of Molly's father it would not have
+been necessary to tie him. However, if either had known the name of
+the other this story would not have been written.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+LIFE ON A SPONGER
+
+
+The yacht sailed on and Dick, walking up to Captain Wilson, who
+stood at the wheel, said, as he lifted his cap:
+
+"I beg to report for duty, sir." The captain grinned, as he replied:
+
+"I hope you'll always be as polite. You'll sure be a curiosity on
+this coast. I'll put you in with Pedro. He doesn't know much
+English, but you can talk enough for both. There he is, that
+black-mustached fellow, with little rings in his ears. He will let
+you know what your duties are."
+
+A string of four dingies trailed behind the sponger and as many
+poles, each thirty feet long, with a sponge-hook at one end, lay
+upon the deck. Pedro was examining one of these poles when Billy
+went to him and said:
+
+"Pedro, I am to go in your boat. What do I have to do?"
+
+"You scull where I tell you--slow--I look in glass--see sponge--take
+up pole--you stop still--then you scull where pole go--you work
+good or I keek you."
+
+"Pedro, if you ever keek me, you'll go overboard queek and don't you
+forget it."
+
+The sponger lay at anchor on the sponging ground for nearly a week
+before the water was clear enough for work. Dick spent most of his
+time sculling his dingy and soon learned to throw his weight on the
+big sculling oar to the best advantage without going overboard very
+often. One day while Pedro sat in the bow, they saw a 400-pound
+loggerhead turtle lying asleep on the water. Pedro motioned to Dick
+to scull up to the turtle and when the dingy was within three feet
+of the creature he jumped on its back and seized the edge of its
+shell just behind the head, with both hands. Pedro's weight was so
+far aft on the turtle's deck that the bow pointed upward and the
+reptile's struggles only served to keep its head above water and
+thus carry the man comfortably on its back. Soon Pedro shifted his
+right hand to the tail-end of the turtle and thereafter navigated
+his living craft with ease. Dick sculled the dingy beside the turtle
+and, while trying to make fast the boat's painter around the
+creature, fell overboard. Pedro didn't know enough English to
+express his feelings fully, and so talked Spanish for a while. Dick
+thought he could get the rope around the turtle more easily if he
+stayed in the water, and he finally succeeded, though the reptile
+got one of the sleeves of his shirt while he was doing it. Then the
+boy and Pedro got into the boat and pulled the turtle beside it. In
+rolling the reptile aboard they shipped a lot of water and as the
+turtle dropped suddenly to the bottom of the dingy Dick fell
+backwards out of the boat. Pedro began to express himself in Spanish
+again, and, as the sponger was less than two hundred yards distant,
+Dick swam to it, leaving his companion to bail out the dingy and
+scull it to the big boat. The boat's tackle was required to hoist
+the turtle aboard, where it was turned over to the Cook, who
+butchered it on deck. The heart of the reptile continued to beat for
+hours after it had been removed from the body, so strongly that its
+throbbing could not be restrained by the grip of the most powerful
+hand. Pedro said that the heart would beat till the sun went down,
+and it did.
+
+For days Dick hunted all the turtles he saw lying on the water. At
+last he got near enough to one to grab him before he dove. But he
+got hold too far back, the reptile's head was already turned
+downward and his flippers forced him rapidly forward. Dick hung on
+as well as he could, which wasn't for long, for the strong rush of
+the water and its great pressure as the reptile made for the bottom
+quickly compelled the boy to let go. Yet he was under water so long
+that when he came to the surface Captain Wilson was in a dingy
+sculling like mad to reach him. The captain gave the boy a kindly
+warning, which affected him so much that in ten minutes he was off
+after another turtle, which he saw asleep. The creature began his
+dive just as Dick jumped for him, and the boy got hold of his
+tail-end as it was lifted above the water, in time to get a sharp
+slap in the face from the heavy hind flipper of the turtle. Dick
+sculled for an hour without seeing another turtle, when, as he was
+returning to the boat and within a hundred yards of it, one rose
+beside the dingy so near that the boy was on its back before it
+could go under the surface. He soon had his charger in fair control,
+but the science of riding a big loggerhead turtle isn't picked up in
+a minute. One of the crew came out in a dingy to help, but Dick
+asked him to pick up his boat and oar and take them to the sponger
+and said that he would ride back on the turtle. Sometimes his steed
+was manageable, and once he got within a few yards of the big boat,
+when it broke loose and carried him fifty yards away. Then, as Dick
+tried to check the reptile, he pulled its head too far and tipped it
+over on its back on top of himself, with his own head so near the
+parrot-like jaws of the loggerhead that when they were snapped in
+his face they missed his nose by about an inch. The turtle was as
+anxious to turn over as the boy, and, by favoring his motions, Dick
+soon had the creature right side up, while he again rode
+triumphantly on his back. In another hour the halyards were fast to
+the turtle and Billy had made good his promise to ride it back to
+the boat.
+
+[Illustration: "DICK HUNTED ALL THE TURTLES HE SAW"]
+
+When the water became clear the dingies were sent out with two men
+in each, one of whom sculled while the other sat with his face in a
+water-glass watching the bottom for sponges. The water-glass is a
+bucket with a glass bottom which so smooths the surface of the water
+as to produce the effect of a perfect calm to one who is looking
+through it. The first day of sponging was like a dream to Dick. The
+water was smooth as a mirror and no water-glass was needed. He
+sculled slowly over water so clear that he seemed to be floating in
+the air. Beneath him was fairyland, filled with waving sea-feathers
+and anemones, paved with curious shells, strangely beautiful forms
+of coral and sponges of various kinds, and alive with fish of many
+varieties. Sometimes there floated on the surface of the water
+Portuguese men-of-war, most beautiful of created things, like
+iridescent bubbles, with long silken filaments, delicately lined in
+pink, purple and entrancing blue. Lighter than thistledown, fitted
+to drift with the merest zephyr, they can nevertheless force their
+way against a breeze. Harmless as a soap-bubble in appearance, each
+of them is charged with virulent poison, and when Dick touched one
+with his hand he received a shock that made him wonder if a bunch of
+hornets had hidden in that innocent-looking bubble.
+
+Sometimes schools of little fish gliding beneath the dingy began to
+dash wildly about, and a moment later a group of jackfish or Spanish
+mackerel could be seen darting around and picking up stragglers from
+the little school, which often huddled for protection close beside
+and beneath the dingy. Dick like all brave boys, was on the side of
+the under dog, and he laughed with glee when a quick-moving mackerel
+shark appeared among the pursuers of the little fish and picked up a
+few of them for his breakfast as he drove the rest away. As Dick
+sculled easily with one hand, he kept an eye upon Pedro, and obeyed
+the signals of his hand, to go to the right, the left, or stop, as
+sponges were seen. Then from time to time the long pole with the
+claw at the end was lowered to the bottom and a sponge torn loose.
+
+Sometimes Dick changed places with Pedro, and manipulated the long
+pole with the claw, while Pedro handled the sculling oar. Then Dick
+began to learn the difference between coarse grass and common cup
+sponges, and the finer fibred glove and choice sheep's wool
+varieties. For when he was clumsy with the pole, Pedro only swore
+softly in Spanish, but when he brought up a worthless grass sponge,
+the big oar was lifted, and the boy might have been knocked
+overboard but for the iron claw which he held high, while a purpose
+gleamed in his eye which made Pedro peaceful. But Dick felt that
+Pedro was half right and he set to work studying sponges until he
+knew them almost as well as his teacher. His strength and skill with
+the sponge hook were less than the Spaniard's, but his eye was
+quicker and Pedro's chronic growls were often changed to grunts of
+approval. When the surface of the water was ruffled by a breeze it
+was needful to use the water-glass. Then Pedro sat with his head in
+the bucket, studying the bottom, and when he took up the heavy pole
+which lay on the thwarts of the dingy and dipped it vertically in
+the water, it was the duty of Dick to stop sculling at once. But
+once while Dick was sculling and looking for sponges he saw gliding
+beneath the dingy, a whip-ray, the most beautiful member of the ray
+family. Shaped like a butterfly, its back is covered with small,
+light rings on a black background. Its long, slim tail is like the
+lash of a coach-whip and at its base is a row of little spears with
+many barbs, which are capable of inflicting exceedingly painful
+wounds. The roof of the mouth and the tongue of the fish are hard as
+ivory and shell-fish are ground between them as rock is pulverized by
+the jaws of a quartz-crusher. As Billy watched the graceful swaying
+of the body of the whip-ray under the impulse of its wings, a
+wandering shark came upon it. In its first rush the tiger of the sea
+almost caught the beautiful creature, which fluttered for a hundred
+yards upon the surface of the water, with the jaws of its pursuer
+opening and closing within a few inches of its body.
+
+Dick was so busy watching the chase and so earnest in his sympathy
+with the frightened, fleeing whip-ray that he quite forgot his
+duties. He was reminded of them when Pedro, who had been frantically
+signaling him, took his head from the bucket and made a speech in
+Spanish to Dick that must have used up all the bad adjectives in
+that language. Dick's conscience hampered him so much that he was
+quite unable to reply fittingly, and the battle of words was won by
+Pedro. The dingy drifted so far during the discussion that they were
+unable to find the sheep's wool sponge that Pedro had seen, and
+which he now described as the finest one ever found.
+
+Each day the spongers in the dingies worked farther from the sloop
+and each day more time was lost when the sloop made its round to
+pick up the spongers for dinner. There were too few sponges to
+please Captain Wilson, who sailed over the ground whenever the water
+was smooth, studying the bottom with practiced eye and throwing out
+little floats, with anchors attached, wherever a sponge was seen.
+
+"I'm going to the 'Lake,'" said the captain, one afternoon at the
+end of a day of little success. "It's a feast or a famine there. You
+get rich or go broke."
+
+"What is there at the 'Lake'?" asked Dick.
+
+"Sponge, all sponge, the bottom lined with sponge. If the weather is
+just right we'll pile the deck with sponges in a week till you can't
+see over them. If the weather isn't exactly right we won't get a
+sponge. On one cruise there, the men on this sloop averaged
+twenty-five dollars a day apiece. I've been there five times since
+without ever making enough to pay for our salt."
+
+A week later the captain said to the boy:
+
+"Dick, you are a mascot. You've brought us big luck. We never had
+such weather here but once and I don't care now how soon it comes on
+to blow. I reckon it'll begin to-night from the looks and we'll hike
+for Key West to-morrow."
+
+Dick was glad to go. The week had been a hard one, the work
+incessant and each night he felt as if his back were broken. He was
+used to the fresh, sweet air of his country home and the sloop he
+was in was arranged like most of the sponging craft, with quarters
+sufficient for half the crew it carried. The deck of the sponger was
+piled with the result of the work of the week. The sponge of
+commerce, the one you buy at the drug store, is the skeleton of the
+creature; the thing taken from the water is its corpse. Not until
+this body has rotted away is it pleasant to live with. Day by day
+the stench, like that of a charnel house, became more unbearable to
+Dick. The crew seemed never to notice it, which caused the boy much
+wonderment that noses had ever been given them. He was glad when a
+strong wind came and swept some of the smell away instead of leaving
+it to settle in chunks in every nook and cranny on the boat.
+
+At Key West most of the crew went to their homes, but Dick was
+invited to live on the sloop till he found a boat for the coast he
+wanted to reach.
+
+Cargoes sent to Key West for a market are almost always sold at
+auction and the auction houses in the early morning are busy marts.
+Cargoes of sponge, fruit, vegetables, lumber and other goods are
+sold in lots to suit purchasers, who range from the dealer who buys
+by the cargo, or the small merchant who takes a few boxes of pines,
+oranges, grape-fruit, or tomatoes, to the housewife who wants a
+watermelon or a bunch of bananas. On the day following their arrival
+at Key West Captain Wilson handed Dick a roll of bills containing a
+hundred dollars, saying to him:
+
+"That's about your share in the cruise, Dick. The sponge hasn't been
+sold yet, but you are in a hurry to get off and I reckon that's
+about right."
+
+Dick was dazed as he took the roll, but a moment later he handed it
+back to the captain, saying:
+
+"I can't take that, Captain Wilson. It is ten times as much as I
+have earned. You took me on as a boy and I want you to pay me just
+what you would have paid any other boy."
+
+"Put that money in your pocket, Dick. You've done a man's work and
+now you've got a man's pay and that's all there is to it. Lucky for
+you, though, that the weather was good at the Lake. If it hadn't
+been you wouldn't have got anything but your board. Now come ashore
+and we'll hunt up a boat for Marco or Chokoloskee."
+
+They stopped at an auction room in Key West for a minute, when
+Captain Wilson sang out to a boy who was passing:
+
+"Hi, Johnny! Where's the _Etta_?"
+
+"Same old place, off the end of the dock."
+
+"Thought yesterday was your sailing day."
+
+"So it was, but Cap'n's in the calaboose. Got drunk yest'd'y and
+had a fight. I got ter raise th' cash ter git him out."
+
+"Why don't the boss bounce him? He's drunk most of the time."
+
+"Boss says Cap'n Tom's a better sailor when he's drunk than any of
+th' others when they're sober."
+
+"Well, I'll get Tom out of limbo for you and charge it to the boss.
+Only you must take this friend of mine with you to Chokoloskee."
+
+"Sure! What's his name?"
+
+"Name's Dick. Can you make an alligator-hunter of him?"
+
+"Reckon I kin, or kill him tryin'."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+CAUGHT IN A WATERSPOUT
+
+
+The next morning the _Etta_, with Dick on board, started for
+Chokoloskee. The weather was bad, with a succession of squalls from
+the southwest, and the captain kept in the lee of the line of keys
+instead of taking the straight course across the Gulf. But he
+carried all sail till the rotten main-sheet parted at the boom, and
+when he came up in the wind to lower the sail the main throat
+halyard refused to unreeve. Before an order was given Dick was half
+way up the mast and soon came riding down to the deck on the gaff.
+When reefs had been taken in the sails, the sheet replaced, and the
+boat was again under way, the captain said to Dick:
+
+"Who taught you sailoring?"
+
+"Captain Wilson taught me some, and--"
+
+"That's enough. You don't need to mention anybody else. What Wilson
+doesn't know about sailing, sponging and fishing isn't worth
+knowing."
+
+By noon they were about twenty miles southwest of North-West Cape
+and, as the wind had moderated, the reefs were shaken out and the
+bow of the _Etta_ pointed due north, straight for Sand-Fly Pass.
+The breeze grew less and less, and in two hours had died away
+entirely. From the northeast a black, threatening cloud was moving
+slowly toward them, while the sails flapped idly as the _Etta_
+rolled to a heavy ground swell. The cloud came nearer and grew
+blacker, while swirling little tails dropped from it, almost
+touching the water, and then suddenly returned to the black mass
+above.
+
+"What a funny cloud," said Dick to Captain Tom. "Does it mean a
+hurricane?"
+
+"No. This is the hurricane month, but hurricanes always give a day
+or two's warning through the barometer and that hasn't changed a
+tenth in a week. But this is worse than a hurricane if it hits us.
+Those are waterspouts in the making, that you see dropping from the
+big cloud, and when one of them gets a good hold on the water you
+will see something that you won't forget as long as you live, which
+won't be a great while if it hits us," said the captain.
+
+Almost as he spoke a great inverted cone of cloud settled down from
+the mass above and touching the surface of the water set it whirling
+furiously. The water from the Gulf was lifted skyward, in a column
+which constantly grew broader at the base while its pointed top,
+mingling with the almost equally solid cloud, gave hour-glass form
+to the huge, swirling, threatening mass that bore down on the
+_Etta_, within a half mile now. Suddenly the waterspout separated
+from the great cloud mass and moved rapidly eastward. For ten
+minutes the crew of the _Etta_ watched it until, when more than a
+mile distant, the waterspout collapsed more suddenly than it had
+formed and from the foam-covered water a great wave rolled outward,
+spreading until the _Etta_ rocked in its path.
+
+"Thank goodness, that trouble's over," said Dick to the captain.
+
+"Yes, but how about this one?" replied Captain Tom, as he pointed to
+the big cloud which was now within two hundred yards of them and
+more threatening than ever. Another waterspout was forming and soon
+its roar filled their ears, while a towering mass seemed to spread
+over their heads, ready to fall upon and crush them. Already,
+spiteful patches of wind, torn from the revolving cyclone, slapped
+the sails of the _Etta_ as if to tear them from the mast.
+
+"Shan't I take in sail?" asked Johnny of the captain.
+
+"No use," was the reply. "When that thing strikes us nothing will
+make any difference and a bit of breeze in the next minute might
+pull us out."
+
+For a long minute they watched the approaching demon which was now
+within a hundred yards and its tremendous suction was already
+disturbing the water about them when the captain shouted:
+
+"Launch the dingy and get aboard; leave the oars to me!"
+
+In an instant the little dingy had been slid overboard and the boys
+were sitting in the stern; then Captain Tom stepped aboard and was
+soon pulling mightily away from the _Ella_ and across the line of
+progress of the waterspout. But it was all too late. The dingy was
+less than two hundred feet from the _Etta_ when she began to toss,
+lifting her bow high and then plunging it deep beneath the surface.
+The first touch of the waterspout carried away mast and sails and
+swept clear the deck. In another instant the schooner was engulfed,
+but her bulk broke the back of the waterspout and it began to sway;
+its straight, smooth column began to kink up and break, and many
+hundred tons of water fell crashing into the Gulf. When the great
+column fell the dingy was within three hundred feet and, as Captain
+Tom threw his weight on the oars in a last effort to increase the
+distance, one of the oars snapped and the captain fell on his back
+in the bow of the boat, striking his head on the gunwale with a
+force that stunned him. At this moment the outflowing wave from the
+falling water swept over the skiff, rolling it upside down. Dick,
+who was a regular water-dog, saw the big wave coming and, as it
+rolled the dingy over, he sank for a moment beneath the surface till
+the wave had passed, then came up with all his senses alert. He swam
+to the capsized dingy, which was near him, and was soon joined by
+Johnny.
+
+"Where's the captain?" shouted Dick. "We've got to find him. Look
+everywhere, Johnny."
+
+The broken water was now tossing madly and it seemed an age to Dick
+before he caught a glimpse of the captain's head on the crest of a
+wave two boat's lengths distant. He swam to the place, and searched
+the water above and below, diving until he was exhausted. He was
+losing hope when once more the captain's body came to the surface
+and Dick seized it. He started for the dingy with his burden, but
+was fearing he would never make it, when he found Johnny beside him,
+saying:
+
+"Here, you're played out. Put your hand on my shoulder. I can take
+care of the cap'n, too."
+
+"All right, you take care of the captain. I can get back to the
+dingy."
+
+When they reached the dingy the water had become so much smoother
+that they were able to rest while clinging to the side of the dingy
+and holding the captain's face out of water.
+
+"Don't 'spose Cap'n's dead, do yer?" said Johnny.
+
+"Don't think so, but we've got to get this dingy bailed out and get
+him in it, mighty soon. Then I know what to do to bring him to, if
+there's life in him. Lend me your cap and I'll bail out the dingy."
+
+"That ain't the way we bail boats down here," said Johnny, who got
+into the dingy and began to rock it. In about a minute he had rocked
+it nearly dry and finished the job with his cap. Dick then climbed
+into the dingy and the boys pulled the body of the captain beside it
+and, bearing down on the gunwale until water began to come in,
+dragged it aboard, half filling the dingy as they did it. As Johnny
+began to bail again a feeble voice beside him whispered:
+
+"What you fellers doin'?"
+
+The captain soon got stronger, and said he was all right but for a
+headache which was splitting his skull. He tried to rise, but fell
+back in a faint, and Dick told him he must lie still and give
+orders, which Johnny and he would obey. Then Dick stood on a thwart
+and studied the water as far as he could see, hoping to find an oar.
+He saw a mast, a hatch cover and some broken fragments from the
+_Etta_ and at last the blade from the oar which the captain had
+broken. Johnny and he paddled with their hands until they recovered
+the oar blade. As a light breeze had sprung up from the south, which
+was causing them to drift northward, they headed south, paddling and
+watching by turns, until they found the lost oar. Then Dick, resting
+the oar in the sculling hole, called on the captain for orders.
+
+"Better strike out due east and make for Nor'-West Cape. That's the
+nearest land and we're liable to be struck by a squall 'most any
+minute. Then there's a cocoanut grove at the Cape and you'll be
+thirsty by the time you get there."
+
+"Gee!" said Dick, "I'm thirsty now. Wish you hadn't spoken of it."
+
+Dick put his weight on the oar and as he swung back and forth on it
+the captain called out:
+
+"You sure can scull, boy, but take it easy; you've got over a dozen
+miles of it to the Cape and near fifty more up the coast, after
+that."
+
+"Where do I come in?" said Johnny.
+
+"Go 'way, child, this is man's work," replied Dick, as he swung
+easily on his oar, but with a vim that drove the dingy through the
+water at good speed.
+
+Johnny begged for his turn, but didn't get it for two hours, by
+which time the tops of the cocoa palms could be seen. Then Captain
+Tom began to feel better and talked of doing his share of the work,
+upon which Dick whistled a few bars of "Go 'Way Back and Sit Down,"
+which the captain seemed to understand, for he gave no more trouble.
+
+It was nearly dark when they landed on a beach at the border of a
+forest of cocoa palms and in a few minutes Johnny had a dozen young
+nuts on the ground and was hacking at the tough husk of one with his
+knife. When the ape-faced end of the nut had been laid bare and the
+eye cut out with a pen-knife blade, he gave the nut to Dick, who was
+soon absorbing the most delicious drink of his life. There was about
+a pint of milk in each nut, and it took a round dozen to quench the
+thirst of the three. They broke open half-grown or custard nuts and
+ate their pulpy meat and they tried some of the hard flesh of the
+mature nut.
+
+The castaways built a fire on the beach for cheer and warmth and
+piled up fallen leaves of the palm to soften their beds on the sand.
+Captain Tom told the boys that the plantation house was not
+occupied, and that the next house down the coast was a number of
+miles distant and just opposite to the course they wanted to take.
+He then added that he was no more captain now than his companions
+and would give no orders, but he advised that they start up the
+coast before sun-up and do a lot of their sculling in the cool of
+the morning. The boys collected a couple of dozen of nuts to keep
+down their thirst and when the sun rose they were several miles up
+the coast.
+
+About nine o'clock Dick said to the captain:
+
+"I wish it was breakfast time. I'm starving."
+
+"Have your breakfast any time you want it."
+
+"Want it now."
+
+"All right," said the captain, who was sculling, and he headed the
+dingy for shore, where it struck on a reef at the mouth of a stream.
+
+"Now, if you boys will rustle some wood I'll have your breakfast
+ready."
+
+"I don't see anything to eat round here," said Dick.
+
+"How would an oyster roast strike you?" asked the captain.
+
+"My, but wouldn't an oyster taste good? Do you s'pose there is one
+within ten miles?"
+
+Johnny laughed and said:
+
+"What you standin' on? Must be a hundred barrels on 'em."
+
+Dick looked down and was amazed to see that the whole reef was
+composed of oysters--oysters of all sizes, oysters single, in small
+bunches and in great masses.
+
+"Woods are full of 'em," said the captain, and he pointed to the
+mangrove trees that lined the stream, the lower branches of which
+were burdened with bunches of oysters bigger than Dick's head. A
+fire was made and branches of these trees containing bunches of
+oysters were thrown on it. A few minutes later the branches were
+taken off of the fire, with shells bursting open showing hot,
+steaming oysters ready for the sharp sticks which took the place of
+forks with the castaways. After Dick had filled himself with roast
+oysters, he ate a few dozen raw, by way of a change, and then went
+back to his roasting, until he was so full that he told Johnny that
+he never wanted to eat again as long as he lived, at which Johnny
+grinned. Only three hours later, as Johnny was sculling over a
+shallow bank, he stopped work and began to thump the bottom with his
+oar.
+
+"What is it?" asked Dick.
+
+"Bottom covered with clams. Reckon I'll pick up a few for Cap'n and
+me. You said you didn't want to eat again, ever," replied Johnny.
+
+But both of the boys went overboard and in a few minutes had put
+more clams aboard the dingy than the whole party could have eaten in
+a week.
+
+The castaways camped on their second night at the mouth of Lossman's
+River, where they had a famous clam-roast. They found a fisherman's
+house where they got fresh water and a can to hold it, also some
+cornmeal, with which Johnny made an ash-cake, or, as Dick called it,
+Johnny-cake. The captain said it was the best thing he had ever
+eaten, and Dick engaged him on the spot as a camping companion on
+his hunt for his chum.
+
+[Illustration: "A SILVERY, TWISTING BODY SHOT TEN FEET IN THE AIR"]
+
+The next morning the boys slept till the sun had risen and the
+captain awoke them to look upon a gorgeous picture seldom to be
+seen. The unclouded sun was shining brilliantly and the eastern sky
+clear and bright, but in the west a storm was gathering. There were
+snow-clad peaks brilliant with sunshine, thunder-heads black as
+midnight from which lightning was playing, while above and beneath
+them all shone a perfect double rainbow and an equally perfect
+reflection of it from the mirror-like surface of the Gulf. So
+perfect a double-circled rainbow the captain had never before seen,
+and, though he lived near the coast, Johnny had never seen one at
+all. By the time they had finished their breakfast of roast clams
+and ash-cake the rainbow had melted away and the storm-clouds were
+nearer, but Dick wanted to start on up the coast. The captain shook
+his head and Johnny recited:
+
+"Rainbow in the mornin', sailors take warnin'."
+
+Half an hour later all hands were glad to run to the fisherman's
+house, from the doorway of which they looked out upon storm-driven
+sheets of rain that shut out the Gulf and fell in hissing masses
+upon the palmetto roof that covered them, while the continuous blaze
+of lightning and crash of thunder gave Dick his first taste of a
+tropical thunderstorm. Half an hour later the sky was cloudless, the
+sun more brilliant than ever, and the only reminder of the storm
+that had passed was the sullen roar of the surf as the big waves
+broke on the beach.
+
+When Johnny proposed to renew their voyage and the captain assented,
+it was Dick who held back.
+
+"What can we do out there?" said he, waving his hand toward the
+white-capped waves that were sweeping in and sending their foam high
+up the beach. Johnny only laughed in reply, but the captain and he
+dragged the dingy, in which two poles had been placed, out into the
+surf until the waves rolled waist deep past them.
+
+"Tumble aboard, both of you," ordered the captain, as he stood by
+the stern of the craft, holding its bow squarely against the
+incoming waves. The boys climbed aboard, and Dick, following
+Johnny's example, seized a pole and together they held the boat
+against the sweep of the surf until the captain was aboard with the
+oar in his hands. It was exciting work and as they pushed on and
+out, with each new wave tossing the bow of the boat in the air and
+spilling its crest of water and foam over the gunwales, Dick
+exclaimed:
+
+"Isn't it glorious? I never had such fun," and even the captain
+smiled assent.
+
+They pushed on until outside of the breakers and among the
+smooth-rolling waves, where the deepening water made poling
+difficult and they resumed their sculling. The captain took the
+first trick, while Johnny bailed out, with his cap, the water that
+the waves had spilled aboard.
+
+Everything went smoothly and there was no more excitement on the
+trip until in the afternoon, when Dick was working the sculling oar.
+He was swinging it slowly, as he looked down into the water, when
+there appeared suddenly, just under the dingy, a great black
+creature, broader than the boat was long. As it rose nearer to the
+surface, almost touching the craft, he saw a great open mouth, three
+feet across, with a heavy black horn on each side of it, which
+looked quite equal to disposing of Dick and his boat at a single
+bite. The sight was so frightful that Dick impulsively thrust his
+oar against the creature, and was instantly thrown from his feet as
+the stern of the dingy was tossed in the air and a column of water
+fell upon and around him. When the commotion was over and Johnny had
+crawled back into the submerged boat and was rocking it dry, Dick
+said to Captain Tom, who was swimming beside him:
+
+"I believe I'll swim the rest of the way. I'm getting tired of being
+pitched overboard every few minutes."
+
+After they were all aboard and Dick had resumed his work with the
+oar, he asked the captain:
+
+"What was that thing that looked like a devil, that I hit and that
+hit back?"
+
+"That was a devil-fish. They are perfectly harmless," said the
+captain, adding, reflectively, "unless you punch 'em."
+
+The tide favored the castaways at Sand-Fly Pass and they reached
+Chokoloskee Bay without further adventure, but then came the painful
+part of the trip: telling the owner of the _Etta_ of its destruction
+by a waterspout. All the comment Mr. Streeter made was:
+
+"Glad none of you went down with the boat."
+
+The captain and Johnny went to their homes, while Dick accepted Mr.
+Streeter's invitation to stay with him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+OUTFITTING FOR THE HUNT
+
+
+The Streeter home was on the bank of a little river that emptied
+into Chokoloskee Bay, and Dick, for the first time, saw oranges and
+grape-fruit growing and tasted the delicious alligator pear and the
+guava.
+
+After supper Mr. Streeter said to Dick:
+
+"Johnny tells me you have got a friend lying around loose somewhere
+in the Big Cypress Swamp, or the Everglades, and that you and he are
+going to take a day off to look him up."
+
+"That's about the size of it, only of course I don't expect to find
+him in a day or a week. I had some hope that a month would do. I
+suppose it all seems very silly to you?"
+
+"Not a bit, not a bit. The Big Swamp isn't a bad place, if you've
+sand and sense, and I reckon you have both or you wouldn't have got
+as far as you have. I suppose it's Ned Barstow you're looking for?"
+
+"Who in the world could have told you? I haven't spoken his name
+since I left home."
+
+"Nobody told me, but last week Chris Meyer, the surveyor, was here
+and, as we are old friends, we talked half the night. He told me of
+his work for Mr. Barstow, the big lumber man, and said that Ned
+Barstow, his son, had been out in the swamp with him as surveyor's
+assistant for 'most a month, Chris told me that when he left, Ned
+was arranging to go on a hunting trip with Billy Tommy, a Seminole
+Indian. He thought the plan was to hunt slowly through the swamp to
+Tommy's canoe, which he had left somewhere between Boat Landing and
+Charley Tiger's. Ned expected then to work down through the
+Everglades to Cape Sable if possible."
+
+"Is there any chance of my finding him in that great wilderness, Mr.
+Streeter? It looks so much bigger than it did from up north. How is
+it possible to keep from getting lost?"
+
+"Don't have to. Soon as you begin to worry because you don't know
+where you are, trouble begins. More than one man in this country has
+gone crazy and killed himself because he thought he was lost. Why,
+you can't be really lost. If you're worried just start for the North
+Star. You'll hit somebody before you strike the North Pole. But it's
+a heap easier to keep from worrying if you've got company. Lordy,
+the picnic you and Johnny are going to have! I wish I was as young
+as you and going with you. Your best way to find Ned will not be to
+follow his trail, but to head him off somewhere in the Glades.
+That's easier than you think. I could pretty nearly figure out to a
+mile where he is this minute. You see, he's with Billy Tommy, and I
+know that Injun. Couldn't make him hurry if he tried, and he won't
+try. He'll be so busy shootin' things and skinnin' 'em and fussin'
+'round camp that they'll get ahead mighty slow. Shouldn't wonder if
+it took 'em a week from the time they started to get to where Tommy
+left his canoe. Then they will put out in the Glades and head
+straight for Charley Tiger's camp."
+
+"How do you know that?"
+
+"Because I know Tommy and because it's the only Injun camp 'round
+there where he'd be sure to find _whyome_--that's whisky, or rum, or
+anything that'll make drunk come."
+
+"But suppose Ned wouldn't go that way?"
+
+"Oh, Tommy'd fix that. He'd point to the west and say, 'Big Swamp,
+canoe no can take!' Then he'd wave his hand to the east, 'No trail,
+_oko suchescha_ (water all gone), saw-grass _ojus_ (heaps)!' No,
+they never got past Tiger's camp without stopping. Then Tommy got
+drunk and Ned couldn't move him under four days. It's an even chance
+that they are right there now."
+
+"How far from here is Tiger's camp?" asked Dick.
+
+"Less than forty miles, but you'd think it was four hundred before
+you got there, if you tried to cross the swamp to reach it. Besides,
+they would certainly be gone before you could possibly get to the
+camp. Then you couldn't take a boat, and you've got to have one to
+follow your friend."
+
+"Can I buy or hire a skiff, here?"
+
+"You can do a lot better. One of your Northern tourists left a
+little beauty of a canoe with me, to be sold first chance I got. It
+cost seventy dollars, delivered here, and you can have it for
+twenty. It's only fifteen feet long and about two feet wide
+amidships, but it weighs only forty pounds and when there isn't
+water enough for the canoe to carry you, why, you can carry the
+canoe. Then a few little traps go with it which you may find useful.
+There's a broken fly-rod, which you can fix all right, and a little
+single-barrel shot-gun, not worth much, but you can always pick up a
+supper with it. There are also a pair of grains, a light harpoon,
+and a cast-net which is torn some, but Johnny can fix it. Johnny's
+got a rifle and all the camp kit two tough boys will need.
+
+"Better take a piece of light, waterproofed canvas big enough to
+keep off some of the rain when it storms, an axe, a bag of salt to
+save the hides of the alligators you will be sure to kill if Johnny
+goes with you, and some grits and bacon. Oh! you may need a
+mosquito-bar, and if you do want it you're likely to want it bad.
+Make it of cheese-cloth; that'll keep out sand-flies, too. Some of
+my folks will run it up on the machine for you in a few minutes.
+There may be some other little things that you'll need, but you can
+trust Johnny to think of 'em. Now, Dick, you don't have to pay for
+any of these things till you get good and ready. I'm used to giving
+long credits and this time I'm glad to do it."
+
+"Oh, Mr. Streeter, you don't know how grateful I am to you for all
+you are doing for me. The money is the least part of it and I can
+fix that all right. You wouldn't think I was a capitalist to look at
+me, would you?" said Dick, laughingly. "Since I left home I've
+rolled up quite a fortune as a fireman and a sponger and I can pay
+my little bills and have money to burn besides. How soon do you
+think we can get off?"
+
+"You ought to start to-morrow. You can get ready in an hour. Know
+anything about canoeing?"
+
+"Not much, but I've rowed some in a shell."
+
+"That'll help you a little, but it leaves you something to learn.
+The man whose canoe you have bought was cruising down here with his
+family and he told me that every time one of 'em stepped in that
+canoe he went overboard. He said he had to choose between the canoe
+and his family and had concluded to let the canoe go. One of my boys
+owns a little Indian canoe in which Johnny and he have poled around
+a good deal, so I reckon Johnny can keep inside of your canoe, but
+you'd better spend the forenoon to-morrow practicing in it with a
+paddle, then you can get off right after dinner and your clothes
+will be dry before you make camp at night."
+
+"Does Johnny know the course we ought to take from here?"
+
+"Not far, but I can help you some and you'll find out the rest for
+yourselves. You'll have to. Then Johnny savvies Injun talk pretty
+well and you're sure to run across them or their camps. And he'll
+likely know them, and if Ned's anywhere in their country or has been
+there they'll sure know it. You will leave this bay by way of
+Turner's River, which will take you into the most tangled up part of
+the Ten Thousand Islands. You will go through rivers and bays,
+around keys, along twisting channels and up narrow, crooked creeks.
+You'll be lost from the start, but you don't want to think of that.
+Just make your course average southeast for the first fifty miles,
+which you ought to cover in three days. Then hunt for some creek
+coming from the east. It will be a little one, you will have to drag
+your canoe, perhaps for miles, under branches that close over the
+creek and you may have to carry your canoe and pack your dunnage
+over prairie land. In a day you ought to strike the Everglades. Then
+turn to the north and look for Indian trails, which you want to
+follow whenever they lead anywhere near where you are trying to go.
+They will help you to dodge the worst of the saw-grass which is
+likely to be your greatest trouble.
+
+"Keep along the border line between the Everglades and the cypress
+country and you will probably hit Osceola's camp. He's about the
+whitest Seminole in the State and he'll help you all he can.
+Remember, when in an Indian camp, that their brand of politeness is
+different from a white man's, though it may be just as sincere. If
+you're hungry, and don't see a spoon lying around, just dip your
+hand in the family pot, if you can eat that way. If you want to
+sleep lie down on the nearest unoccupied bunk. If you make a mistake
+they won't tell you of it.
+
+"Now, remember above all things, that you mustn't get rattled.
+That's the biggest risk you'll run in this country. If you get
+separated from Johnny and think about being lost and get excited and
+begin to walk fast, or run, stop right there and sit down and don't
+go on till you're perfectly cool, not if you have to camp right
+where you are for a night, or a day, or both. Just as soon as you
+have taught yourself that when you get excited you have got to sit
+still for an hour or two, you'll stop getting excited. There is
+mighty little real danger where you are going. There are bear and
+panther, but the only thing on earth that's a bigger coward than a
+bear is a panther. People from your country think the alligator is a
+dangerous brute. I have lived among them, killed them, dealt in
+their hides, of which I have shipped north the biggest consignments
+sent from this coast, since before you were born, and I never knew
+of a human being having been harmed by one. This deep river running
+in front of my door used to be full of them, and there are some
+there now, but my whole family of children swim in it almost every
+day without thought of danger. Only two weeks ago Johnny killed a
+ten-foot 'gator right in front of my house and within a hundred
+feet of it. Any of our hunters will wade into a pond where there are
+fifty alligators, to drag out one they have shot; many of them will
+tackle, with nothing but a stick, any 'gator under six feet that
+they can catch on a prairie or asleep on a bank, and a few of the
+boys will wade bare-footed and bare-handed into a pond on the
+prairie and bring out little alligators. Johnny is a dabster at
+that. Likely you'll see him do it before many days.
+
+"Of course rattlesnakes are bad, but they always give warning,
+usually a good long one. I've killed hundreds, perhaps thousands of
+them and never been bitten. Cotton-mouth moccasins are poisonous,
+but they are sluggish and not so very plenty. You'll have to get
+used to the smaller moccasins. You will find lots of them. I've
+kicked them out of my path on the prairies and in the marshes for a
+good many years without having been bitten by one.
+
+"Sharks have a bad name, and Florida waters are full of them, but
+there is no authentic instance on record of their having killed a
+man, woman, or child in this country. There are convicts and other
+outlaws in the Ten Thousand Islands. They may steal something from
+your camp, but they won't harm you. Some of them are bad men, and
+when they kill their own kind, people here don't mind it, but the
+outlaws know that the community wouldn't stand for their hurting any
+of you boys."
+
+Dick was ashamed when he got up to breakfast to find that Mr.
+Streeter and Johnny had been at work for an hour and had got
+everything ready for a start, even to the mosquito-bar, which one of
+the family had already made.
+
+The outfit consisted of a fly-rod, with reel, line and flies; rifle
+and shot-gun, with fifty cartridges for each; pair grains, harpoon,
+line and pole; cast-net, fish hooks and lines; forks, tin-cups and
+plates, two each; light axe, saucepan and frying-pan; piece of
+waterproofed canvas, six by eight feet; lantern, kerosene, and bag
+of salt; white bacon, hominy and corn meal, five lbs. each; canoe,
+two paddles and one long oar; five gallon can of water, and bucket;
+waterproof box filled with matches.
+
+Each of the boys carried a clasp knife and a pocket, watertight
+match safe.
+
+Nothing had been loaded on the canoe, as Mr. Streeter wanted to be
+sure that Dick could stay in it, before he filled it with goods that
+water might harm. He was soon satisfied on this point, for although
+Dick got into the canoe with exceeding care, he kept his balance
+perfectly, and after the first few strokes appeared perfectly at
+home in the craft. He paddled for a few minutes kneeling on the
+bottom of the boat, then sitting on a thwart, and finally came back
+to the dock sitting on the stern, while the bow of the canoe tilted
+up in the air. Then Johnny got in with him and the boys maneuvered
+the craft until Mr. Streeter called out to them:
+
+"You kids are all right and don't need to waste any more time.
+Better pack up and be off, and save half a day." They loaded the
+canoe carefully and took their positions, Dick in the stern and
+Johnny in the bow. Then lifting their caps to the family, who had
+come down to the dock to see them off, the boys dipped their paddles
+together in the river and began Dick's hunt for his chum.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+DICK'S HUNT FOR HIS CHUM
+
+An hour's paddling brought Dick and Johnny to the mouth of Turner's
+River, up which they headed the canoe. A strong tide setting up the
+river nearly doubled their speed.
+
+"Lucky for us that the tide is running our way," said Dick.
+
+"Not much luck about it. Mr. Streeter knew about the tide. That's
+why he hurried us off 'fore dinner. Tide'll be other way this
+evenin'," replied Johnny.
+
+"Isn't Mr. Streeter a brick?"
+
+"He's all that. Lots o' people 'd have hard times 'f he moved away.
+He helps th' Injuns, too, when they're in hard luck."
+
+The first fork in the river was a mile from its mouth and Dick, who
+was steering, took the right branch, which led southeast, although
+it was much the smaller stream. At the next parting of the stream
+one branch led to the east and the other due south. Fortunately
+Johnny knew which fork to take, and for a mile or two there was no
+trouble. Then the river opened out into a broad shallow bay, filled
+with little keys, but nothing to tell Dick which way to steer. He
+tried to keep to a southeast course, but ran into shallows which
+soon ended in a pocket from which they had to back out. Often they
+followed a good channel for a mile, only to have it end in an oyster
+reef, and again they had to turn back. A pair of dolphins lifted
+their heads above the surface in front of the canoe and with a sniff
+of fright started away across the bay like an express train. They
+were great creatures, nearly nine feet long, and were followed in
+their flight by a baby dolphin less than half their size, which rose
+within reach of Dick's paddle, sniffed impertinently in his face and
+skittered away after his mother as fast as he could wiggle his funny
+flat tail.
+
+"Better foller them porpoises," said Johnny; "they know the
+channel."
+
+The dolphin is so uniformly miscalled porpoise, on the west coast
+and everywhere else, that the creature will soon come to think that
+it really is a porpoise.
+
+Dick followed the dolphins as long as he could see them and was led
+into a deep channel which opened out into a series of broad bays
+through which they paddled until, among the sunken lands of the
+flooded mangrove keys, they came upon a shell mound, the site of an
+old abandoned plantation. Dick's aching muscles and Johnny's
+clamorous stomach had long been pleading for a rest, and the boys
+landed on the mound for a picnic dinner. They opened a box which
+Mrs. Streeter had given them as they started from her home, and
+found a bountiful lunch of cold venison, baked sweet potatoes,
+boiled eggs, bread, butter, orange marmalade and two pineapples.
+
+"Gee!" said Dick. "Are we going to live this way, Johnny?" but
+Johnny only grinned.
+
+After the boys had eaten, as only boys can eat, they crawled through
+the vines and among the thorns of the overgrown plantation. They
+found stalks of sugar-cane and bunches of bananas; wide-spreading
+guava and lime trees, loaded with fruit; and tall Avocado pear trees
+from which hung purpling globes of that great, creamy, most
+delicious fruit, commonly called alligator pear. They filled with
+fruit the shirts they wore, till they bulged like St. Nicholas, and
+made many trips between the trees and their canoe. As Dick was
+standing beside a lime tree, he heard a sound near him like the
+whirring of a big locust. Dick had never before heard the angry
+jarring of the rattles of the great king of snakes, but he didn't
+need to be told the meaning of the blood-curdling sound, which
+seemed to come from all directions at once. He gazed about him for a
+moment, with every muscle tense, until he caught sight of the head
+of the reptile waving slowly to and fro above the irregular coils of
+his body. The snake seemed to be within striking distance and the
+unnerved boy sprang suddenly away from it, landing among the
+thorn-bearing branches of a big lime tree. Dick soon recovered his
+nerve, and hunting up a big stick, went cautiously in search of the
+reptile, which he found still coiled. He broke the creature's back
+with his first blow and had struck several more when Johnny came
+crawling through the undergrowth, and called out:
+
+"Want to save his skin?"
+
+"Sure," replied Dick, who hadn't thought of it before.
+
+"Then don't smash him any more and I'll show you how to round-skin
+him. He's dead enough, now. A feller from New York showed me how. He
+skinned 'em for a livin'. Birds, too. Said he'd give me ten dollars
+if I'd get him the skin of one of these fork-tailed kites. He wanted
+the nest and eggs, too. Say, but he could skin things. Skin a bird
+without losin' a feather or gettin' a drop o' blood on it. Said the
+best way to skin snakes was 'fore they was dead."
+
+As Johnny began cutting the skin free from the jaws of the reptile,
+the long, needle-like fangs dripped yellow venom and Dick, looking
+on with a white face, half whispered:
+
+"Suppose you happened to touch those fangs?"
+
+"Ain't a-goin' to touch 'em. Wish I had my pliers here, to pull 'em
+out. You oughter save 'em, and the skull, too. The feller I was
+tellin' yer about always did."
+
+"I don't want them; makes me sick to look at them," said Dick, who
+looked mightily relieved when, the head having been skinned, it was
+cut off and thrown into the bay. After that he became interested
+and helped Johnny with his work until he held in his hand the
+beautiful skin of a diamondback rattlesnake, over six feet long.
+
+In the afternoon the boys entered a big bay that seemed to have no
+other outlet. They followed its shore for an hour, exploring every
+little bay that looked big enough to hide the smallest creek. They
+sounded the depth of the water with their paddles and traced a
+little channel to a clump of bushes that overhung the water from the
+shore. Johnny pulled the bow of the canoe under the overhanging
+branches and found a little creek through which the water was
+flowing. They dragged the canoe into the stream and found water deep
+enough to float it, but branches and vines obstructed them above,
+while logs and snags troubled them below. They used their knives and
+the axe more than they did their paddles. At times they lay down in
+the canoe and dragged it under branches and at others got overboard,
+and standing in water and mud, lifted it over logs. They were in the
+deep gloom of a jungle from which the thick growth above shut out
+nearly all the light. As they pushed the canoe forward, unseen vines
+seized their throats in a garroting clutch, while solid masses of
+spider-webs stuck to their faces and spiders the size of a saucer
+ran over them. As Johnny sat in the bow, he collected the most
+spiders, since Dick only got those which his companion managed to
+dodge, but then Johnny was used to the critters and didn't mind
+them, while Dick wasn't, and did.
+
+"What kind of snakes are these swimming round my legs?" asked Dick,
+as he stood nearly waist-deep in mud and water and helped lift the
+canoe over the biggest log they had struck.
+
+"Speckle-belly moccasins. Mustn't get scared o' them, if you're
+goin' to hunt in this country. They ain't likely to bite if yer
+don't step on 'em and they won't kill yer, nohow," said Johnny.
+
+The stream was so crooked that the boys had to travel three miles to
+gain one and as the troubles in their path seemed to increase they
+talked of turning back. But as it was already too late to get out of
+the creek before dark, they decided to keep on. As it was, darkness
+overtook them while they were yet in the creek. Among their stores
+was a lantern, by the light of which they progressed for a little
+while, when Johnny proposed making camp.
+
+"But we can't camp here. I'm not a merman, to sleep in the water,"
+said Dick.
+
+"You can stretch out in the canoe, if we tie it so it won't tip
+over, and I'll build a brush bed good enough for me in ten minutes,"
+said Johnny, who took the axe, and cut a short pole, which he rested
+on the branches of two trees which grew side by side, so that the
+stick lay parallel to a fallen tree trunk which lay about five feet
+distant. Then he cut a number of inch saplings into six-foot
+lengths, with which he made a platform from the pole to the tree,
+and spreading his blanket on this elastic couch announced that his
+bed was ready. The boys made a hearty supper from the fragments
+that were left from the bountiful provision that Mrs. Streeter had
+made for their dinner. Dick's bed in the canoe was probably softer
+than Johnny's bed, but he didn't sleep as well. The sides of his
+canoe were only five inches above the water which contained the
+moccasins, and Dick was sure he could feel their tongues touch his
+face as the reptiles searched for a soft place to strike. Then the
+snarling from a tree beside him would have been less terrifying if
+he had known that instead of being, as he supposed, two wildcats
+quarreling for the first bite at him, it was merely a friendly
+family discussion between two 'coons.
+
+Things looked more cheerful by daylight, and when Johnny asked
+whether they should go on or turn back, Dick replied:
+
+"Go on just as long as the creek runs." But the creek became choked
+with brush and turned back on its course, until Johnny said:
+
+"If this crik gits any crookeder it'll fetch us back home."
+
+The boys had to cut away two trees which had fallen across the creek
+where the growth was so thick that to cut a path around would have
+been more work than to clear away the logs. The trees were large,
+their axe a little one, and when the boys came to three trees lying
+near together across the stream Dick was so dismayed that he said to
+Johnny:
+
+"Let's get back out of this creek. We must be on the wrong track,
+Mr. Streeter said Indians and hunters got through this country, but
+they never got through this way. What do you think?"
+
+"Hate to go back, but s'pose we've got ter."
+
+Dick's spirits ran low during the return trip through the creek.
+They were going in the wrong direction, and each hour was taking him
+farther away from where he supposed Ned was. Many times he wished
+they had kept on and fought their way through the creek. After
+reaching the bay they had left the day before they turned to the
+east and north as they followed labyrinthic channels that led around
+big and little keys in that part of the ten times Ten Thousand
+Islands. The work became confusing, the waterways they followed led
+them toward every point in the compass. Sometimes a narrowing stream
+made them think they had struck a creek which flowed from the
+mainland, but always it opened into some small bay filled with
+little keys. Late in the afternoon they found a point of land high
+enough for a camp, where they spent the night. After they had eaten
+their supper, Dick said:
+
+"Johnny, do you know where we are?"
+
+"Nope; bin goin' 'round so fast I've got dizzy."
+
+"You mean we are lost?"
+
+"Yep; but that's nothin' s' long's we don't stay lost."
+
+"What shall we do, and where shall we go?"
+
+"Go anywhere, only stick to it. Got ter do sumpthin; fresh water's
+'most gone. Reckon we'd better go 'bout sou'west. We kin find a
+river that'll take us t' the coast, 'nd I kin find a way that'll
+take us where you wanter go."
+
+An hour's paddling brought the boys to a bay in which were several
+pretty keys, on one of which Dick saw a number of beautiful white
+birds.
+
+"What are those?" he asked.
+
+"Egrets," said Johnny. "Want ter shoot 'em?"
+
+"Of course not," replied Dick. "It's against the law, and wicked,
+besides. They are the loveliest birds there are and never ought to
+be killed just for fun."
+
+"We never kill 'em for fun. Only tourists do that. If you Northern
+fellers didn't pay us ter git plumes we'd never kill 'em. D'ye
+remember that key over there?"
+
+"No. What about it?"
+
+"See that crik by the palmetter 'nd the big stump? Know it now?"
+
+"What! Isn't that the creek we slept in night before last?"
+
+"Sure! 'nd that's where we wanter go now. Them trees that we stopped
+fer was cut by our fellers to keep off the Lossman River plume
+hunters. We've got ter cut 'em out, er git 'round 'em if 't takes a
+week."
+
+"How about water?"
+
+"Find it t'other side o' the crik. I'd rather go without than go
+back t' anybody's house fer it."
+
+"But that old shack where we killed the rattler isn't far off, and I
+saw a water-barrel under the caves."
+
+"So did I, 'nd a possum floatin' in it, too. That's why I didn't
+fill up there. We'll go slow on what we got 'nd do without a day 'r
+two, 'nd we'll find some by then if we stick t' anything."
+
+"We're going to stick to things hereafter, Johnny. It was plumb
+foolish to lay down just because a tree got in our way, and it was
+my fault, too. It isn't going to happen again, though. Let's get
+through that creek to-night, if we have to work by the light of the
+lantern."
+
+"Ain't you 'fraid o' the snakes?" said Johnny.
+
+"No. I'm too ashamed of myself for backing out of that creek to be
+afraid of anything, except doing it again."
+
+When the boys got back to the trees which lay across the creek, they
+took turns with the little axe, which was not much heavier than a
+hatchet, until they had cleared an opening for the canoe. They found
+other trees in their way, but they kept on. Once they unloaded the
+canoe on stumps and logs until they could lift it over a log that
+lay so deep in the water that it was hard to cut. Five minutes
+later, and within a hundred yards of where they had turned back on
+the previous day, the boys reached the end of the creek, where it
+opened into a bay which seemed to Dick as beautiful as a dream. It
+was dotted with little islands, on some of which were picturesque
+groups of palmettos, and on others big trees filled with
+white-plumaged birds. Two black dots on the surface of the water a
+hundred yards from the canoe moved slowly across its bow. Johnny
+stopped paddling and said:
+
+"There's a 'gator. D'ye want him?"
+
+"I don't see him."
+
+"See them two black knobs on the water? The little one's his nose
+'nd the big one's his eye. He's turnin' 'round 'nd showin' both
+eyes, now. Shoot him in the eye if yer want t' kill him. It'll take
+some time t' skin him, though, 'nd mebbe ye're in a hurry to get
+along."
+
+"I sure am," replied Dick, and as the paddles dipped together in the
+water, the alligator, suspicious of them, slowly sank from their
+sight.
+
+At the end of the bay the boys found a deep, narrow river with a
+current which Dick supposed was tidal, but which Johnny thought came
+from the Glades. Dick tasted the water and was surprised to find
+that instead of being salt it had the sweetish taste of merely
+brackish water. There were birds of many kinds in the trees on the
+banks of the river, and as the boys paddled against the current
+Johnny saw a brace of ducks swimming ahead of the canoe. He took in
+his paddle and picked up the shotgun, which, with much forethought,
+he had placed beside himself in the canoe before starting out. Dick
+paddled very slowly and quietly toward the ducks until they were
+within easy range. Johnny had been told that if he wanted to be a
+real sportsman he must never fire at birds with a shotgun unless
+they were flying. So he waited until the ducks rose before firing at
+them. The next instant a bird fell heavily on the water a few yards
+ahead of the canoe.
+
+"Why, that bird fell out of this tree!" said the astonished Dick. "I
+didn't know you fired up in a tree."
+
+"I didn't," replied Johnny. "That was a water-turkey, and he isn't
+hurt a bit. They often act so when they're scared. Watch out for him
+under the bank."
+
+In a minute or two Dick saw a long, snake-like head and neck thrust
+out of the water by the bank. The head twisted about with a quick,
+jerky motion till the bird's eyes rested on the canoe, when it
+disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared.
+
+"What became of the ducks?" said Dick.
+
+"Reckon we'll find one of 'em 'round that p'int. The other got
+away." Johnny was right, and the duck was found just around the
+point.
+
+At some places the river narrowed into deep creeks and at others
+broadened out into wide, shallow bays, where the boys were puzzled
+to find the inlet they wanted. It was nearly noon when they struck a
+stream of quite a different sort from anything they had previously
+seen. Its mouth lay between banks that were high for Florida, and
+through it flowed a stream of crystal-clear water, which, to the
+great relief and delight of the boys, was fresh as a mountain brook
+The bed of the stream looked like sand to Dick, but when he thumped
+it with his paddle he found it was coral rock. Suddenly Johnny
+called to him:
+
+"Watch out fur the boat," and resting his hands on the sides of the
+craft leaped into the water without disturbing in the least the
+balance of the canoe.
+
+As Johnny swam rapidly under water, close to the white coral bottom
+of the creek, Dick saw that he was chasing a turtle which was
+skurrying toward the bank for protection. It got there all right,
+but the bank didn't protect it, and soon Johnny came to the surface
+hugging to his breast with his left hand a wildly flapping turtle,
+while with his right he struck out for the canoe. Getting into the
+canoe would have been a ticklish job, so Johnny handed the turtle to
+his companion and swam to the bank while Dick followed with the
+canoe. By the time Johnny had butchered the turtle, Dick had
+constructed a very creditable camp-fire under a palmetto, in the
+shade of which the boys rested while they waited for the turtle stew
+to be ready for them. Their breakfast had been a cold one,
+consisting entirely of fruit, and they had decided that for dinner
+they would begin with turtle stew and end with broiled duck. When
+the stew had been finished, Johnny inquired:
+
+"Want that duck cooked now?"
+
+"No, I don't. If I ate another mouthful I'd bust. Let's have the
+duck next week."
+
+Yet each of the boys managed to eat about a hatful of wild grapes,
+which they found growing a short distance from their camp-fire.
+
+Just as the boys were starting out again, Dick saw a turtle, and,
+laying down his paddle, said:
+
+"Johnny, if you can catch turtles, I can. See me go for that one."
+
+"Hold on," shouted Johnny, as Dick was about to jump overboard.
+"That's an alligator turtle. Bites worse'n a bulldog, and ain't good
+fur much t' eat, nohow."
+
+As they kept on up the creek, its banks came nearer together, trees
+were more numerous, and the bushes thicker. Soon these began to
+close overhead, while the stream itself broke up into several
+smaller ones. As these twisted about, forming a labyrinth of little
+channels bounded by hundreds of tiny keys, all cohered by an
+interlaced canopy of leaves and branches, Dick wondered if ever they
+could find their way out. But he had resolved that morning that
+never again would he turn back in his exploring so long as it was
+possible to go on. The little streams continued to become smaller
+and the turns shorter, until to get around the bends the axe was in
+constant use to clear a path, while the boys waded and often dragged
+or carried the canoe. It was wearing work, and they frequently sat
+down to rest. On one of these occasions Johnny inquired:
+
+"How long you want ter keep this up? This ain't the right creek,
+not the one Mr. Streeter told about."
+
+"I know that. The creek he spoke of must be away south of this, but
+this will probably take us to the Everglades, or near them. So we
+had better keep on till the brook gives out and then travel to the
+east, toting the canoe till we get to the Glades. We may be away
+north of Osceola's camp, but there will likely be a trail that will
+help us to find it, and anyhow we will be near the line that Mr.
+Streeter thinks Ned and the Indian will follow. Don't you like the
+plan?"
+
+"Me? Sure! I don't want any better fun than t' keep on t' the
+Atlantic Ocean, only 'fraid it'd be too hard fer you."
+
+Night found the toys in a narrow stream, scarcely more than the
+width of the canoe, with bushes around them so thick that they found
+it hard to clear a place big enough to sleep on. They were tired
+enough to sleep soundly, in spite of the occasional cries of the
+birds and beasts of the forest.
+
+They made an early start in the morning, and, although the creek was
+crooked and they had to cut away many small trees, they were
+encouraged to find the bushes becoming less abundant as the water
+grew more shallow, and by dark they were on the border of an open
+prairie, where they made camp for the night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE MEETING IN THE GLADES
+
+
+"The Everglades at last!" said Dick the next morning as the rays of
+the rising sun fell on the waters of the Everglades in the distance
+and lit up the clumps of cypress and groups of palmettos that dotted
+the prairie before him. A little to the north and extending into the
+Glades was a row of willows which Johnny visited and found that it
+marked the course of a slough that crossed the prairie and extended
+far out into the Glades.
+
+[Illustration: "THE EVERGLADES AT LAST"]
+
+They were soon afloat in this slough, paddling toward the
+Everglades, but the channel which they followed was crooked and it
+was an hour before they reached them. The boys made their camp
+beside a little group of palmettos on a bit of dry ground which had
+often been used for that purpose. Johnny pointed to a faint line in
+the grass of the Glades and told Dick that it was an Indian trail.
+Dick was excited at the thought that the chum he had come so far to
+meet might even now be in sight. When, far to the north, he saw what
+Johnny said was an Indian canoe with two people poling it, he could
+scarcely restrain himself from paddling out to meet it. The canoe
+came on rapidly, and Dick's excitement increased until he began to
+fancy that in one of the faces that showed above the grass he could
+make out the features of his chum, when Johnny dashed his hopes to
+the ground by saying:
+
+"Them's Injuns. Squaws, too. B'lieve I know 'em."
+
+Then as the approaching faces showed more clearly through the tall
+grass:
+
+"Sure thing. It's Miami Billy's girls. They'll savvy where Charley
+Tommy is."
+
+The Indian girls were poling past the canoe without appearing to see
+it, when Johnny spoke to them. Then the girls, who were clothed in
+the brightest of prints, with masses of beads on their necks, sat
+down in their canoe and had a pow-wow with Johnny that was
+altogether unintelligible to Dick. When the girls had gone, Johnny
+explained:
+
+"Squaws say: 'Think so Charley Tommy not been Osceola Camp, two
+moons. Been Big Cypress; hunt 'gator. Maybe so hunt with white man.
+Not been Charley Tiger camp this moon.' The girls left that camp day
+'fore yesterday. Only other trail from Tiger's camp goes t' Miami.
+We c'n camp right here 'nd ketch 'em sure."
+
+Johnny proposed that while waiting they do some alligator hunting.
+They got out their canvas and rigged up a regular camp. Dick wrote a
+few lines on a scrap of paper, addressed it "Mr. Edward Barstow,"
+and fastened it on a palmetto tree, in such a way that no one
+passing along the trail could fail to see it. The boys then unpacked
+the canoe, and turning it upside down on a bit of dry land stowed
+their stores under it. They gathered a lot of grass for their beds,
+arranged for an early start in the morning, and slept dreamlessly
+till morning came. The hunt was to be on foot, and Johnny insisted
+that Dick carry the rifle, while he made up a light pack for himself
+of axe, frying-pan, forks and a little bacon, corn meal, bait and
+matches. When Dick saw Johnny's pack, he said to him:
+
+"Won't we get back to-night?"
+
+"Mebbe so, but you can't allers tell. We might get to follerin'
+sumthin and be gone two or three days. I don't reckon we're goin' to
+get lost, though we may be bothered some."
+
+"If there's a chance of that we haven't got enough to eat."
+
+"Got plenty. All we really want is a rifle, matches and salt. They'd
+be good for a month."
+
+"What do you do for bread?"
+
+"Cut the bud out of a cabbage tree."
+
+The boys tramped across the prairie to a belt of cypress, where
+Johnny stopped for some minutes, looking back to study the landscape
+and take note of every clump of trees and bit of water in sight.
+
+"I thought you were not afraid of getting lost," said Dick.
+
+"I ain't afraid. I could alters git home all right, but I'd hate to
+lose the canoe."
+
+The cypress strand was swampy, and they crossed it by stepping from
+root to root, excepting that once, when Dick was looking at a
+moccasin, he made a misstep and landed in the mud, where he sank to
+his waist. The woods were narrow, and beyond them was a broad
+prairie with clumps of trees and pools of water scattered through
+it. As they walked and waded they crossed the tracks of many animals
+and birds, to most of which Johnny could give names. There were
+plenty of 'coons, a few wildcats, some deer, and one bear, while
+between the little ponds alligators had worn regular paths.
+
+"What's that?" said Dick as a lizard-like creature scuttled through
+the grass some fifty yards in front of him.
+
+"'Gator! Shoot quick, 'fore he gits t' that pond!"
+
+Dick fired, and his bullet spattered the mud over the reptile's back
+as it slid into the water.
+
+Dick was very much chagrined at missing his quarry, but Johnny
+consoled him.
+
+"I'll git ye another shot at him. I'll call him out o' the water,
+and if he don't come I'll take a stick an' go in there an' run him
+out."
+
+Johnny stood beside the pond and grunted in imitation of a young
+alligator. In a few minutes two black dots appeared on the surface
+of the water, and, slowly rising, disclosed the eyes and the point
+of the nose of an alligator. Johnny grunted again, and the big
+mouth opened wide to take in the baby 'gator which the reptile
+thought he heard. Then the horny ridges of the back began to appear,
+and soon the whole body of the reptile lay on the surface. Johnny
+whispered to Dick:
+
+"Shoot him in that hump behind his eyes." Dick took careful aim and
+fired. The alligator rolled slowly over, with its yellow belly on
+top and its four paws uplifted. Johnny waded into the pond and
+dragged out the body of the reptile, which Dick helped him skin.
+When this had been done Johnny cut from the creature a round strip
+of white flesh, about a foot long, beginning at the hind leg and
+running toward the tail.
+
+"What's that for?" said Dick.
+
+"Fur dinner. I told ye we'd find 'nuff t' eat."
+
+"Do yon s'pose I'm going to eat that?"
+
+"Sure! 'nd yer goin' ter like it."
+
+"Then I wish I hadn't helped skin it."
+
+Just as the boys were leaving the pond they heard a little grunt,
+and turning around saw a baby alligator, less than two feet long,
+lying on the surface.
+
+"Want ter ketch that alive?" asked Johnny.
+
+"Can you do it?"
+
+"I'll show' yer."
+
+And Johnny took off his shoes and waded into the pond. He waded
+about the pond, feeling in the mud with his toes until he felt the
+reptile, when, slipping his toes under it he lifted his foot
+suddenly and brought the alligator near enough to the surface to be
+able to seize him. Dick was delighted with the captive, but was
+frank enough to say:
+
+"Johnny, I said once that I could learn to do anything that you
+could. I take that back. I couldn't learn to do what you did then in
+a thousand years."
+
+Johnny laughed and said:
+
+"You'd do it this afternoon, and I'll bet on it."
+
+Johnny tied a string around the jaws of their little pet and handed
+it to Dick, who carried the wiggly thing so awkwardly that Johnny
+took it back and, opening the bosom of his shirt, put the alligator
+where he would have a soft bed and plenty of room to prowl around.
+
+"That's another thing I'd be scared to do," said Dick.
+
+Johnny led the way to a clump of palmettos beside a clear little
+spring and a nice shady bit of ground, where they made a camp-fire,
+after driving away a family of moccasins that seemed to own the
+place. A slice of alligator steak, nicely browned, was served on a
+palmetto fan to Dick, who nibbled squeamishly at the delicate morsel
+at first, but soon handed back his leafy plate for another helping.
+
+"Wouldn't have believed it," said Dick, "but I never tasted any
+better meat."
+
+"Wait till I cook ye a rattler. That beats fried chicken."
+
+"No, thank you. I draw the line at snakes."
+
+"You drawed it at 'gators this mornin'. Want some more?"
+
+And Dick shamelessly passed up his plate.
+
+The boys walked and waded several miles, until they were near a
+heavily wooded tract, which Johnny said was cypress swamp. It was
+late in the day, and they were about to turn back when Dick saw a
+turkey, which was holding her head half as high as his own, step
+silently into the cover of the woods, followed by half a dozen of
+her half-grown brood. Johnny saw the birds almost as soon as Dick,
+and exclaimed excitedly:
+
+"We've got ter have one of them young turks if it takes all night."
+
+They entered the swamp and got sight of one of the turkeys as he ran
+along a log, and they walked to where they saw the bird, only to get
+another glimpse at about the same distance. Again they followed the
+birds, this time as cautiously as if they had been stalking hostile
+Indians. Often they saw one or more of the turkeys, but never within
+easy range.
+
+"Better try a long shot. They're gettin' wild," said Johnny.
+
+"No, you try 'em, Johnny; you're used to the rifle and you're a
+better shot than I, anyhow."
+
+[Illustration: "WE'VE GOTTER HAVE ONE OF THEM YOUNG TURKS IF IT
+TAKES ALL NIGHT"]
+
+Johnny took the weapon, and his chance came soon. One of the young
+birds lit on a stump within long range of him and remained there
+until he had taken a careful sight and fired. The bird fell, and
+the rest of the brood flew into the depths of the swamp. When the
+boys were ready to start back to camp, Dick discovered to his
+chagrin that he had no idea of the direction in which they should
+travel. Johnny, too, was in some doubt, and as it was already
+growing dark and they had been traveling in the swamp for an hour or
+two, he proposed that they camp right where they were.
+
+"How can we camp here? Water's knee-deep, there's no place for a
+fire, and I'd starve to death before morning. Don't you expect to
+have anything to eat until to-morrow?"
+
+"Bet yer I do! What's the matter with young turkey?"
+
+"Young turkey's bully, but raw turkey's bum."
+
+Johnny laughed and waded to where a fallen tree had left a level
+place among its upturned roots. A few minutes' work with the
+hatchet, which Johnny always carried when hunting, cleared out a
+good foundation for a fire.
+
+"Bully for you! I'll dress the turkey while you build a fire," said
+Dick.
+
+By the time the bird was ready for the frying-pan, Johnny had not
+only built the fire, but had cut a lot of poles and rigged up a
+rough cot between the fallen tree and a rotten log that lay near it.
+Johnny cut some thin slices of bacon for the frying-pan and then
+filled it with thick slices and chunks of turkey. When this had been
+cooked and disposed of, Dick still looked hungry, and another panful
+of the bird was fried. Dick slept some during the night, but
+complained that he had a map of his bunk on his back, which had been
+printed deeply. When breakfast was over and the last bone of the
+turkey had been picked, the boys turned their faces to the east and
+started for their camp. They soon reached an open glade, which was
+quite unfamiliar to them, and were about to enter it, when Johnny,
+who was ahead, slipped behind a tree and held up his hand warningly
+to Dick, who promptly got behind another. Two deer were in the
+opening, about a hundred yards to windward of the boys, toward whom
+they were slowly feeding. Dick was excited and was nervously raising
+his rifle, when Johnny whispered:
+
+"Don't hurry. Got lots o' time."
+
+Dick was ashamed of his nervousness, and determined to conquer it,
+even if he didn't fire at all. One of the deer was a buck with fine
+antlers, and Dick watched his slow advance, as he looked around for
+a moment and then browsed for a minute or two, until the boy felt
+that his nerves were steady once more. The buck was within fifty
+yards when Dick lifted the rifle to his shoulder and let his cheek
+rest upon its stock. In another instant the hunted deer had caught
+sight of the hunter, but it was too late. The beautiful creature
+stood motionless for half a minute, while Dick wondered if he could
+have missed, and then sank slowly to the ground, dead. At the report
+of the rifle the other deer, which was a doe, scampered a few
+yards, then, turning back her head, gazed with wondering eyes upon
+her fallen mate. Johnny took from his pocket a cartridge, and,
+holding it between thumb and finger, looked inquiringly at Dick.
+Dick shook his head, and in another instant the doe had scampered
+out of danger. Dick helped Johnny skin and dress the deer, and
+learned a lot while doing so, but he seemed less happy than a boy
+should be after killing his first deer.
+
+"Johnny, I wish that buck hadn't looked at me out of his big eyes
+just when I was killing him. If I had waited a second I believe I
+wouldn't have fired."
+
+"Glad ye didn't wait, then. Why didn't yer worry about th' 'gator?
+'Gators has fine eyes."
+
+When the boys started on again they counted their loads light, but
+after they had crossed the glade and waded and wallowed through a
+mile or two of swamp they were of a different opinion. When at last
+they had crossed the swamp and only a bit of prairie lay between
+them and the Everglades, they were glad enough to throw down their
+packs for a long rest. The Everglades were before them, but where
+was their camp? In that open country they could have seen it for
+three, perhaps four, miles. Johnny had studied the country around
+the camp when they left it the day before, but could see nothing
+familiar now. However, the boy wasn't worried.
+
+"Reckon we're too fur north. Better go south a few miles, 'nd if we
+don't find it we'll turn 'round 'nd go t'other way. All we got ter
+do is t' stick t' the saw-grass," said he.
+
+For a quarter of a mile the tramp was an easy one. Then the boys
+struck a hit of boggy ground, in which they sank over their knees at
+every step. When the ground became firmer the water got deeper, and
+after wading half a mile without a chance to lay down his pack and
+rest, Dick said:
+
+"Johnny, I always heard that Florida deer were small, but this one
+must have weighed a ton. Wonder if your half is as heavy as mine.
+I've got to sit down on that hummock and rest."
+
+Dick waded to the hummock and sat down on it, wondering what Johnny
+was laughing at. The next minute he understood, for the hummock gave
+a heave and Dick rolled off into the water, while a scared alligator
+scurried away through the water and mud of the prairie. The hummock
+was only a pile of loose grass such as alligators often collect and
+under which they live in the Everglades and the submerged prairies
+about them. Soon the boys found dryer ground, and after a brisk
+tramp of half an hour were cheered by the sight of their camp. There
+was no sign of life about it, to the great disappointment of Dick,
+who had been hoping that Ned had found it. Before reaching their
+camp they had to cross a slough that was wide and deep.
+
+"Reckon we've got ter swim," said Johnny as he found a dry place on
+the bank for his pack and his rifle before wading into the stream.
+But the bottom was of coral and hard, the water reached only to his
+arm-pits, and the boys crossed without trouble, carrying their packs
+on their heads. Dick decided to wait for Ned at the camp, and Johnny
+collected wood and proceeded to smoke their venison. For two days
+they stayed by the camp, watching the trail and keeping the buzzards
+away from the venison by day and listening to the cries of the wild
+creatures in the woods near-by at night, when Dick's patience gave
+out.
+
+"Johnny," said he on the morning of the third day, "we've got to
+find Ned Barstow. Do you s'pose if he knew that I was within fifty
+miles of him he'd loaf in camp for a week expecting me to run over
+him? Not much he wouldn't. He'd be sky-hootin' from daylight till
+dark over the whole country till he lit on me. Mr. Streeter said
+Charley Tommy couldn't get past Tiger Tail's camp under four days.
+Now, what's the matter with our meeting him there? Can't you follow
+the trail of those squaws bade to Tiger's camp?"
+
+"I kin try. Mebbe 'tain't so easy's you think, though."
+
+"What risk do we run in trying it?"
+
+"Nothin', 'cept we may miss your man. We're all right 'nd could live
+anywhere in this country for a year on what we've got and could pick
+up."
+
+"Then let's hike out. I can't keep still any longer."
+
+The boys followed the trail by which the squaws had come without
+difficulty for a few miles. Then came a stretch of open water, where
+their eyes failed to catch the faint traces of the passing canoes
+among the few scattering blades of grass that appeared on the
+surface. Several times they picked up the trail after they had lost
+it, but at last they missed it for miles. They decided not to go
+back, and kept on, hoping to find it again. They kept in the light
+grass as much as they could, but in avoiding the strands of the
+heavy saw-grass of the Glades they were forced farther and farther
+to the east, until night found them in the open Everglades with no
+hope of a place to camp.
+
+They made their way to a flooded key of sweet-bay, myrtle and cocoa
+plums, and Johnny piled up brush on which he tried to sleep, while
+Dick lay in the canoe, which had been lashed between two little
+trees. They were awakened by a deluge of rain, and in a few minutes
+there wasn't a dry rag between them. They used their canvas to
+protect guns, ammunition and such things as had to be kept dry. A
+cold wind chilled them to the bone, and they had to sit down in the
+water to get warm. It was a short-lived storm, and when the rain
+ceased and the stars came out Dick said to his companion:
+
+"It's no use trying to sleep to-night; let's pull out for Tiger
+Tail's."
+
+When morning came the boys saw, far to the northwest, an Indian
+camp which they knew must belong to Charley Tiger Tail. But between
+them and the camp was an almost impassable barrier of saw-grass.
+They paddled to the east, keeping on the southern border of the
+saw-grass strand, and whenever an opening appeared they followed it
+until turned back by grass too heavy for them to force their way
+through. They worked until noon and were out of sight of the Indian
+camp when they saw, a mile north of them, a couple of Indians poling
+their canoe. Johnny waved his hand to the Indians, who stopped
+poling and waited for the boys to get to them. He was soon
+pow-wowing with them, and translating to Dick as he talked.
+
+"These Injuns, Charley Jumper and Cypress Tiger. This Miami trail.
+Goes Tiger Tail's camp, 'bout six mile. Hooray! Charley Tommy 'nd
+your man there. No, went away this mornin'. They say think so on
+Osceola trail. That's the trail the squaws was on, 'nd we lost it."
+
+"Can't we cut across to that trail and head them off, or catch up
+with them?"
+
+"I asked 'em. They say: 'No good, trail bad, trail to Charley Tiger
+good, then go Osceola trail. Maybe so Charley Tommy stop Osceola
+camp, maybe Miami Billy camp, maybe so not stop anywhere.' They say
+they sick _ojus_, want _whyome_. That means they're awful sick and
+want whisky, but all Injuns is that. These is good Injuns. Better
+do what they say."
+
+The trail to the Indian's camp was a crooked one, but Johnny
+followed it without trouble, although it was nearly dark when they
+reached the camp. They slept on one of the high tables which the
+Seminoles use for their beds, and found Charley Tiger Tail quite a
+civilized Indian, who spoke a little English, sold whisky and dealt
+in the contraband plumes of the egret.
+
+The boys were up and off at daylight, for they had agreed to do two
+days' work in every twenty-four hours till they caught the canoe
+they were chasing. Johnny had talked with Tiger about the Osceola
+trail, until he felt he could follow it blind-folded, and little
+time was lost in studying as they poled and paddled that day.
+
+Soon after their start in the morning Dick had said, as he threw his
+weight on the paddle, which he was using as a pole:
+
+"Are you game, Johnny, to camp to-night where we jerked the
+venison?"
+
+"I kin stand it if you kin. Them squaws took two days, though, 'nd I
+ain't lookin' ter beat Injuns much with a canoe."
+
+It is doubtful if the boys could have made the camp, for darkness
+came before they were in sight of it, had not Dick said:
+
+"Johnny, isn't that a light over there toward the land? I've seen
+it two or three times. Do you s'pose it's a fire in the woods?"
+
+"Don't see it," said Johnny. "Yes, I do, now," adding excitedly an
+instant later: "Don't you 'member th' big bend in th' trail jest
+after we left th' camp we're lookin' fer? That fire ain't in th'
+woods. It's at our old camp, 'nd Charley Tommy built that fire, sure
+as shootin'."
+
+Dick was faint with excitement, and could scarcely hold his paddle.
+
+"We must get there soon as we can," said he.
+
+"Sure!" said Johnny. "Only let's go quiet 'nd s'prise 'em."
+
+If Charley Tommy had been a white man the plan would probably have
+been successful. As the boys approached the camp they moved more and
+more slowly, until Dick laid down his paddle and Johnny did all the
+work. There was not a sound that Dick could hear, and when the canoe
+was within a hundred feet of the fire he could see Ned Barstow
+resting his elbow on a log near it, while the Indian lay beside a
+palmetto, apparently asleep. But as the canoe continued to approach,
+Charley Tommy lifted his head, took a swift look around, and, half
+rising, gazed keenly out over the water toward the boys in the
+canoe. Further concealment was impossible, and Dick called out:
+
+"Hello, the camp!"
+
+Ned sprang to his feet, and looking across the water in the
+direction from which the dream voice seemed to have come, was
+silent until he saw the shadowy outline of a canoe, when he spoke in
+a voice that trembled with emotion:
+
+"Dicky boy, is that you?"
+
+"Yes, Neddy!" And soon the reunited chums had grabbed and hugged one
+another till both were breathless. Then they began asking and
+answering questions, sometimes by turns and sometimes together, till
+they were breathless again.
+
+"How did you come to recognize my voice so quickly?" asked Dick.
+
+"Because I was thinking of you, Dick, and wondering when we could
+take the trips we planned in that camp in the North. Now those
+wonderful dreams have come true!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+OLD DREAMS REALIZED
+
+
+There was a long council around the camp-fire that night, and it was
+settled that Ned and Dick were to take the light canoe with their
+own stores and start off by themselves on the hunting and exploring
+tour of which they had dreamed for years. Johnny was to go on an
+alligator hunt with Charley Tommy. Johnny thought the Indian could
+stand the work about two months, after which they would go to
+Chokoloskee and sell the hides. Ned paid the Indian for his time and
+made him a present, in addition, of an outfit of clothing from hat
+to shoes, without any objection from Charley. But when Dick came to
+settle with Johnny there was trouble. For Johnny refused to take any
+pay and said that if Dick paid him for coming to where Ned was he
+would have to pay Dick for carrying him to where Charley was. Ned
+had to chip in before Johnny could be persuaded to take the pay he
+had earned. Ned had a better equipment than Dick and a much larger
+lot of stores. These he shared with Johnny, so that the boy was
+provided with more luxuries than are often carried on an alligator
+hunt.
+
+When the boys were about to start away in the morning, Johnny told
+them that Tommy wanted to go to Osceola's camp for a day or two, and
+he proposed that the boys come with them. Johnny said that if they
+went to the Indian camp with Tommy the Indians would talk and the
+boys could learn a lot of Seminole in two or three days, enough to
+pull them through in their visits to other camps. The chance was too
+good to be lost, and the long, heavy Indian canoe was followed down
+the Glades by the light Canadian canoe of the boys.
+
+Ned and Dick were pretty husky youths, and as their canoe didn't
+weigh more than one-fourth that of the one just ahead of them, they
+thought they were in for a picnic. Very soon they changed their
+minds. Sometimes they could paddle, but generally they used their
+paddles as poles. They had one oar for pushing, which helped them a
+little. A light push sent the canoe forward, but when the push ended
+so did the motion. It took a stronger push to start the Seminole
+canoe, but the stroke was much longer, and when the stroke ended the
+motion continued. The boys were game and wouldn't admit that it
+tired them to keep up. But when a strand of heavy saw-grass had to
+be crossed they found trouble to burn. The round, heavy wooden
+cylinder of Seminole make slid slowly through the tall, stiff,
+saw-edged mass. But the light canoe was thrown back from each
+stroke by the elastic grass. Dick never liked to be beaten, so he
+went overboard and floundered along the trail ahead of the canoe,
+dragging it by the painter, while Ned got out and pushed from behind
+the stern. The sharp, serrated edges of the grass cut their faces
+and lacerated their hands. No air was stirring at the foot of those
+tall spears, and Dick thought of his hours in the fire room of the
+Southern steamer. Sometimes a big, deadly cotton-mouth, the ugliest
+snake in the world, swam in front of Dick as he struggled forward,
+but though his flesh quivered he said nothing lest he make Ned
+nervous. Then occasionally a poisonous brown moccasin rose out of
+the mud which the canoe stirred up, and, with uplifted head and open
+mouth, threatened Ned as he stumbled behind the craft, but he was
+silent about it lest he worry the chum who was new to the country.
+The saw-grass strand was only two hundred yards across, although it
+seemed a mile to the boys, who made light of it when they reached
+the other canoe, but their bleeding hands, torn by the terrible
+grass, told another story.
+
+The canoes and cargoes arrived at Osceola's late in the afternoon,
+and Ned and Dick saw their second Seminole camp. It was the best
+camp in the Everglades, as Osceola himself was perhaps the best
+specimen of the Florida Seminole.
+
+The three buildings which constituted the camp consisted merely of
+high roofs, beautifully constructed of palmetto, which came within
+four feet of the ground at their outer edges. Below this they were
+entirely open. These buildings were nearly filled with tables, about
+four feet high, on which the Indians slept at night and occupied as
+a floor during the day. The buildings were placed about a round
+shed, under which the cooking for the whole camp was done. The fire
+was built in the usual Seminole fashion. Logs of wood were arranged
+like the spokes of a wheel, and the fire built at the hub. When the
+cooking was finished the logs were drawn back a few inches and the
+fire went down to coals, but continued to smolder. When the logs
+were brought together again the fire blazed up.
+
+Ned and Johnny made their bed on one of the tables and slept well,
+but they kicked at dipping their hands in the family stew, and
+broiled their venison and made their coffee over the common fire. It
+was a good-natured camp, but the boys made life a burden to the
+Indians for two days by their incessant attempts at conversation in
+the Indian tongue. Some of the old Indians were sociable, and the
+boys got along very well with them, but the younger ones were shy
+and refused to talk until, having put on the white man's clothes
+that Ned had given him, Tommy took several of the young squaws and
+pickaninnies out in an Indian canoe. The young Indians laughed so
+much at Tommy that they began to forget their shyness, and when
+Tommy bought for Ned a bright-colored Indian shirt that a squaw had
+just made and the boy put it on, the Indians gathered around him
+and made fun, very much as white children would have done. One of
+the squaws brought him a red handkerchief, such as many of the
+Indians wore, and when Ned nodded and tied it around his neck they
+all laughed. Another squaw motioned at Ned's hat, and then at
+several Indians who were bareheaded. Ned nodded again and tossed his
+hat aside. Then as a squaw pointed at his trousers and afterwards at
+the bare-legged Indians about him, Ned shook his head vigorously,
+and even the older Indians joined in the laughter.
+
+The children of the camp were shy things, and peeped out at the
+strangers from behind trees and out of hiding-places, but Dick was
+fond of all wild creatures and few of them could resist his friendly
+advances. Soon every pickaninny in the place was tagging after him.
+The older ones took him out in canoes, which soon were capsized, and
+all hands swam back, each accusing the other of having upset the
+craft.
+
+When the boys went to the Osceola camp of Seminoles with Tommy they
+found a people as stolid and taciturn as those of any Indian tribe
+of which they had read. After four days, during which all
+hospitality was extended to them, they left behind them a kindly
+group of untaught native Americans, who went out of their way to
+show friendliness to their guests. Johnny nearly cried over the
+parting, and would have bartered his hopes of the hereafter to have
+been allowed to accompany the boys, while Tommy, clothed again in
+his native costume and in his right mind, preceded them for two
+miles in his canoe to show them a blind, side trail which they were
+to take. When they turned to take their last look at him, the
+Seminole was standing in his canoe, leaning on his long pole and
+looking fixedly at them.
+
+[Illustration: "THE SEMINOLE WAS STANDING IN HIS CANOE LOOKING
+FIXEDLY AT US"]
+
+For a few miles the trail was easy, but then became too dry for
+paddles, and Dick pushed with an oar, while Ned used a pole which he
+had brought along for use with a harpoon. As the trail grew dryer,
+it became impossible to pole the canoe, and Ned took the painter
+and, stepping into the nearly dry ditch in front of the canoe,
+dragged the craft, while Billy got overboard and pushed from behind.
+Sometimes Ned stopped to kick something out of his path, and at last
+Dick called to him:
+
+"What are you kicking, Ned?"
+
+"Nothing but yellow-bellies and once in a while a brown moccasin. I
+used to worry myself half sick over them, but after seeing Chris
+Meyer wade through bunches of them in the Big Cypress without paying
+any attention to them, I got ashamed of being afraid, and now I
+don't mind moccasins much unless they are cotton-mouths."
+
+"But they have all got fangs, are all poisonous, and all seem
+anxious to bite," said Dick.
+
+"But their bite isn't fatal. Tommy told me that he had been bitten
+six times, and when I asked if the bites made him sick, he said:
+'Lilly bit, one moon.' I asked him about rattlesnake bites, and he
+said: 'Make sick _ojus_ (heap), think so big sleep come pretty
+quick.' He told me that the moccasins bit him while he was pushing
+his canoe and stepped on them."
+
+"Neddy, Johnny used to talk just as you do, and Mr. Streeter said a
+lot more, but it makes me sick to hear it. I can feel the little
+squirmy beasts under my feet every step I take."
+
+About noon the boys struck a creek, where their paddles came into
+play, and very glad they both were. For a time grass troubled them,
+and their progress was slow, but the stream gradually broadened and
+deepened, while its banks became covered with trees and vines, and
+the very sound of their paddles dipping into the clear water was a
+joy to them. Again the brook widened, this time into a shallow bay,
+but a narrow, deep channel remained, which soon led the boys into a
+tidal river.
+
+They were about to follow the current of the river when the head of
+some strange animal was lifted above the surface of the water near
+them, followed by a mass of water thrown high in the air by a big
+tail, which flashed in sight for a moment. A line of great swirls,
+like those made by the propeller of a steamboat, led out in the bay
+and marked the course of the fleeing creature. Ned and Dick forgot
+that they were tired, and paddled furiously on the trail until they
+reached the end of it. Another line of swirls showed where the
+creature had gone, and once more they followed him. Again and again
+they were led on until they had traveled a couple of miles, when
+they lost the trail completely. While they were trying to find it
+Dick saw the head of the thing lifted for an instant, some two
+hundred yards away, at the mouth of a little cove. When they reached
+the cove they found the water clear and deep, and while drifting
+quietly on its surface they saw resting on the bottom near them a
+curious creature about ten feet long, with flippers like a seal and
+a big, powerful tail set crosswise like that of a dolphin.
+
+"I know what that is," said Ned excitedly. "I've been reading about
+the fauna of Florida lately, and this isn't a fish. It's a very rare
+mammal, a manatee, or sea-cow. It's perfectly harmless. I wonder if
+we could catch it. Let's try it. I'll fix a lasso and throw it over
+the manatee's head when it comes up to breathe."
+
+"S'pose you get your rope over its head, what will happen next to
+the canoe--and to us?"
+
+"That's what I want to find out. Please paddle a little nearer very
+quietly. He is beginning to rise," said Ned, who had made a noose in
+the end of a harpoon line and was standing in the bow of the canoe,
+ready to throw it the instant the creature's nose reached the
+surface.
+
+"I see our finish," said Dick as he held his paddle ready to steady
+the canoe, which was already endangered by Ned's standing up in it.
+The next instant the manatee came to the surface, and as the
+creature lifted its head Ned threw his lasso over it. An upward
+stroke of the big tail of the manatee sent a column of water in the
+air which half filled the canoe and nearly capsized it, in spite of
+Dick's best efforts. When the commotion subsided Ned had
+disappeared. Dick looked wildly over the surface and then into the
+water, and was just going overboard to search the bottom when Ned's
+head appeared on the surface. At first the boy seemed confused and
+swam away from the canoe, but turned when Dick called to him. The
+canoe was half full of water, and as it would have been difficult
+for Ned to get aboard without capsizing it, he swam to the nearest
+key, while Dick paddled the canoe to the shoal water beside it. As
+the boys stood in the water bailing out the canoe and examining its
+cargo, Dick said to Ned:
+
+"What did your book say about the manatee being a perfectly harmless
+animal? I'd sure hate to be spanked by that harmless tail."
+
+"So it is harmless, and if we can tire one out I'm not afraid to go
+overboard and tackle him in the water."
+
+"Neither am I afraid, and I'll go overboard with you, only I'm
+afraid that by the time we've tired one of those things I won't be
+able to swim at all."
+
+Late that afternoon, as the boys were paddling through a long narrow
+bay of many keys, they became anxious, because for hours they had
+not seen a bit of ground on which they could camp.
+
+"Looks as if we've got to sleep in the water," said Dick. "If Johnny
+were here he would fix up a camp anywhere, and I'll do the best I
+can. Let's keep on to that point where the palmettos are. If we
+don't find land there we'll camp on mangrove roots."
+
+The boys were in luck, for under the palmettos on the point was a
+regular Indian camping-ground, with logs for the camp-fire in place
+and poles ready for stretching a canvas covering, or rigging up
+mosquito bars.
+
+It was the boys' first real camp together, the very camp of which
+they had talked and dreamed for years in that far-off Belleville,
+now more than a thousand miles away. Never before was there so
+wonderful a supper as the boys enjoyed that night. There was
+venison, superbly broiled by Ned; a perfect ash-cake, built and
+baked by Dick, and a pot of gorgeous coffee, for which both claimed
+credit. They lingered long over their supper, and then talked for
+half the night as they lay on their bed of palmetto leaves and
+watched the stars that looked down upon them through the tops of the
+trees. From the deep water that flowed past the point on which they
+were encamped came the occasional snort of a dolphin, the crash of a
+whip-ray as he struck the water after a leap high in the air, and
+the splashing of fish as they pursued others or were pursued by
+them. From the thicket behind their camp came the snarling of
+wildcats, while in the more distant woods the curdling cry of the
+panther, or mountain lion, could be heard from time to time. A long
+roar that rose and fell and seemed to come from all sides at once
+was recognized by Ned as the bellowing of an alligator. Sometimes
+they heard the beating of invisible wings as flocks of birds flew
+over them, while the "Hoo! hoo hoo! hoo hoo!" of talkative owls as
+they conversed lasted throughout the night.
+
+Ned was so anxious for another chance at a manatee that the boys
+decided to camp where they were and hunt the creature regularly.
+
+"We'll leave all our stores in camp," said Ned, "because we might
+get capsized."
+
+"Oh, yes! We _might_ get capsized! Is there a chance on earth that
+we might _not_ get capsized? We'll leave everything in camp
+excepting the paddles and that lasso of yours which did you so much
+good yesterday."
+
+"You like to talk, Dick, but you know you wouldn't miss that manatee
+hunt for a farm. We will have to put it off a day or two, though,
+until we kill a deer and jerk the venison. We've just eaten the last
+scrap of meat in camp. There's a trail running back into the bushes
+that must lead to a meadow where we can walk and probably find
+deer."
+
+"All right. You'll take your rifle and I'll tag on with the
+shotgun, just to see that you keep out of mischief."
+
+The trail which the boys followed did lead to a meadow where there
+were plenty of deer tracks, but no deer. They waded and tramped
+through the meadow to its farther side, where they entered a wooded
+swamp. Here they started up a deer, at which Ned took two snap-shots
+as the creature ran away. They traveled in the swamp for an hour,
+when they came to another meadow, on the farther side of which two
+deer were feeding. The wind must have carried a hostile scent to the
+quarry, for they slipped quietly into the swamp, and when the boys
+entered it were not to be seen. Again the young hunters sought their
+game through the swamp. They worked their way through thickets,
+among tangles of roots and vines, and wallowed through
+moccasin-infested pools of water and mud. In the excitement of the
+chase the boys took no note of time or of the direction in which
+they were traveling. It was late in the day when, with clothing
+muddied and torn, the boys, exhausted and discouraged, sat on a log
+in a swamp and decided to give up the hunt and go back to camp. They
+turned back and Ned led the way while Dick followed until they
+brought up against an impassable mangrove swamp. Ned looked to the
+right and the left, and then turning to Billy asked if he knew where
+camp was.
+
+"No," said Dick.
+
+"Then we're lost."
+
+"Of course. You're always lost in a swamp. Mr. Streeter says so. He
+says you may lose your boat or your camp, but with a rifle, matches
+and a little salt you can travel over all South Florida.".
+
+Ned looked so unhappy over their prospects that Dick took the lead,
+saying:
+
+"If we don't get out of this swamp pretty soon we'll have to camp in
+it, and we'll need some daylight to fix up in."
+
+At this moment a night heron lit on a branch near Dick, who raised
+his gun and shot it.
+
+"That's our supper, Ned. I wouldn't shoot a bird sitting unless I
+was starving. Don't the woods look lighter over there?" In a few
+minutes the boys were in an open prairie, where Dick produced a
+waterproof match-box, which was well filled, and a small bag of
+salt. A fire was soon built, the heron dressed, broiled and eaten
+with only fingers for forks. The boys washed down their dinners with
+water from a pool, which they first examined for moccasins by the
+light of a burning palmetto fan.
+
+Ned slept with his rifle by his side, and Dick was awakened in the
+morning by its discharge. He saw Ned sitting beside him with the
+rifle in his hand, while a hundred yards away, on the edge of the
+clearing, a buck lay on his back kicking. While the boys were
+hoisting the carcass to the branch of a tree, Ned said to Dick:
+
+"I was in a blue funk yesterday afternoon. I want you to promise to
+kick me if I get scared that way again."
+
+Dick laughed and replied:
+
+"That would be all right, Ned, if I felt sure what you would be
+doing while I was kicking you."
+
+After breakfast, which consisted of venison, Dick suggested that
+they go to work systematically to find their lost camp, and
+proceeded to climb a tall palmetto that stood in the clearing to
+take an observation. When half way up the tree he slid back to the
+ground looking like a chimney-sweep. For the outside of the
+palmetto, like most of those that grow on prairies, had been turned
+into charcoal by the burning of the prairie grass.
+
+"Ned," said Dick, when the former had stopped laughing at the
+blackamoor before him because he was out of breath, "I guess it's
+your turn to kick me. Do you see that trail where I stopped last
+night to build our camp-fire because I didn't know the way to camp?"
+
+"See it now. Didn't know it was there before, though."
+
+"No more did I; but I saw it yesterday morning, and I took special
+notice of this palmetto and made sure that I'd never forget this
+prairie. Why, Ned, this is our own camping-ground, and I could throw
+a biscuit from this prairie to our canoe. Now you can kick."
+
+After the boys had carried their venison to their camp, Ned said:
+
+"Dick, do you know how to jerk venison?"
+
+"I've seen Johnny smoke it. Is that the same thing?"
+
+"Sure! So while you're skinning the buck I'll lam into that black
+mangrove log and build a fire under the little scaffold of small
+poles there, which you hadn't seen, but which was built to cure
+venison. Say, Dick, don't you want to hire out as a scout?"
+
+Dick grinned, but made no other reply, and they began the work of
+jerking the venison. They cut it in thin strips and hung it over the
+fire of the black mangrove, which is one of the smokiest woods on
+earth. All day long they fed the fire and watched the venison, while
+scores of buzzards sat around on the trees and overlooked the work.
+Far into the night the boys lay beside the fire, watched its curling
+smoke, and talked of that camp in the snow in the North of the long
+ago.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE CAPTURE OF THE MANATEE
+
+
+The manatee hunt began as soon as the venison had been cured. The
+boys explored the waters about their camp, making each day a longer
+trip and taking careful note of all the waters they explored. They
+usually hunted through the forenoon, and after dinner Ned mapped out
+the course they had taken while Dick took a walk with the shot-gun
+and picked up an Indian hen, or limp-kin, or a brace of ducks for
+supper. Within a week Ned had made a good working chart of the
+country about them, both land and water, and the boys had come to
+know their surroundings as if they had been born among them. Nearly
+every day they found and chased a manatee. Sometimes they found
+three or four in a day, but the creatures always swam faster than
+their pursuers and were still frisky when the boys were worn to
+frazzles.
+
+One morning a big manatee which they were chasing happened to come
+up beside the canoe to breathe, when Ned splashed it with his paddle
+and drove it under water before it could catch its breath. The
+sea-cow had to come up again in a few seconds and was once more
+driven below the surface by Ned. Almost instantly the creature
+lifted its head so far above the surface that Ned dropped his paddle
+and seized the soft nose of the manatee with both hands.
+
+"Look out!" yelled Dick, but he was the one to have looked out. For,
+as the sea-cow threw down its head and tail, Ned was dragged out of
+the canoe onto his upward-arching back. Then the animal's back was
+curved downward and the flat tail thrown violently upward into the
+air. As the stern of the canoe was over the tail and Dick was in the
+stern of the canoe, both boy and canoe went suddenly in the air with
+a few barrels of water over and around them. When Dick came to the
+surface he saw his companion being savagely tossed about by an angry
+monster that seemed to be holding him between his jaws. Dick was
+terribly frightened and swam as swiftly as possible to Ned's help,
+but before he could reach him the boy had been tossed aside and the
+manatee had disappeared.
+
+"Are you hurt?" said Dick, as soon as he got enough breath to speak.
+
+"Course not! Manatees are harmless. Told you so before. But, say,
+Dicky boy, why didn't you get there a minute sooner and grab a
+flipper? He'd be our manatee now, if you had."
+
+"More likely he'd have had us, Neddy. You didn't see what he did to
+me with just one slap of his tail."
+
+The boys collected their paddles and swam with the canoe to shoal
+water, where they lifted it, poured out the water and got aboard.
+
+On their next hunt the boys put a number of chunks of wood in the
+canoe and when a manatee was started they paddled quietly and tried
+not to frighten the creature by going too near it at first. Then Ned
+took in his paddle and armed himself with chunks of wood, while Dick
+paddled toward the quarry. When the sea-cow lifted its nose out of
+water, for air, it was hit or splashed by a chunk. The frightened
+animal dove quickly, but came up again almost immediately for the
+air it had to have. Another chunk hit its nose, but, confused and
+half strangled, the manatee hardly moved until Dick had driven the
+canoe beside it and Ned had landed on its back. Ned failed to grasp
+the creature's nose with his right hand, but caught the manatee by
+the flipper with his left and clung to it, although tossed off of
+the back of the animal. But Dick was in the river a second after his
+companion and was clutching the right flipper of the manatee with
+one hand and reaching for its nose with the other. The sea-cow threw
+its tail high in the air, then lashing it downward, plunged,
+head-foremost, deep in the water. The boys went under but hung on to
+the flippers, and Dick got a grip on the creature's nose. Both of
+the boys were expert swimmers and divers, and were prepared to stay
+under water as much as a minute rather than release their quarry,
+but within half that time the animal wanted to breathe and rose to
+the surface. After that the boys had little trouble, and the
+manatee, which was a small one, became almost tame. They swam with
+it to a shoal place where, standing in water a little more than
+waist deep, they petted and soothed their prize until it seemed
+quite friendly. Suddenly, Dick exclaimed:
+
+"What's become of the canoe? I capsized it when I went overboard and
+haven't thought of it since."
+
+"I'd forgotten it, too. It must have floated with the tide a good
+ways down the river by this time. I'll swim down stream and hunt it
+up, if you will stay here and take care of the manatee, unless you
+think we had better turn it loose and both go for the canoe. We will
+be in a bad fix if we lose it. If you can take care of the manatee I
+can find the canoe." And Ned swam away down the river.
+
+Helped by the current he had swum a mile when the stream spread out
+into a bay that was a mile long and nearly as wide, which was filled
+with eel-grass and covered with moss. He soon found one of the
+paddles, but in getting it became entangled in the long grass, until
+he was in great danger of drowning. By lying lengthways on the
+paddle, keeping his legs extended and swimming with long over-hand
+strokes, he got out of the tangle. He had been pretty well
+frightened, and swimming to the shore, climbed up on some mangrove
+roots. After looking for a long time, Ned made out the bow of the
+submerged little canoe sticking out from a bunch of moss in the
+eel-grass. It was about an eighth of a mile away and he started for
+it, swimming along the edge of the field of grass, but sheering away
+constantly, as the treacherous current seemed striving to sweep him
+within the clinging clutch of the swaying blades of the rope-like
+grass.
+
+When Ned got opposite the canoe he found that it was forty feet
+within the field of grass. He dreaded to put himself again within
+that deadly grasp, but the thought of Dick waiting for him, alone
+with that strange beast, nerved him to make the plunge. Again he lay
+on the paddle, keeping his feet quiet and making his way slowly with
+his hands toward the canoe. At last he reached the craft, but could
+do nothing with it. He could not pull it and it refused to be
+pushed. He could touch the bottom with his feet, but it was of soft
+mud and the thick grass tangled him worse than ever. He got into the
+canoe and lay on his back under the thwarts, with only part of his
+head out of water. By rocking the canoe, with a short, jerky motion,
+he got rid of some of the water and finished the bailing with his
+hat. It was not easy to paddle out through the grass and moss to the
+open water, but Ned accomplished it. Standing up in the canoe, he
+searched for the other paddle and soon saw and recovered it. He had
+now more than a mile to paddle against a tide that was still strong,
+and he saw, to his alarm, that it was nearly sunset. It was about
+midday when they tackled the manatee, and Dick must have been alone
+with it for a good many hours. Ned was so anxious that he paddled
+furiously and was glad enough when he found Dick standing in water
+shoulder deep, hanging on to the flipper of the manatee, and
+occasionally patting its nose with his hand.
+
+[Illustration: "HE FOUND DICK STANDING IN WATER SHOULDER DEEP,
+HANGING ON TO THE FLIPPER OF THE MANATEE"]
+
+"Oh, Ned! I'm glad to see you," was Dick's greeting to his chum. "A
+hundred times, I've almost let this beast go so that I could swim
+down the river and look for you. If I hadn't heard you coming a few
+minutes ago I'd have been off by now, anyhow."
+
+"What could you have done, swimming down a big river like this, in
+the dark?"
+
+"What could I have done here, or back in camp, without you, Ned?"
+
+Ned gave an amusing account of his adventures and made fun of his
+fears.
+
+"Now tell me what happened to you, in those long hours. Did you get
+scared, too, Dick?"
+
+"Most of my scare was about you, though I did have one or two little
+troubles of my own. For a good while after you swam away the baby
+behaved like a cherub. He let me put my arm around him, as far as it
+would go, and when I rubbed his soft mouth with my hand he seemed to
+like it. Then, suddenly he lashed out with his tail, threw me off my
+feet and carried me out into deep water. I don't quite know how I
+managed to turn him around and get back with him into shoal water. I
+know I was under water a good deal and got very much out of breath.
+I guess, though, from the grip I kept on that baby's nose, that he
+was short of wind himself. Anyhow, when we got back and I let go,
+he lifted his head out of water and sniffed and snorted like a cow
+with the consumption. Then, just as I was feeling pretty good and
+thinking what a nice nurse for a manatee baby I was and what an easy
+job it seemed, I got a terrible jar.
+
+"Something punched me gently in the back, and when I turned my head
+I saw a monster that must have been twelve feet long, and weighed a
+ton or two. It was Baby's ma! She poked her nose all over him and
+even rubbed it against my arm, which was around him, but I never
+flinched, though there ought to be some stronger word than scared to
+fully express my feelings, when I felt that big mouth against my
+arm. The great manatee mother didn't seem to mind me a bit, as she
+swam around us two or three times, but I squirmed a good deal when
+that tremendous tail, which was moving so slowly, came opposite me,
+and I wondered if it was going to mash me as flat as a sheet of
+paper, or only knock me over the tops of the mangroves. But that
+scare was nothing to the next one. After Ma Manatee had gone, Baby
+and I had a quiet hour or so and I was getting pretty tired and
+beginning to worry a lot about you, when something happened to set
+me to worrying about myself. This is a big, deep river, and there
+was enough going on to amuse me, dolphins, turtles and tarpon coming
+up to blow as they passed and small fish jumping out of the water
+most of the time.
+
+"Sometimes a splash and the scattering of little fish when a big
+one got after them startled me for a minute, but I got over minding
+it much, when a big, big splash came and there was a long struggle
+in the river near me. Perhaps I wouldn't have minded it so much, but
+Baby got crazy again and I couldn't soothe him. Next minute I didn't
+blame him, for I was 'most crazy myself. Out from all the ruction in
+the water, there came, swimming slowly toward us, a great leopard
+shark. I knew him from the spots which covered his body, for he was
+so near that I could have counted them. He was certainly over ten
+feet long and looked as if he had plenty of room in his stomach for
+both the baby and me. I remembered that Mr. Streeter had told me
+that no shark in this country had ever attacked a human being, so I
+braced up a little and pulled that splashing manatee baby out toward
+the shark, and I splashed some myself and acted as if I wanted to
+eat that Tiger of the Sea. Would you believe it? He was scared silly
+and, though I was in a blue funk myself, I laughed so that you might
+have heard me if you had been listening. For behind that shark was a
+wake such as a big motor boat would have made. After the shark had
+gone, I had another worrying fit. You had been gone a long time, and
+the thought kept coming to me that you might have met that shark.
+Neddy boy, next time you go off alone on a long swim, I'm going with
+you. Now what shall we do with the baby? The tide will turn before
+long and I s'pose we could get him to camp. He'd go along all
+right, but it would be a mile swim, though we could take turns at
+it."
+
+"I'd rather swim all the way," said Ned, "than to climb into this
+canoe once, from the river. But what's the use? There's no grass at
+the camp and the water is too deep for an infant like Baby. Why not
+tie him here for to-night? Then to-morrow we will take him down to
+that big bay and make a nursery for him in a shallow little cove
+that I saw there. It's full of nice manatee grass and we can put
+stakes across the mouth, or pasture Baby at the end of a rope. But
+what are we going to do with him, after that?"
+
+"Don't borrow trouble, Ned. That question will come up later. The
+next thing for us to do is to tie this little beast. So trot out
+that harpoon line."
+
+Dick untied the harpoon line, which was kept lashed to a thwart in
+the canoe, and, after getting overboard, carefully fastened the
+painter of the canoe to a mangrove root. The boys made a harness for
+the little manatee of one end of the line, by making one loop around
+the body of the baby, just behind his flippers, another around his
+tail and then connecting the two. The other end of the harpoon line
+was then fastened to a mangrove tree on the bank and the baby was
+turned loose. Dick steadied the canoe while Ned climbed aboard, but
+when Ned tried to steady it for Dick to get in it, there was a
+capsize. Dick apologized for his clumsiness and Ned complained that
+he hated to get wet. The next attempt was successful and the boys
+were soon eating venison and drinking coffee at their camp. They
+were tired and talkative when they lay down for the night, and both
+went to sleep in the middle of a sentence.
+
+The boys hurried through their breakfast the next morning, anxious
+to see their captive, which they found where they left him, quite
+friendly and almost unafraid. Dick took the line in the stern of the
+canoe, while Ned paddled from the bow. Baby was tractable and
+allowed himself to be towed, even swimming himself. He behaved best
+when his head was brought beside the canoe and seemed to like the
+petting that Dick gave him. When the baby had been tied in the
+little cove that Ned had discovered, in such a way that he could
+range over the whole of his nursery, the boys decided not to put a
+row of poles across the mouth of it. Dick thought it was too much
+work and Ned said it was no use, because Ma Manatee would knock the
+whole business over the tree-tops with one gentle little whack of
+her tail.
+
+They paddled back to their camp and hunted over the prairies behind
+it all the afternoon. Ned shot another buck, this time in a very
+boggy swamp. It was not a big buck, but before they got out of the
+swamp with it the boys had learned several ways in which a deer
+should not be carried. First, one took the carcass by the tail-end
+and the other by the head. The middle of the body sagged down in the
+mud and pulled the boys after it. Then the creature was slung on a
+pole, which they took on their shoulders. This was better, but every
+time one stumbled, which was most of the time, both landed in the
+bog. Then Ned remembered what all boys should know, and the legs of
+the buck were skinned up to the knee joints. With these loose ends
+of skin, the legs were so tied together in pairs as to form a loop
+through which the arms could be thrust and the whole body of the
+deer worn like a coat.
+
+By taking turns at toting the thing, the boys got their venison to
+camp without very much trouble. While jerking it they were very glad
+to lie around camp and rest, and gossip. But their talk always came
+around to one subject--what to do with their captive. Ned wanted to
+send him North to some aquarium, but didn't quite see how to do it.
+Dick offered to swim him down the rivers to the Gulf of Mexico if
+Ned would sail him up the coast to Marco or Myers, for shipment by
+water or rail.
+
+"I'm really in earnest about this, Dick, because I know father would
+like it so much. He is always looking out for curiosities to send to
+museums or his collecting friends, and this would be such a rare
+thing."
+
+"Would your father stand for a good big bill to get Baby north?"
+
+"He'd stand for anything! What's in your noddle, Dick?"
+
+"It can be done, easy. We're not many miles from the coast, and
+I've been wrecked on that coast, Neddy, so I remember it. We will
+paddle down this river, and as many more as are necessary, until we
+get to the Gulf. Then we'll paddle along the coast to the shack of a
+fisherman whom I know. He's got a sloop and all you've got to do is
+to offer him enough, to make him hustle around for lumber and make a
+water-tight box big enough for Baby to travel in. Then we will help
+him get the infant aboard, start him for the railroad and go back to
+our hunt. Has your father an agent in Myers who'd take your word for
+the bill? Coz if he didn't the account would likely be settled with
+a shot-gun."
+
+"Agent? Why, dad will be there himself by that time. And if he
+isn't, the agent is there all right, all right. So if your pirate
+settles with me with a shot-gun, I'll settle with that agent, same
+way."
+
+As soon as the meat was cured, the boys started for the coast in
+their canoe. On the way they stopped at the nursery and found Baby
+almost glad to see them, and when Ned put half a banana in his
+mouth, the little manatee seemed really grateful. Ned even thought
+that when he pressed the baby's flipper good-bye, the pressure was
+returned, at least that is what he told Dick. The canoeists had
+trouble in avoiding the grass and moss of the big bay, but two hours
+of paddling carried them to the coast, where a strong on-shore wind
+was sending long rollers up on the beach. Dick knew where they
+were, and said that they had come down Broad River, and that the
+fisherman's ranch was only six or seven miles up the coast.
+
+"We can walk up the beach to it and save time. The water is too
+rough for the canoe," said Ned.
+
+"I don't know about that. I've lived on the water some and I've seen
+curious things done with canoes. Let's try it."
+
+"Better try the waves with an empty canoe first. Then I'll be with
+you."
+
+The canoe was unloaded on a quiet bit of the beach which lay behind
+a shoal and the boys by turns got into the canoe and paddled out
+among the breakers. Then they went out together and through it all
+the canoe rose to the waves like a duck. Then they reloaded their
+canoe and started up the beach. At times the wind was stronger and
+the waves bigger, but always the canoe rode them with a gait like a
+rocking-chair. They paddled easily, "taking the waves on the bias,"
+as Dick observed, heading a little off-shore to balance the push of
+the wind and the waves.
+
+The fisherman was at home, and Ned soon closed a contract with him
+to carry Baby Manatee to Myers at Ned's cost and risk, payment to be
+made in Myers by Mr. Barstow or his agent. The man had just got in
+some lumber to build a skiff. This would serve to build the box, and
+the charge for it would be five dollars. The fisherman said he would
+need the help of his son; that the charge for the two would be four
+dollars a day, and he "reckoned" it would take eight days, so the
+contract was closed for thirty-seven dollars. He was ready to start
+right off and catch the evening tide up Broad River.
+
+"Don't you want to make the box first?" said Ned.
+
+"Reckon not. 'Druther see the manatee 'fore I spile good lumber.
+Manatees is mighty scurse in this country."
+
+Dick flared up, and said to the fisherman:
+
+"Do you mean that we've been lying about a manatee?"
+
+"Course not, not lyin'; manatee's all right, only you ain't much ust
+to 'em and it may be bigger'n you think, 'nd I'd hate to make th'
+box too little."
+
+The lumber was taken on board, the canoe unloaded and laid on the
+deck of the sloop, the sails reefed and with her skiff drawn close
+up under her stern the craft was soon flying down the coast. When
+she reached the river the reefs were shaken out and in little more
+than an hour anchor was dropped beside the manatee cove. It was
+nearly dark and work was to begin the next morning, but all hands
+wanted a look at the little manatee. The fisherman and his son went
+in their own skiff while Ned and Dick led the way in the canoe.
+
+"Now I'll show you something worth seeing," said Ned, as he took
+hold of the end of the line and pulled it all easily in. As Ned sat
+looking at the broken end of the line, half stupefied by the
+greatness of his surprise, the fisherman laughed and said:
+
+"That sure was worth seem', 'nd I reckon I've saved you five
+dollars by not makin' that box till I got here 'nd saw the critter."
+
+"I'll keep the contract. It isn't your fault that the manatee has
+got away."
+
+"No, I reckon 'twan't anybody's fault, much. All I want out o' you
+is four dollars for one day's work," and the fisherman laughed
+again, adding a moment afterward:
+
+"I'm 'most ashamed to take that much, but I reckon the joke's been
+wuth it ter you."
+
+Ned paid the four dollars and the boys paddled back to their old
+camp for the night. On the way back Ned stopped paddling, and
+turning back, said to Dick:
+
+"Did that old fellow mean that he didn't believe we had caught a
+manatee at all?"
+
+"If I thought he did, I'd go back and punch his head."
+
+"No, you wouldn't. He isn't to blame. He only thought what everybody
+who hears of it and don't know us will think. I hope he won't tell
+about it in Myers, so that it will get to Dad's ears."
+
+"I shouldn't think you'd care for that," said Dick.
+
+"Well, Dad enjoys a joke and I would likely hear of 'Ned's manatee'
+pretty frequent for some time."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+HARPOONING FROM A CANOE
+
+
+Do you want to go for any more manatees?" asked Dick, the next
+morning.
+
+"Guess not. We're pretty well acquainted with the critters already
+and if we tackled another it would likely be a bigger one, and the
+sample we had was about all we could manage. But the bay here is
+full of big fish. Suppose we get out the little harpoon and pick up
+some drum-fish, channel-bass or a whip-ray?"
+
+When the boys started out for a day of harpooning, Dick sat high up
+on the stern of the canoe with the paddle, while Ned stood in the
+bow with the harpoon.
+
+"Hadn't you better sit down in the bottom of the canoe to paddle?
+The canoe feels wobbly to me," said Ned.
+
+"What's the matter with your nerves, Neddy? I'm not going to capsize
+you. S'pose I practiced half a day with that papoose for nothing?"
+
+"Most of that practice was swimming, wasn't it? I don't want any of
+that in mine to-day."
+
+Ned harpooned several large drum-fish, and finally got a
+channel-bass, after missing several.
+
+"We've got a lot more fish than we can eat now. Let's go for
+something big and have some fun. Hit that shark over there."
+
+"That shark could bite this canoe in two and then swallow the
+pieces. I wouldn't mind that so much if we were in the Glades, but I
+don't want to be set afoot so far from fresh water. See that big
+whip-ray! It's a beaut;--paddle up to it, Dick."
+
+Dick paddled toward the fish, which was shaped like a butterfly,
+with a back six feet broad, covered with beautiful little white
+rings placed on a jet black background. The graceful creature
+fluttered along the surface of the bay with a bird-like motion, at a
+speed that soon took it nearly out of sight of the boys. Dick
+followed it, as it zigzagged about the bay, sometimes skimming on
+the very surface and then disappearing in the depths for minutes at
+a time. Once it was out of sight for five minutes, and Dick had just
+stopped paddling, saying:
+
+"Got to give it up. That big butterfly is the other side of the bay
+by this time," when Ned saw the broad back of the creature gliding
+beneath his harpoon, beside the canoe and a foot or two under the
+surface. His quick side-throw was doubly effective, for the harpoon
+was buried in the back of the quarry, while Ned and Dick were buried
+in the water of the bay. The center of gravity of the canoe's cargo
+of boys was at least two feet above the gunwales of the craft, and
+when Ned's side-thrust threw him out of balance, the canoe popped
+from under him, and as Dick sat on the stern of the canoe and quite
+outside of it, he was in the water as soon as his chum. The whip-ray
+had darted away at high speed as soon as the iron touched him, but
+before the line which was coiled in the harpoon tub had run out, Ned
+had seized the tub, which was floating near him when he came to the
+surface.
+
+The end of the line was fast to the tub and when it was reached Ned
+was hauled through the water by the fish. If Ned had been built like
+a canoe, he would probably have caught the whip-ray, but the drag of
+the boy in the water was too much for the hold the iron had in the
+body of the creature, and the harpoon tore out. The boys managed to
+rock the water out of the canoe, but swamped it several times while
+trying to get in it without going ashore. After they had succeeded,
+Dick took the harpoon, while Ned sat in the bottom of the canoe with
+his paddle.
+
+"Now go ahead and harpoon your fish and I'll show you how to keep a
+canoe trimmed. What you really need is a scow," said Ned.
+
+"If I couldn't throw a harpoon over the side of a canoe without
+going over the other side myself, I'd give up fishing and try
+farming. Now just paddle softly in the wake of that big fin. Know
+what it is? I thought not. Well, it's the bayonet fin of the tarpon,
+my son, and if you'll paddle quietly and stay inside the boat, you
+shall have the fun of your life."
+
+The tarpon was tame, and Ned paddled within twenty feet of it
+without frightening it, but Dick made a poor shot. The back of a
+tarpon is narrow and a small mark for a harpoon when thrown from
+behind the fish, and Dick's weapon grazed its side, while the pole
+fell across the back of the tarpon, causing it to give one wild leap
+and depart for regions unknown. Dick was now out for tarpon, and
+paid no attention to smaller fish, many of which came within
+striking distance. Tarpon were scarce that day, and Dick's next
+chance was an hour in coming, and then the fish happened to be
+headed for the canoe. The boy had not learned the difficulty of
+throwing an iron through the coat of mail of a tarpon excepting from
+abaft the beam of the fish, and he drew in his harpoon with a
+beautiful four-inch scale fixed on its point.
+
+"Take the harpoon, Ned. I couldn't hit a house."
+
+"Yes, you could. You hit that tarpon. Only trouble was, you didn't
+know where to hit it. Keep on practicing. You said I'd have the fun
+of my life, and I'm having it."
+
+[Illustration: "THE STRICKEN TARPON LEAPED SIX FEET IN THE AIR"]
+
+Half an hour later Dick made a beautiful, long throw of nearly
+thirty feet, and the stricken tarpon leaped six feet in the air. For
+two hundred yards the frantic fish towed the canoe in a straight
+line, at a high rate of speed, and then began a series of leaps in
+the air. Some of these were long jumps which barely cleared the
+surface of the water, while others were from eight to ten feet
+vertically upward. The tarpon then darted away in a new direction,
+blistering Dick's hands as the line tore through them. For a quarter
+of an hour the drag of the canoe made little difference in the speed
+of the tarpon, but then it began to slacken and Dick was able to
+pull the canoe up beside the fish, which gave a leap and a sweep of
+its tail that drenched both of the boys and, if the tarpon had been
+a foot nearer, would have wrecked their craft. Again the creature
+dashed away, getting back most of the line that Dick had taken in.
+Once more the fish weakened, and the canoe was drawn up beside it,
+and once more it sprang in the air and dashed away. But with each
+fresh effort the tarpon became weaker, until Dick said to Ned:
+
+"He's about played out. Better take the gaff next time I get near
+him and see if you can land him in the canoe."
+
+"No," replied Ned, "he's your tarpon and you can gaff him yourself.
+He'll capsize the canoe when he comes aboard and I want to be ready
+to swim."
+
+[Illustration: "THE TARPON BEGAN A SERIES OF LEAPS"]
+
+Dick drew the canoe beside the tarpon and, dropping the
+harpoon-line, held the handle of the big gaff-hook in both hands,
+ready to strike. But the fish saw the uplifted weapon and sheered
+away, swimming with renewed vigor, and Dick had to work for another
+half hour before his quarry was quiet enough for the blow. This
+delay was fortunate for the boys, since it left the tarpon too tired
+to struggle. When Dick sank the steel gaff deep in the throat of
+the Silver King and dragged it over the side of the frail canoe,
+Ned sat in the bottom of the craft with a hand on each gunwale,
+ready to balance the boat or swim, as events might indicate.
+
+The boys took a lot of the big silver scales as souvenirs and then
+slid the body of the tarpon into the bay, where it was soon devoured
+by a couple of wandering sharks.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+GHOSTS AND ALLIGATORS
+
+
+The boys spent a day exploring the bay to the east and south,
+finding but a single creek, which lost itself in the jungle after
+wandering a few miles.
+
+"I don't believe we can get through this way," said Dick to his
+chum, as they were resting, after an hour of hard work, cutting away
+branches of trees and dragging the canoe. "Mr. Streeter told me that
+the Indians say there is no creek between the bays at the head of
+Broad River, where we are, and the rivers south of it. Suppose we
+work our way to the mouth of this river and then follow the coast
+down to Harney's, which is the next river south of us and the
+longest one in South Florida."
+
+"All right, and we can explore that big creek running west from the
+foot of this bay, which we saw yesterday."
+
+The boys found the creek to be deep with swift water, but so crooked
+that a snake would have had to slow up to get through it. After two
+miles of paddling, which advanced them about half a mile, they found
+themselves in a broad smooth-flowing river, the most beautiful
+stream they had ever seen. The big trees on the banks were clothed
+with airplants, draped with long, flowing gray moss and garlanded
+with flowering and sweet-scented vines. Sometimes an opening in the
+forest showed broad savannahs, or prairies, or disclosed groups of
+tall palmettos or magnificent royal palms, the grandest tree that
+grows. The water was mirror-like, and the great trees, capped by a
+mass of white clouds in the blue of the heavens, were repeated below
+in a reflection that was perfect. The boys paddled for a long time,
+silent as if in a dream, when Ned spoke in a voice so low that his
+companion could scarcely hear what he said:
+
+"Does it make you think of Heaven, Dick?"
+
+"Guess it does; only," added Dick, in a louder tone, "it will make
+you think of the other place, pretty soon."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"It's a deserted river. Only ghosts stay here. The plantations are
+grown over, the houses rotting and little sticks in the ground tell
+where the old owners are. The climate is so bad that skull and bone
+notices grow on the trees. Then things happen. People eat something
+and die, or fall out of their boats and drown, or go out in the
+woods and stay till the buzzards find them. Oh, but it's the
+peaceful, lovely Rodgers River!"
+
+"Why, where did you hear all that, Dick?"
+
+"From Mr. Streeter. He talked a lot and I didn't forget much that
+he said. Then Johnny had heard the talk of convicts, and others who
+ought to have been, and told me about them almost in a whisper, for
+fear somebody would hear him."
+
+"There's a rotting old shack, now, by that date palm. Are you afraid
+of ghosts?"
+
+"No, rather like 'em. I wouldn't mind camping with them for a day or
+two, with you for company."
+
+[Illustration: "GROUPS OF TALL PALMETTOS, OR MAGNIFICENT TALL
+PALMS"]
+
+The house looked too spooky and snaky to live in, and the boys made
+their camp in the open, near a tamarind tree and, as they observed
+later, beside an overgrown grave. An old barrel under the eaves of
+the house was nearly full of rain water, which they were likely to
+need, since their only supply of fresh water was contained in a
+five-gallon can, which would hold about two days' requirements. The
+rain water was good and would have been better but for Ned's
+gruesome inquiry:
+
+"You don't suppose it has been poisoned, do you, Dick?"
+
+On their first afternoon the boys crossed the swampy jungle in the
+rear of the old plantation and found themselves on a typical South
+Florida prairie. On it were oases of fire-blackened palmettos,
+little ponds, palmetto scrub and bits of soggy meadow, in which they
+often sank to their knees, as they plodded across them. There were
+tracks of wild animals in the meadows and regular trails of
+alligators between the ponds. Billy stopped beside one of the ponds
+and grunted, as he had been taught by Johnny, until a little 'gator
+showed his head.
+
+"See that alligator, Ned? Let's go in there and fetch him out."
+
+"Not much do I go in that mud-hole, alligator or no alligator."
+
+"Then, just you watch me," said Dick, as he took off his shoes and
+stockings.
+
+"See here, Dicky boy, come out of there," said Ned.
+
+But Dick kept on, wading all round the pond before he felt the
+wiggle he wanted. Perhaps his toes were less tough than Johnny's, or
+maybe he didn't manage them as well, for one of them got in a baby
+'gator's mouth. Dick couldn't suppress a yell as two rows of
+needle-like teeth sunk into his flesh, and he jerked his foot away
+so violently that he lost the chance of bagging his game. Then Ned
+came floundering through the mud and almost dragged him out of the
+pond.
+
+"I mean to get that little alligator if it takes all day, only I
+won't try him barefoot again," said Dick, as he slowly drew his
+stocking over his aching toe.
+
+Dick waded out into the pond again and for half an hour explored
+with his feet for the reptile he was after, but all in vain. Several
+times he thought he touched the creature with his shoe, but could
+not be sure. Then he waded ashore and began taking off his shoes.
+
+"What are you going to do now, Dick?" said Ned.
+
+"Johnny waded barefoot into just such a pond as that and brought out
+a 'gator. I told him then that what he could do, I could. I'm plumb
+scared to go in that pond barefoot, but that young Cracker, who's a
+year younger than I, waded right in without stopping to think
+whether it was safe or not. If Johnny was here he'd have that 'gator
+out of that pond, toes or no toes, and that's what I'm going to do,"
+and Dick waded barefoot into the pond again and began feeling around
+in the mud with his toes.
+
+"If you feel that way about it, I'm with you, Dick," said Ned, as he
+began to take off his shoes. But before he reached the water the
+reptile had been caught, and Dick waded ashore with the wriggling
+little alligator in his hand.
+
+"There's a bigger one in there. He whacked me on the shin with his
+tail, just after I caught the little one. Let's get him."
+
+The boys waded side by side, the length of the pond, several times
+without finding another 'gator, although the occasional roiling of
+the water showed that there were others in the pond. They were about
+to give up the hunt when something struck Ned's leg and, grabbing
+suddenly at the thing, he found that he had a five-foot alligator by
+the head. He held the jaws of the 'gator shut while Dick seized the
+hind legs of the reptile, and together they carried the creature
+ashore.
+
+"I wonder where that fellow was hidden," said Dick, after the
+alligator had been safely tied. "My toes have felt in every inch of
+the mud in the bottom of that pond. Maybe there's another one. Let's
+get him," and Dick started into the pond.
+
+"Wait till I get some clubs and I'll be with you. There may be a big
+'gator in there who wouldn't be satisfied with a toe."
+
+It was well they had clubs when they went back in the pond, for
+after a few minutes' searching, Dick struck something, and the tail
+of a reptile came to the surface beside him. As he grabbed it with
+both hands, and hung on with all his strength, a long body curved
+upward from it, a big head was uplifted, and two rows of ivory teeth
+gleamed from wide-opened jaws before Dick's eyes. Before the boy
+could move or the beast strike, Ned's club came crashing down on the
+reptile's head. As the jaws closed and the head fell back, a second
+and yet more furious blow fell upon it. As they dragged the stunned
+or dead 'gator out of the pond, Ned said:
+
+"I'm going to round-skin this alligator and save the skull, for
+mounting. I'll keep it in my den as a reminder of this trip and of
+you."
+
+"If it hadn't been for your club, it would have been more of a
+reminder of me than it is now."
+
+The alligator came to life a few times, while they were skinning it,
+and had to be killed over again, and the tail did some wiggling even
+after the spine had been severed. When the skinning operation was
+over the boys went back to camp, where they found an old kettle, in
+which they boiled the skull of the alligator and cleaned it of flesh
+and brains in preparation for mounting.
+
+[Illustration: "HE HELD THE JAWS OF THE 'GATOR SHUT, WHILE DICK
+SEIZED THE HIND LEGS OF THE REPTILE"]
+
+"How did you sleep last night, Dick?" asked Ned, the next morning.
+
+"Didn't sleep at all. This place is sure bad medicine. First the
+hoots of the owls and the snarls of the wildcats kept me awake, then
+the booming of the big alligators worried me, and after I did get to
+sleep, the ghost of that alligator that we killed to-day shook his
+white teeth in my face, and I could feel the man in the grave under
+me trying to push me off of it. Let's get out of this river this
+morning, Ned."
+
+As they paddled down Rodgers River, in the bright sunshine, Dick's
+spirits rose and when they were off the mouth of the river, headed
+down the coast and bound for Harney's River, two miles distant, he
+took in his paddle and, calling to Ned to hold steady, vaulted
+lightly from the canoe, without even jarring it, and landed on a
+sandbank in water that was but little above his waist. Stooping
+under the water he picked up clams of several pounds weight each,
+with which the bottom was paved, until clam-roasts for days had been
+provided for. Getting back into the canoe was a ticklish operation,
+but was accomplished without disaster, although a pailful or two of
+water was taken aboard.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+HUNTING IN HARNEY'S RIVER
+
+
+The boys had chosen the last of the ebb tide for the trip down
+Rodgers River, which gave them low water for their work on the clam
+bar and a flood tide to help them up Harney's River. They made a
+false start at the mouth of the river by taking a channel that ran
+too far to the east and led them a mile or two out of their course,
+before they discovered their mistake and returned. After entering
+the channel, the course up the river, which averaged east-northeast,
+was plain, there being but a single branch to mislead them, in the
+first six miles. At the end of these the lower section of Harney's
+unites with a branch of Shark River to form Tussock Bay. This bay is
+a labyrinth of channels and keys and opens into creeks large and
+small, and water-courses shallow and deep, grass-choked and clear.
+
+After exploring its mazes for miles, Dick and Ned found, near the
+northeast end of the bay, a tiny key marked by two tall palmettos,
+on which were the signs of an old Indian camp. Here they roasted a
+mess of clams and spent the night. An entire day was wasted in
+following creeks that led nowhere and blind trails. That night they
+slept again at the Indian camp and on the following day found a
+small channel which, through twisting creeks and crooked waterways,
+led to the broad waters of the upper section of Harney's River,
+which they followed until they were stopped by the Everglades. They
+made their camp by a lime tree which was burdened with fruit, and
+went out from it each day to hunt fish or explore and to study and
+chart the country about them. The waters of the streams were all
+flowing clear and fresh from the Everglades. The creeks were alive
+with fish of many kinds, and their surfaces dotted with the heads of
+edible turtles.
+
+Alligators were abundant and otters could often be seen sliding down
+the banks, or in families, playing together in the water. Ned had
+seen a pet otter at Myers and wanted one for himself. He had brought
+with him an otter trap, with smooth jaws instead of the cruel teeth
+which are customary, and he set it near an otter slide. The next day
+as the canoe approached the point where the trap had been set the
+rattling of the chain that held it told of the victim it had made.
+The hind leg of the otter was held firmly by the trap, but he sprang
+fiercely at Ned as he came near, and the sharp teeth snapped
+together within a few inches of the boy's face as the short chain
+straightened out. The boys went back to their camp, where Ned made a
+cage out of the box in which they kept most of their stores, and
+then returned to their captive.
+
+"How are you going to get him into the cage, Ned?"
+
+"Hold his head down with a forked stick, take him round the neck
+with my hand so he can't bite, take the trap off of his leg and poke
+him in the cage."
+
+"Ned! He'll eat you up. I'd rather tackle a wildcat."
+
+"Just watch him eat me up. You stand by, when I've got a good hold,
+and take off that trap quick as you can. Then I'll drop him in the
+box and--there you are."
+
+"No, we won't be there--not all of us. I wish I was the otter. He'll
+have all the fun."
+
+Ned got his forked stick and, after a long struggle, in which Dick
+had to help with another stick, caught the otter's neck in the fork
+and held the creature firmly to the ground. Then putting his left
+hand around its neck he held the head down in the mud, and with his
+right hand clutched the skin of the animal's back.
+
+"All right, Dick, take off the trap."
+
+"Trouble's goin' to begin. Here goes," said Dick, and the trap was
+removed.
+
+Like a flash of light, as Ned lifted the little beast, it thrust its
+head through the loose skin of the neck and turning backward bit
+Ned's hand to the bone four times in something less than a second.
+The otter would have been free, but that Dick, who was looking for
+trouble, had it by the neck with both hands and in spite of its
+biting, scratching and struggling, it was dumped in the box and the
+door of its cage closed.
+
+"Been having fun! Haven't we?" said Dick, ruefully, as the boys,
+scratched, bitten and bleeding, stood looking at each other, after
+their victory. Ned's hand was disabled and so painful that Dick
+paddled the canoe, with its cargo of boys and pet otter, to their
+camp.
+
+"Now, Ned," said Dick, "I'm the surgeon and you are to be respectful
+and call me Dr. Dick. Let me see your left hand first. I've got to
+decide whether to chop it off, or to try and save some of it."
+
+"You look as if you needed some fixing up yourself, Dick."
+
+"That will be all right. You shall have a chance at me--if you
+survive the operation."
+
+Dick got a bottle of carbolated vaseline from their stores, tore up
+one of Ned's shirts and put the strips in boiling water. He then
+washed Ned's wounds with warm water and soap and dressed and
+bandaged them. His own injuries were less serious than Ned's,
+although more numerous, and although he spoke lightly of them, his
+companion insisted on their having as careful treatment as his own.
+When the bandaging was over, Dick said:
+
+"We ought to have a yellow flag to fly over this hospital. I wish we
+had a medical book to tell us what we've probably got. The only
+things I'm sure of are blood poisoning and hydrophobia. Then there's
+enlargement of the spleen. I've got all the symptoms of that."
+
+"Your only danger is from melancholia, Dick. But what are we to do
+with the otter? That box is too small for his comfort."
+
+"I'm not losing any sleep over his comfort. I thought I'd take him
+out of his cage every morning and lead him around the camp for
+exercise until you were ready to begin his education."
+
+"It does not seem quite as easy to tame him as it looked before we
+caught him."
+
+"Guess you mean before he caught us."
+
+"Shouldn't wonder if I did. Couldn't we build a cage of poles, with
+some of these big vines woven in basket fashion?"
+
+"That would be all right. We could watch him day times and you could
+put him back in the box every night for safe keeping. I don't think
+he's an otter at all. He just fits the definition of a white
+elephant."
+
+On the day after his little difference of opinion with the otter,
+Ned's left hand and wrist were so sore and stiff that he could
+neither hold his paddle nor his gun. Dick, too, was partially
+disabled by the soreness of his arms, but he managed to get about in
+the canoe and shoot ducks enough for their meals. They could not
+induce the otter to eat anything, although it seemed much less
+fearful of them. The leg which had been in the trap was broken and
+appeared to trouble the animal, but they could do nothing to help
+it. Dick did propose to take the otter out of the cage and offered
+to set its leg if Ned would hold the creature. On the second day
+their wounds continued to be so troublesome that the boys stayed in
+their hospital camp. As they sat that afternoon in the shade of a
+lime tree, drinking limeade, Dick, the philosopher, began to
+question Ned.
+
+"Don't you pity all these folks about here, Ned? Crackers,
+alligators, Indians, the whole ignorant lot of 'em. If they had got
+hurt as we did, they would have gone right on about their business.
+They'd never have found out that they were probably suffering from
+appendicitis and microbes and ought to go to a hospital and be
+carved up."
+
+At this moment the bow of an Indian canoe glided silently into the
+tiny cove in front of the camp. The boys recognized one of the two
+bronzed, bare-legged Seminoles that stood so erect in the canoe, as
+from Osceola's camp. His response to Ned's greeting was a question.
+
+"_Whyome_ (whiskey), got him? Want him, _ojus_ (very much)."
+
+Ned told them he had no _whyome_, but brought out coffee and sugar
+and invited them to make a brew for themselves. He also produced
+grits and venison. The Indians sat down to a feast which lasted as
+long as any food remained in sight. One of the Indians looked
+curiously at Ned's bandages and smiled a little as he pointed to
+the box that held the pet otter. Ned nodded and asked the Indian, by
+signs, if he had ever been bitten by one of the creatures. The
+Indian held out his hand and showed the scar of a bite that must
+have nearly taken off his thumb. After the Indians had gone Dick
+looked ruefully over the diminished stores and exclaimed:
+
+"There's going to be a famine in this camp if those Injuns hit us
+again."
+
+The next day the boys were very much better and ready for work. Ned
+could not hold a paddle with his left hand, so they took a trip into
+the Everglades, where the water was so shoal that they used their
+paddles as poles and he could push with one hand. They left their
+stores in camp, for which afterwards they were glad, and pushed out
+several miles among the keys of the Glades, where Dick got a shot at
+a deer which was running from one key to another, but made a clean
+miss. They saw several alligators and in the afternoon chased one
+with the canoe. The boys could go faster than the 'gator, but the
+reptile could turn more quickly. At last the canoe was right behind
+the quarry and within a few feet of it.
+
+"Give it to her!" yelled Ned, as he seized his paddle in both hands
+and threw his weight upon it.
+
+"Here goes!" shouted Dick, as he threw his weight on his paddle,
+which, unfortunately, slipped from the point of coral rock on which
+it first struck. Dick landed on his back in the water, capsizing the
+canoe as he fell. When the young canoemen had picked themselves up,
+righted the canoe, and found the rifle, it was too late to look for
+the missing alligator, and they plodded slowly home to camp. They
+found their captive much tamer. He drank a little water, although he
+refused to eat. His leg was badly swollen and they were anxious
+about him, and with good reason, for when they awoke in the morning
+he was dead.
+
+Ned's last, reckless thrust with his paddle had broken open his
+wounds and they became very painful. Dick dressed them again and
+warned him that he wasn't to use his hand until he had Dr. Dick's
+permission. They explored the creeks around their camp in the canoe,
+Dick doing most of the paddling, while Ned helped as well as he
+could, with his unhurt arm. The clear water of these little streams
+abounded with baby tarpon and other small fish, while often, in the
+deeper pools, turtles could be seen scurrying along the bottom. Dick
+had never told Ned of the turtle-catching that Johnny had taught
+him, so when he said, very casually, "Ned, I think I'll go overboard
+and pick up that turtle for supper," Ned replied:
+
+"Don't be an idiot. You couldn't catch that thing in the water in a
+thousand years."
+
+"Just hold the canoe steady and watch me." And Dick, resting his
+hands on the gunwales, threw himself overboard.
+
+The splash frightened the turtle, which made off up the creek, but
+the boy was on his trail and, after a few futile grabs, had the
+reptile in his hand.
+
+"Think that will do for supper, Ned, or shall I pick up a few more?"
+said Dick, as he put the turtle in the canoe.
+
+"I'd like to know who taught you that, you rascal, playing roots on
+your poor old chum, who never had your chance to see the world."
+
+While they were waiting for Ned's hand to get well, Dick got out the
+fly-rod and cast-net that came with his canoe and spent all his
+spare time trying to learn to throw the net. Johnny had given him a
+few lessons, until he thought he had learned to cast it. It was the
+kind of net which is used by the Florida Cracker, to the knowledge
+of which he is born, which he can cast when he leaves his cradle.
+The net was conical, six feet long with a ten-foot mouth, lined with
+leaden sinkers. The top of the net was closed, excepting for a small
+hole in which was fitted a small ring, through which puckering
+strings led from the mouth of the net to a 25-foot line, which was
+to be fastened to the fisherman's wrist.
+
+For casting, about half of the net is thrown over each wrist and one
+of the sinkers held between the teeth. The net is then swung behind
+the fisherman, thrown forward with a whirling motion, the sinker in
+his mouth released at exactly the right instant and the net falls in
+an almost perfect circle wherever, within thirty feet, the fisherman
+wishes. That is the way the net behaved when Johnny threw it. And
+when Johnny arranged the net on Dick's arms, told him just what to
+do and watched him, Dick made some respectable throws, and thought
+he had learned the game; but now, away from his teacher, when he
+tried to cast it, net and leads went out in a solid mass that never
+could have caught anything, though it might have killed a fish by
+knocking it in the head. Dick, however, was bound to learn, and
+practiced by the hour, without seeming to make any progress, when
+suddenly the net began to go out in circles and his casts became
+creditable. He was so fearful of losing his new-found facility that
+he practiced for the rest of that day, and lay down at night with
+what he called the toothache in every muscle.
+
+But from that day fish was on the bill of fare of the young
+explorers.
+
+When Ned's hand was well enough to be used a little, he began by
+fishing, sitting in the bow of the canoe, with the fly-rod, while
+Dick paddled. He caught several of the big-mouthed black bass, often
+called in the South fresh-water trout, and other small fish which
+they saved for the pan. Then the line was carried out with a rush by
+a fish that twice jumped one or two feet in the air.
+
+"Got a tarpon, sure," said Ned, who had never taken one, and he
+became most anxious lest the fish escape.
+
+For nearly half an hour he carefully played the fish, which never
+jumped again. When the tired fish was ready to be landed Ned found
+that his prize, instead of a tarpon, was a ten-pound fish which he
+did not recognize, but which he afterwards learned was a ravaille.
+
+"Well, it was mighty good fun, almost as exciting as if it had been
+a tarpon," said Ned, who didn't know how foolishly he was talking.
+
+They were down the river bright and early the following morning but,
+for the first hour, failed to hook any of the fish that struck. Then
+the hook was snatched and instantly a silver, twisting body shot ten
+feet up in the air. As it fell back in the water, the reel began to
+buzz and Ned's fingers were burned where the line touched them.
+Again and again the great fish leaped high in the air, while the
+line ran low on the reel.
+
+"Paddle, Dick, paddle all you know," shouted Ned.
+
+But Dick was already doing his very best. The tarpon changed his
+course, came back a little, leaped once more and again started off.
+But Ned had got a good many yards of line back on his reel, and was
+getting hopeful of landing his first tarpon. He was beginning to
+lose line again, when the tarpon turned around and, swimming
+straight for the canoe, leaped against Ned with such fury that the
+craft was nearly capsized, and when Ned had recovered from the shock
+his line was nearly out and the fish headed for a little creek that
+was almost overgrown with trees and vines. The first jump of the
+tarpon as he entered the stream carried him up among the bushes
+that hung over the water, but fortunately the line did not catch in
+the branches and, as the fish swam slowly up the little channel, the
+canoe was close behind him. Ned held the point of his rod low, that
+it might not catch in the bushes, but his heart was up in his mouth
+every time the tarpon sprang in the air.
+
+[Illustration: "THE TARPON LEAPED AGAINST NED WITH FURY"]
+
+"It's no use, Dick, we've got to lose him. He isn't a bit tired and
+the tangle is getting worse. Then if he turns back I won't have room
+for the rod and you can't turn the canoe."
+
+"Never say die, Ned. If he gets away from you, I'll go overboard and
+pick him up."
+
+"The creek's opening out into a big river, Dick. We may land him
+yet."
+
+The tarpon stayed in the big river, swimming a mile or so and then
+turning back, while Ned put all the strain he dared on rod and line
+and, excepting when the tarpon made a rush, Dick held his paddle
+still and let the fish tow the canoe by the line.
+
+"We've got all the scales we want," said Dick, "and I move we don't
+gaff another tarpon. When we have tired this one so it's through
+jumping, let's turn it loose. We don't need it to eat and I hate to
+feed sharks with such a beautiful creature."
+
+"Sure!" said Ned. "And if it is as tired as I am it will give in
+pretty soon or die."
+
+The tarpon grew weaker, his leaps lower and soon the canoe was held
+close to him, while Ned even laid his hands on the tired fish.
+
+"Think we can take him aboard, Dick?"
+
+"I think you can swamp the canoe and break the rod, all right."
+
+"I don't mind swamping the canoe and we can take care of the rod. If
+you'll take the rod now, I'll hang on to his jaw and take out the
+hook, which I can see in the corner of his mouth. Then, if you will
+look out for the rod and balance the canoe, I'll slide that tarpon
+over the gunwale--"
+
+"And we will all go overboard together," added Dick.
+
+"No, we won't, but just as soon as we have fairly caught him and got
+him in the canoe, we'll slide him overboard again."
+
+Dick took the rod, Ned removed the hook from the mouth of the tarpon
+and hoisted its head over the gunwale. The canoe canted over until
+water poured over its side, and the attempt would have failed but
+for the tarpon which, with a blow of its tail, threw itself up in
+the air and fell on top of Ned, who had tumbled into the bottom of
+the canoe. The sight of Ned hugging the big fish, which was spanking
+his legs with its tail, was too much for Dick, who sat down on the
+gunwale of the canoe in a spasm of mirth, and of course the craft
+was capsized. Ned clung to the fish for a few seconds until his
+captive had bumped him with its head and slapped him with its tail a
+few times, when he was glad to let it go. He then joined Dick, who
+was holding the rod with one hand and clinging to the canoe with
+the other, as he swam to the bank.
+
+On the way back to camp Dick had several fits of laughter that made
+him stop paddling for a minute at a time and caused Ned to say:
+
+"It's all right to laugh now, but that was my tarpon. I had him safe
+in the canoe and if you hadn't tipped us all into the river I'd have
+hung on to him."
+
+"I'm awful sorry, Ned, but if only you could have seen yourself,
+you'd have had to laugh or bust. Besides, you had your fun. You
+caught your tarpon and you wouldn't have done any more if you had
+lain in the bottom of the canoe and let it spank you all night."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+EDUCATING AN ALLIGATOR
+
+
+The boys wished to explore the Whitewater Bay country, and spent
+several days following to their sources streams that led in that
+direction, until satisfied that no stream connected the two regions.
+Returning to Tussock Bay, they crossed it and entered a branch of
+Shark River, which led to Little Whitewater Bay. As they neared the
+bay a loggerhead turtle rose near them and Dick wanted to hunt it.
+
+"We need the meat," said he. "We can smoke it and then it is as good
+as jerked venison."
+
+"We haven't time to smoke it. We are in a salt-water country with
+only two or three days' supply of fresh water. We may not find any
+more for a week. We've just got to keep moving. I wish we had a keg
+of water. If we were to spill what we've got in that canoe we would
+have to hike in a hurry, back to the Glades or some other place
+where we knew there was fresh water."
+
+On the eastern side of Little Whitewater Bay, the boys found a
+straight and narrow creek which led to Whitewater Bay. Paddling for
+six miles, east-southeast, across the bay, they were fortunate
+enough to strike the narrow mouth of what soon proved to be a broad
+river. They paddled long and late without Finding the fresh water
+they looked for, and camped on ground so wet that they had to cut
+branches to sleep on. As they kept on in the morning, the river they
+followed forked and they took the deeper branch. This in turn split
+in two and again they followed the deeper branch. Near the close of
+a day of hard work the stream they were following opened out on a
+beautiful park-like prairie, while beside the canoe was an ideal
+camping site fitted by Nature to that end.
+
+It was a circular bit of high ground, surrounded by big trees whose
+spreading branches, draped in moss, shaded it on all sides, while an
+immense growth of wild grape-vine canopied it overhead. The water
+that flowed past the camp was pure and sweet, fresh from the
+Everglades. There was heavy timber about the camp and more than once
+during the night the boys heard the tread of a wild animal. Once it
+seemed to be the step of a deer in shallow water near the camp, then
+it was the soft footfall of some catlike animal and when Ned raised
+himself on his elbow to listen to a heavier tread, the "_wouf_" of
+the startled beast told that Bruin had caught the offensive scent of
+the white man's camp. As the boys lay awake and talked while they
+watched the stars peeping through the canopy of vines above them,
+they heard the distant bellowing of a Bull alligator.
+
+"Dick," said Ned, "do you s'pose we could find that 'gator? He must
+be fifteen feet long, from the noise he makes. I'd like mighty well
+to rope him. We could stake him out so he'd never, never get away
+and he would live for weeks if it took us that long to get him
+carried to Fort Myers. Dad would sure be delighted and pay all the
+bills like a major."
+
+"Don't you think he'd throw in new rifles with silver plates and our
+names on 'em?"
+
+"He sure would."
+
+"Well, we haven't got the big alligator yet, but we'll hunt for him
+to-morrow."
+
+Just as Dick spoke the distant report of a gun was heard.
+
+"There goes your fifteen-foot alligator and both of our new rifles
+with silver plates and our names on them. Good-night."
+
+The boys started out across the meadow in the morning on the hunt
+for the big 'gator. They carried a rope for the 'gator and Ned took
+his rifle to be ready for the bear that spoke to them in the night.
+There was no more danger of their losing their camp, for Ned had
+made a chart every night, of their course during the day, until his
+memory had learned to map every scene his eyes looked upon. As they
+crossed a bit of wooded swamp, they heard the step of some heavy
+animal in a jungle near them, but they could get no sight of the
+creature and the slushy mud through which it had waded left no
+prints that inexperienced eyes could read. They found little ponds
+from which small 'gators rose to their calls, but none of a size
+worth thinking of. They saw one big alligator sunning itself on a
+dry bank, and spent an hour in creeping near it only to find that it
+was not over ten feet long. As it grew late and they turned
+homeward, Dick said:
+
+"Ever since that otter of yours died I've wanted a pet in camp. We
+need one for a watchdog. 'Most any night we might be eaten up for
+want of one. Let's take home a young alligator and I'll train it.
+These ponds are full of 'em."
+
+"I don't want you to go wading in any more ponds, Dick."
+
+"That's all right. Don't have to. There are 'gator caves all round
+these ponds. You find one of 'em and I'll do the rest."
+
+The boys hunted around several ponds till Ned found a hole in the
+bank of one, just under the surface of the water. Dick handed Ned a
+pole, which he had cut in the last bit of woods they had passed, and
+then made a noose on the end of the harpoon line which he carried.
+He arranged the noose around the hole in the bank and stood a little
+back of it holding the line in his hands.
+
+"Now, Ned, just poke that pole down in the mud, all around, about
+fifteen feet back of this hole, and pretty soon you'll punch
+something. Then, you'll see fun."
+
+Ned poked around in the soft ground for awhile, then:
+
+"Look out, Dick! Something is wiggling."
+
+"I'm all here. Let her come!"
+
+Out came the reptile's head from the cave, straight through the
+noose which tightened around the alligator's neck, as Dick threw his
+weight back on the line. At first it tried to back into the cave,
+but the line held it. Then it plunged into the pond, but Dick soon
+yanked it out on the prairie. It scuttled over the prairie like a
+great lizard and when the boy jerked it back it ran toward him, but
+he side-stepped quickly out of reach of that open mouth. When the
+reptile became a little quiet, Dick dragged it to the pole which Ned
+had left sticking in the ground and walking twice around it had the
+alligator's head fast to the pole. Then stepping quickly up to the
+creature he seized it by the head, holding its jaws firmly together
+with both hands.
+
+[Illustration: "OUT CAME THE REPTILE'S HEAD FROM THE CAVE"]
+
+"Now, Ned, if you'll tie these jaws together, he'll be gentle as a
+lamb and we'll have a real pet that won't get away like a manatee or
+die like an otter."
+
+"I'll tie it, and bully for you, Dick, boy! You did that in great
+shape. I shouldn't wonder if it made a pretty good pet, and I don't
+care how big its mouth is, it couldn't have a bigger bite than that
+otter of ours."
+
+The 'gator was less than five feet long and quite babyish in its
+ways, but it gave Dick a lot of trouble as he was leading it toward
+their camp.
+
+"Just boost him up on my back, Ned. He's only a baby and wants to
+be toted."
+
+Ned found it a pretty vigorous baby when he tried to boost it and he
+got some spanks from its tail that made him think of his tarpon of a
+few days before. Finally Ned stood in front of his companion, and
+with his help the reptile was dragged up Dick's back with its
+forepaws on his shoulder. Dick hung onto the paws, in spite of the
+sloshing about of his pet's tail for about a quarter of a mile, when
+he dumped it on the ground and addressing it, said:
+
+"There! You uneasy little cuss, you've got to walk. I don't mind
+your wiggling your tail, but you tickle my ribs with your hind claws
+and you pound my head with your hard old jaws. Now come along
+straight, or instead of being toted you'll get a lickin'."
+
+When they reached camp Dick staked the pet out with a line long
+enough to let it get into the river when it chose. He took the rope
+from its jaws, leaving them free, and the 'gator never took
+advantage of it by trying to bite. At first the pet got very much
+excited when he was dragged out of the water and up on land, but
+after awhile he got used to it and seemed to almost enjoy it. Dick
+caught fish for his pet which always refused to eat them. Then Dick
+cut the fish in pieces and while Ned held the little 'gator, stuffed
+them in its mouth and then held its jaws together till it swallowed
+its food.
+
+"See the baby 'gator sit up, Ned," said Dick one day, after he had
+been training it for some time. "I'll have him eating with a fork
+and drinking from a cup in a week."
+
+[Illustration: "SEE THE BABY 'GATOR SIT UP, NED!"]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+ENCOUNTER WITH OUTLAWS
+
+
+One day, just after the boys had returned from an unsuccessful hunt
+for deer and Dick was at his usual occupation of training his pet,
+they heard the sound of oars, and a skiff, rowed by a man who looked
+like a product of the swamp, landed beside the camp.
+
+"Kin you fellers let me have a little salt to save my hides? 'Gators
+are pretty thick 'nd my salt's gi'n out."
+
+"We have only about a bushel of salt, but you can have half; yes, we
+can spare you three-quarters of it. We only use it for specimens and
+there'll be enough left for us," said Ned.
+
+"That's mighty kind o' you, 'nd I won't fergit it, tho' that won't
+be any use t' you, bein's ye ain't likely t' see me ag'in."
+
+"Why not? You go to Myers, I suppose. We might meet you there and
+we'd be glad to see you."
+
+"Thar's other folks 'd be glad t' see me thar, perticiler the
+sheriff. Ain't you fellers skeered, now yer know yer talkin' t' an
+outlaw?"
+
+"Not much," laughed Ned. "If you are an outlaw you have probably
+had all the trouble you want."
+
+"You bet I hev."
+
+"Then you aren't looking for any more. So what is there to scare
+us?"
+
+"Not a blame thing. But you boys is plucky. There's men 'd fight shy
+o' staying 'round here."
+
+"Well, it doesn't worry us. We didn't suppose there was any one
+around here, though, and we wondered who it was we heard shooting
+last night and we are glad to find out. Did you get any big
+alligators?"
+
+"'Twasn't me shootin'. I didn't shoot las' night. Say! You've gotter
+look out! I know them fellers. One on 'em's bad and you boys ain't
+safe. I'm goin' ter hang 'round, 'n if you smell trouble jest fire
+two shots 'nd trouble'll cum a-humpin' fur them fellers,"
+
+"All right and much obliged, and if anything does come that we can't
+manage we'll remember you, sure."
+
+Whenever the boys passed a pond on the prairie they stopped and
+grunted till the young 'gators came to the surface. One day Dick
+fired a shot near enough to splash one that had come up, but in ten
+minutes the reptile had forgotten his scare and again answered the
+call. Dick was disposed to wade in the pond and catch the little
+'gator, but Ned coaxed him out of the notion and proposed that they
+find a cave and rope another 'gator to cheer up Dick's pet, which he
+said was getting lonesome. This pleased Dick and the boys spent
+half a day finding an inhabited cave, when they secured its occupant
+with no trouble excepting that, as the alligator came out of his
+hole, Dick slipped on the muddy turf and was dragged into the pond.
+The 'gator was soon brought out on the prairie and its jaws tied. It
+was larger than the one first captured, and Dick didn't try to carry
+it on his back, but led and dragged it the entire distance.
+
+As the boys approached their camp they saw a skiff, with two
+rough-looking men in it, just being pushed from the bank. Ned called
+to the men, but received no reply, and the skiff was rowed rapidly
+away.
+
+"That spells trouble," said Ned. "Those are the fellows that our
+outlaw warned us against."
+
+The boys found their stores in some confusion and a lot of them had
+disappeared, and with them had gone Ned's rifle, which he had left
+in camp. Ned was quite too angry to speak and walked quickly to the
+canoe, followed by Dick.
+
+"What are you going to do, Ned?"
+
+"Going to get that rifle."
+
+"All right. I'm with you."
+
+"Dick, I'm going alone. It's a fool's errand and I don't want you
+mixed up in it."
+
+"Maybe it is a fool's errand, I guess it is, and that's the very
+reason I'm going with you, Ned. You know I'm going, that I wouldn't
+miss going with you for the world and you haven't any right to ask
+me to be a sneak and crawl out of the trouble, for it is trouble
+and probably big trouble."
+
+"Why, Dick, boy, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, and I'm sure
+glad to have you with me, only you must let me manage when we find
+those fellows."
+
+"Of course you'll run the thing and I won't interfere, unless it
+becomes mighty necessary, which is quite some likely."
+
+As they got into the canoe Dick said:
+
+"Don't you want the shotgun?"
+
+"No. Got better weapons than that."
+
+"Glad of it. You'll need 'em."
+
+The boys paddled rapidly down the narrow river for several miles
+before they came up to the men they were seeking, who were then just
+getting out of the little skiff into a larger one which had a canvas
+cover and was evidently used as a camp.
+
+Dick guided the canoe beside the larger boat and Ned spoke quietly
+to one of the men, who was scowling at him.
+
+"You know what I have come for. I want my rifle."
+
+"What rifle? I don't know anything about your rifle."
+
+"I mean the rifle you stole from our camp this afternoon. I want it
+and I'm going to have it."
+
+"See here," said the man, who was purple with rage, as he picked up
+a rifle, "I'll blow the top of your head off if you tell me I lie."
+
+"You lie," said Ned calmly. "You are a liar, a thief and a coward.
+Now give me that rifle. I am not going to ask you for it many more
+times."
+
+"I won't give it to you and I don't know what keeps me from blowing
+your head off. I believe I will yet."
+
+"I can tell you why you don't. Because you know there would be a
+hundred men on your trail who would never leave it while you were
+alive. Because you wouldn't dare show your face to man, woman or
+child, white, black or red, in Lee County or anywhere else. Because
+your own partner would be the first to give you up."
+
+"He would, would he?"
+
+"Yes, he would!" said the man referred to. "Don't be a fool, but
+give the kid his gun, or I will."
+
+The rifle was handed to Ned and the boys paddled back to their camp.
+On the way Dick said:
+
+"I was scared stiff, Ned, when that fellow took up his rifle and I
+saw how mad he was. Weren't you a little bit frightened yourself?"
+
+"Not then. I'm a good deal scared now to think of it."
+
+As the boys that night sat leaning against a log which they had made
+soft with masses of long gray moss, watching the dying out of the
+fire which had cooked their supper, another skiff touched at their
+bank, bringing the man to whom they had given the salt and also
+carrying the carcass of a fine buck.
+
+"There, boys, better smoke what yer can't eat by termorrer. I'll
+show yer how."
+
+"We know how and we're very much obliged. But we must pay for it,
+you know."
+
+"I can't take a cent and it makes me feel bad t' have yer talk about
+it. Have yer seen them fellers yit?"
+
+"Oh, yes. They called on us and we returned the call. We didn't
+happen to be at home when they called, though," said Dick.
+
+"They come here t' your camp?"
+
+"Yes. They certainly came."
+
+"'nd you not here?"
+
+"No."
+
+"What did they take?"
+
+"Stole a rifle," said Dick.
+
+"I'll git it back. Don't yer worry, I'll git it back and I'll start
+now," and the outlaw rose from the log on which he was sitting.
+
+"Don't go. We got the rifle back."
+
+"How did yer do it?"
+
+Dick told the story of the recovery of the rifle. The outlaw sat for
+a minute looking down at the ashes of the fire, and then, speaking
+very slowly and with emphatic little nods between the words, said:
+
+"And them's th' fellers I thought needed lookin' arter."
+
+There was silence for some time and then Ned spoke in a voice that
+was low from suppressed feeling.
+
+"My friend, I don't know your name. I don't know what you did. I
+don't ask it. But I believe you are too good a man to be living the
+life of an outlaw. Now, can't something be done to help you? If some
+men of influence worked for your pardon, couldn't it be got?"
+
+"Reckon not. It's bin tried. I'll tell yer jist how 'twas. I killed
+a man. He worried me 'nd threatened me 'nd tried ter kill me with a
+knife, 'f I'd shot him then, nobody'd said nuthin', but I waited 'nd
+then I got scared, thot he'd kill me, 'nd one day I shot him. I was
+put in th' pen, then I was sent t' the chain gang 'nd set t' boxin'
+trees f'r turpentine. Saw a man flogged day I got thar. Sed I'd
+never git whipped if work would save me. I was the strongest man in
+the gang. Boxed more trees 'n anybody. More I did, more I had t'. I
+don't say I was whipped. If I was I didn't deserve it. If I was 'nd
+ever see th' man that did it I'll kill him. Know how turpentine
+gangs is guarded? Boy sits up on platform with rifle 'nd gives
+orders. S'pose yer sassy to him or he just wants fun with yer. When
+Cap--that's th' man that whips--comes 'long, boy sez feller's bin
+shirkin'. Then feller's tied t' tree 'nd Cap beats him till feller
+begs t' be killed. I don't want t' hurt anybody 'cept one feller,
+but I ain't goin' back t' no chain gang. If the sheriff holds me
+up, 'nd sez 'Come back or I'll shoot,' I'll say 'Shoot!'"
+
+The boys were very silent after the outlaw's story and when he left
+them they shook hands warmly with him and asked what they could do
+for him; ammunition, food, clothing, money, anything they had was at
+his service.
+
+"Don't want nuthin'. You've give me more'n you'll ever know," said
+the outlaw gruffly.
+
+But the gruffness was a bit tremulous and there were tears in the
+man's voice.
+
+The outlaw got in the way of spending his evenings with the young
+explorers and Ned pumped him dry of his knowledge of the Everglades,
+the Big Cypress and the lesser swamps of South Florida. He made
+charts from lines traced in the dirt to show rivers, bays, prairie
+land and swamps. Ned learned of hidden creeks that connected waters
+thought to be completely separated by land and of others that could
+be connected by a short carry.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+DICK AND THE BEAR
+
+
+Dick wanted a bear and the outlaw showed him a near-by swamp where
+several of the creatures lived. Day after day Dick waded, wandered
+and watched in that swamp with the rifle, while Ned tramped in
+another direction carrying the shotgun, making maps of the country,
+and picking up occasionally a duck or Indian hen for dinner.
+Sometimes Dick got sight of a bear, but Bruin was shy and kept well
+out of range. One day, while sitting in some thick woods, hoping
+that a bear would wander near him, Dick heard a loud tearing sound
+that seemed to come from the top of a little group of young
+palmettos. He crept as slowly and silently as possible near the
+trees and saw a bear sitting in the top of a palmetto, tearing away
+the outer husk of the bud of the tree which is the cabbage of the
+Cracker and often serves as his bread. While Dick was creeping
+nearer to get a surer shot, Bruin tore out the bud and, with the
+cabbage in his mouth, dropped from the top of the tree to the
+ground, alighting on its fore shoulder. Dick didn't know that this
+was the way bears in that country usually came down a tree when in
+a hurry, and supposed the bear had met with an accident and was
+killed. He changed his mind the next instant when the creature came
+racing toward him. Dick and the bear were about ten feet apart when
+they saw one another. The bear had to turn quickly to keep from
+running over Dick, and Dick had trouble to keep from punching the
+bear in the ribs with his rifle when he fired at it.
+
+No one was hurt on this first round and the bear thought it had
+escaped and so did the boy. Dick churned a cartridge from the
+magazine to the barrel of his rifle and watched closely the
+undergrowth through which the bear was running, hoping for another
+shot. Just as the splashing in the marsh grew indistinct and Dick
+realized that his last chance had gone, he got one glimpse of the
+bear as it sprang upon a log that lay across its path. Dick threw
+his rifle to his shoulder with the quick motion of the sportsman who
+takes a woodcock on the wing, and fired. The bear, which was distant
+more than a hundred yards, disappeared and it seemed to the boy
+scarcely worth while to follow it. It was only the notion to look
+for the mark of his bullet on some tree near the log that induced
+him to wallow through the swamp to where he had last seen the bear.
+To his amazement he found a piece of bone and some fresh blood on
+the log. He had no thought now of abandoning the trail. He followed
+it through swamp and jungle, sometimes losing it where the ground
+was hard or where it crossed the path of an alligator. Often when he
+became fearful that he had lost the trail a smear of blood on root
+or leaf told him that he was on the track. From former hunts and the
+study of Ned's maps, he knew the general lay of the land, but he
+stopped often and noted his course, for he meant to follow that
+trail and camp on it if necessary until he lost it finally or found
+the bear. The animal seemed to know all the bad stretches of marsh
+and thorny bits of jungle and, as the hours passed and night drew
+near, without his getting a sight of his quarry, he consoled himself
+with the thought of what Mr. Streeter had told him:
+
+"A man is never lost in the swamp so long as he knows where he is
+himself."
+
+Dick knew he wouldn't starve. There were always birds to be shot,
+alligators which he could kill with a club, and palmetto cabbage
+which he could dig out with his knife. He had his matches in a
+watertight box, a little bag of salt in his pocket, the swamp water
+was fresh, and what more could a hunter-boy ask for? He felt so
+cheerful that he began to whistle, which brought him bad luck, for
+he stumbled over a root which caught both feet and threw him
+head-down into a deep pool of mud. He was half strangled before he
+got out and was looking down shudderingly into the morass out of
+which he had crawled, when he missed his rifle and knew he had got
+to get back into the mudhole. It was so deep that he laid a branch
+across it to cling to, before venturing in. A big moccasin crawled
+from under a root beside the pool of mud as Dick stepped in it and
+the boy shut his teeth tight as he forced himself to wallow through
+the slimy, snaky mass from which his flesh recoiled.
+
+He was waist-deep in that broth of mud when his feet found the rifle
+and he stooped down into it and groped around among roots that felt
+like living, squirming reptiles before he recovered the weapon. When
+he had scraped the most of the mud off of himself and out of the
+rifle it was too dark to follow the trail and Dick walked to a
+near-by thicket where he hoped to find better ground for a camp. He
+was peering into a dark recess in the thicket when a fierce growl
+within a few feet startled him terribly, but told him that he had
+found his bear--or another one. Dick was about to run, when a
+picture of Ned facing the outlaw formed itself in his mind and after
+that the bear couldn't have kicked him out of its path. As the boy's
+eyes became accustomed to the gloom he saw the bear lying within six
+feet, with jaws half open, and eyes fixed upon him. Dick believed
+the bear was dying, since he failed to spring upon him, but he
+thought a bullet would make things safer and he raised his rifle. He
+pointed the weapon at the animal's head, but it was too dark to see
+the sight of the rifle, the brain of the creature was small, and
+Dick, remembering that a bear with a sore head is likely to be
+cross, dropped the muzzle of his weapon to the fore shoulder of the
+beast, and fired. The bear scarcely moved, but its eyes closed and
+Dick was prudently waiting before touching it, when he heard the
+distant report of a gun and knew that Ned was worried about him. He
+fired an answering shot and then, finding a bit of dry ground beside
+the body of the bear, decided to eat his supper the next morning and
+lay down to sleep with his head on his new bear robe.
+
+At daylight he heard the report of Ned's gun and fired his rifle in
+reply. The bear was so heavy that Dick had trouble in handling it
+and before he had finished skinning it the report of a gun within
+two hundred yards showed that Ned was out hunting for him and had
+taken the right course.
+
+"Hope you didn't worry about me," was Dick's greeting as the boys
+met.
+
+"Nope, didn't worry after you answered my shot, but I was mighty
+envious of you, for I knew you had got hold of something. I didn't
+believe it was a bear. Were you scared, Dick?"
+
+"Yes, I was, a heap, but I pulled through," and Dick told his chum
+of the thought that braced him up.
+
+Ned tried to speak roughly, but his voice trembled and he looked
+affectionately at his companion as he said:
+
+"See here, Dick, boy, you can cut out all that outlaw talk. The gun
+business was all bluff and you know it as well as I."
+
+"You looked pretty white, Neddy, for a fellow who didn't think he
+was taking any risk. But if you'll tell me now, honest Injun, that
+you didn't think there was any danger when you faced that convict
+and called him a liar, a thief and a coward, why I'll never speak of
+it again. I noticed that your pet outlaw, who said the fellow was a
+murderer, three deep, didn't seem to think that you had done
+anything so very amusing in giving that fellow the lie and all the
+rest of it."
+
+"I see you are round-skinning your bear for mounting. I'm glad of
+that. Some day I'll see it in your house and we'll be talking about
+last night."
+
+"That skin is for you. I want you to have it stuffed and put where
+it can watch your alligator."
+
+"I'm not going to take all the trophies of this trip. You can bet
+your life on that."
+
+"Don't get slangy, Neddy. You aren't used to it and it isn't
+becoming. Besides, we may never get these little souvenirs out of
+the wilderness."
+
+By which remark Dick proved himself to be a prophet.
+
+The trail of the bear had been roundabout and had brought Dick
+within less than a mile of the camp. The buzzards were gathering and
+Dick remained to guard the meat while he finished removing the skin
+and cleaning the skull. Ned made two trips with good loads and then,
+taking all they could carry, the boys returned to camp, leaving a
+big feast for the bird scavengers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+IN THE CROCODILE COUNTRY
+
+
+One evening while Dick had one of his alligator pets sitting up on
+his tail, teaching him to sing, as he told his chum, Ned said:
+
+"Crocodiles are a lot more interesting than alligators and the
+Florida crocodile is nearly extinct. All that are left are in a
+little strip of land near Madeira Hammock, which is only a mile or
+two wide and eight or ten long. Let's go down to Madeira Hammock and
+catch some to look at. We can turn them loose after we are through
+with them."
+
+"Mr. Streeter says there is no way to get through to Florida Bay,
+where Madeira Hammock is, by water from Whitewater Bay."
+
+"Your outlaw says there is, only you have to tote your canoe some."
+
+"He isn't my outlaw. I don't sit up nights making maps with him, and
+anyhow we can't tote the canoe through a mangrove swamp, and that's
+what we're up against if we go that way."
+
+"But our outlaw--the outlaw, if you like--says we can find little
+creeks up toward the Glades that will take us almost through."
+
+"All right. We'll start in the morning. I wish we'd cured about a
+ton or two less of that meat. We'll have to make a lot of trips
+across the carries. You don't see any way to take my alligators
+along, do you?"
+
+Two days were spent in following creeks that led to nothing and then
+one was found with a deeper channel which led them for miles, after
+which it broke up into several little waterways, which were almost
+without current and so shallow that the boys had to wade and drag
+their canoe. Their progress was slow, and they slept on a bed of
+brush which had lumps and knots to bruise every soft spot on their
+bodies. Their next trouble was a strip of mangrove swamp which a cat
+couldn't have crawled through. After following along the mangroves
+for an hour they found a creek which entered it. As they followed
+this creek it grew wider and deepened. There was a slight current
+that flowed with them; the water was brackish, and they knew it led
+to the Bay of Florida and that the Madeira Hammock was near.
+
+The mangrove gave place to a better growth, the soil became richer
+and vegetation more luxuriant. Soon they had to cut away vines and
+branches to clear the way for the canoe, but they counted their
+troubles over. They were paddling gaily ahead when they saw in front
+of them a branch that stretched across the creek about a foot above
+the water. They had met plenty of similar obstructions, but this
+was different. There was a big wasps' nest on the branch and the air
+was filled with flying little pests. It was impossible to get around
+the nest and it was doubtful if there was another creek that would
+take them through.
+
+"Let's get some dry palmetto fans and make torches. Then we can burn
+and smoke the wasps out," said Ned.
+
+"Dunno as I want to wade up to that nest and set it afire. Ouch!"
+said Dick, who had sat down on what he thought was a stump, but had
+turned out to be an ants' nest. "Holy smoke! Don't these things
+bite? I don't believe wasps are in it with them. Anyhow, I'm going
+to find out."
+
+Dick took the oar that was used to pole the canoe and wading
+straight toward the nest struck it a blow that most fortunately
+knocked it to the water, while a second blow sent it under the
+surface. A few of the outlying insects stung the boy and he had a
+dozen little lumps to show for a day or two, but he had captured the
+fort and drowned the garrison and the canoe passed in peace.
+
+The creek emptied into a wide bay on the high bank of which the boys
+camped. It was part of the Madeira Hammock, the most beautiful
+native forest they had seen. At daylight a large crocodile was
+floating on the bay near the camp, but sank out of sight as the
+campers showed themselves. From the bay the canoeists entered a deep
+river with high banks on which were growing madeira, wild sapadillo,
+palms of several kinds and other varieties of trees. In the sides
+of the high banks at the water line the boys saw holes which they
+believed to be the caves of crocodiles. In the mouth of one the
+water was muddied and Dick cut a long pole which he poked into the
+hole. At first he felt something seize the pole, but could not
+afterward find the creature. He then took the pole on the bank and
+thrust it into the ground where he thought the reptile was most
+likely to be. When he had worked thirty feet back from the bank he
+felt something move and the next instant Ned, who had stayed in the
+canoe at the mouth of the cave, was nearly capsized by the rush of a
+great beast nearly the size of the canoe.
+
+"Why didn't you grab it, Ned? What is the use of my driving game to
+you, if you let it slip through your fingers?"
+
+"Perhaps you think that was one of the alligator babies you've been
+nursing. You didn't see the big head with the tusks running out of
+the top of it."
+
+"No, but I mean to see the next one. It'll be your turn to do the
+punching while I rope the critter."
+
+"If you had got your rope on that one and held on, you'd be in his
+cave now, inside the owner's tummy."
+
+The next crocodile was not far away and the hunters saw it crawl
+into its cave. Dick stood on the bank over the cave and arranged the
+noose on the end of the harpoon line around the mouth of the cave,
+while Ned paddled the canoe a few rods down the stream. Dick had the
+line fast to his wrist, but Ned wouldn't punch it until it had been
+made fast to a chunk of wood instead.
+
+"What difference does it make?" grumbled Dick. "If the chunk goes
+overboard I follow it. See?"
+
+Ned hit the crocodile on his first poke and Dick had his hands full
+from the start. He would have been dragged into the river within a
+dozen seconds, but for Ned's coming to his aid. The crocodile was as
+quick as the alligators had been slow.
+
+"If he digs round as fast on land as he does in the water there's
+goin' to be a circus when we get him out on the bank," said the
+panting Dick.
+
+"And you wanted to be tied to his mammy by the wrist. This is only
+an infant. It isn't nine feet long."
+
+But it was, and a foot over that, yet when they got the reptile on
+the bank and drew its head close to a sapling, they tied a piece of
+the line around its knobby head without any trouble. From that
+moment the crocodile was tame, and soon Dick was handling him
+fearlessly, although Ned warned him that if he didn't keep out of
+the way of that tail he'd be knocked endways. But Dick sat on his
+back, pulled his tail and tried to lift him on his own back without
+the crocodile showing displeasure in any way.
+
+"Ned, this thing is a peach. Why not send him to your father? He
+could be taken to New York in a baby carriage or led like a puppy
+dog. There would be no such trouble as there would be with a
+manatee. He's a curiosity, too."
+
+"If it was the big one I believe it would be worth trying. That
+fellow must be as big as they come. I wish we had fixed for him."
+
+"It isn't too late. Let's lay for him to-morrow."
+
+The crocodile hunters camped beside their captive and Dick spent the
+afternoon trying to educate it. He talked of taking the string off
+of its jaws, but Ned stopped that.
+
+"I'm afraid he might eat the wrong thing, by mistake, and then I'd
+have to go home alone. I suppose I could take the crocodile along in
+your place. Your mother might like him as a kind of souvenir."
+
+"But see how gentle he is and how mild his eye. He doesn't whack
+around with his tail like an alligator and I think he likes to have
+me sit on his back."
+
+"That's only his slyness. Look at him now." For the crocodile,
+thinking itself unobserved, was crawling slowly toward the bank of
+the river. When it reached the end of its tether and could go no
+farther, it lay down and, lifting its head, looked all around as
+innocently as if it never dreamed of escaping, but had just moved a
+little way to get a better view of the scenery.
+
+Every hour or two of the next day the boys called at the cave of
+the big crocodile, but never found him in.
+
+"Well, we'll go at it again to-morrow," said Dick.
+
+"We will be doing something else to-morrow. We've got to hike out of
+here, and keep moving, too. Last drop of water has just gone into
+the coffee pot," and Ned turned the empty water can upside down.
+
+"Hope you can find the creek that leads to the fresh-water country.
+I don't believe I could. We came through too many twisty, narrow
+places. We sure don't want to be three or four days finding it. I'm
+awful thirsty now."
+
+"You must stop thinking about it. I believe I won't try for that
+creek. It's a regular Chinese puzzle up among the mangroves, and I'm
+not a bit sure I could follow our trail back to fresh water. I'd
+rather take chances of that river that leads more to the east. I
+know it can't go through to our bay, but it must lead up to the
+Everglade country where the mangroves won't be so bad. We may have
+to do some toting, but we will be sure to find water by to-morrow
+night or the next day at the worst. But I won't go that way unless
+you think best. It's too serious a thing for me to decide alone."
+
+"Oh, I'm with you Ned. I might live till day after to-morrow without
+water, but I wouldn't have a ghost of a chance beyond that, and we
+might be three days in your Chinese puzzle country. Wow! but I'm
+thirsty."
+
+"Say that again, Dick, and I'll confiscate your coffee. I'm going to
+save half of it for breakfast, anyhow. So go slow. You're on
+allowance now. We will have breakfast before daylight. I want to
+start as soon as we can see. It's a lot cooler before sun-up."
+
+"I'll wake easy. I'll be so thirsty--Oh! excuse me, I forgot. But
+Ned, would you mind if I took my crocodile along in the canoe? He
+wouldn't take up much room and I could sit on his back. I could lead
+him across any carry and I've grown quite fond of him."
+
+"You had better stop talking nonsense and get some sleep. You may
+need it."
+
+"Yes, I know. 'Most anything may happen. You'd feel bad to think you
+had refused a poor boy's dying request--and he your chum, too. Can't
+I have my little pet crocodile?"
+
+When the sun rose the young explorers had already paddled several
+miles and were in a labyrinth of little bays from which they
+followed channel after channel until each one shoaled down to a few
+inches in depth. Finally they found one that deepened as they
+advanced, although its banks came nearer together and the branches
+of big trees closed over it.
+
+"This is all right. Fresh water soon," said Dick joyfully.
+
+But he was soon to be disappointed. For the little creek ended in a
+round shallow pond, a hundred yards across and entirely shut in by
+thick bushes. Dick became very blue and even Ned was discouraged.
+
+"I hate to go back for miles and begin all over again, just when we
+are so far along in the right direction. We can get through these
+bushes and walk a mile or two, and perhaps climb a tree and see what
+the country looks like," said Ned.
+
+"I'd rather do anything than go back," replied Dick. "Let's paddle
+round the edge of this pond and see where the bushes are thinnest."
+
+They paddled along the shore of the little lake, finding the water
+so shallow that it barely floated the canoe, until just where the
+bushes seemed thickest it deepened to several feet, and parting the
+bushes disclosed a deep but very narrow creek through which the
+water slowly flowed. There was no room to paddle and for more than a
+mile the boys dragged the canoe by taking hold of overhanging
+branches. Sometimes they could lift branches that crossed the creek
+over the canoe as they passed. Sometimes they had to lie down in the
+canoe to get under the obstructions and often they had to stop to
+cut away limbs of small trees. They were finally stopped by the
+trunk of a large tree which had fallen across and completely blocked
+up the creek. Just beyond it two palmettos had fallen in the stream,
+one of which lay lengthwise in the channel. It would have taken days
+to remove the obstructions and the young explorers explored the
+swamp near them to find a possible carry. They found that a hundred
+feet behind them the woods were thinner and they could cut a path
+through which they could carry the canoe and stores.
+
+"This is going to take all the rest of the day," said Ned, "and it
+will be a dry camp after a heap of hot work. What do you say to
+leaving this till to-morrow, and putting in this afternoon hunting
+for the best route and looking for fresh water?"
+
+"That's me," replied Dick. "Let's hike in a hurry. Only don't you
+lose your way. We have got to get back to the canoe and you're the
+guide."
+
+"Don't you worry about that. You may have to go slow, but I won't
+lose myself and I will bring you back to the canoe," said Ned.
+
+Instead of following the creek, Ned bore off to the north where the
+woods seemed more open and soon reached a stretch of dry, open
+prairie. On the border of it stood a tall mastic tree with a
+lightning-blasted top and many branches which made it easy to climb.
+Ned was soon in the top of the tree making a mental map of the
+country round about.
+
+"It is all right now," said he as he climbed down. "I can see the
+open Everglades within four or five miles, and there is something
+that looks like a slough that is only half as far away. We'll leave
+the creek in the morning and cut our path this way, instead of
+around those trees. It won't be as much work, either. We can do
+some of that work to-night and camp right here. Then in the morning,
+at daylight, we will start out with the canoe on our shoulders and
+tramp till we find water to float it."
+
+"But how about water to drink? I need it worse than the canoe."
+
+"Where there's water for the canoe, there will be water for you.
+It's Everglade water from now on."
+
+"I wish it would begin this minute. There's a little mud-hole that
+looks pretty wet. Do you think that might be fresh?"
+
+"Only way to find out is to try it." A minute later Dick called out.
+
+"Come here, Ned, it's muddy, but it's fresh. Oh, isn't it good!"
+
+As Ned approached the pool Dick, who was lying on the prairie beside
+it, lifted his face from the water of which he had been drinking,
+and was turning to speak to his companion when the head of a great
+alligator, with wide open jaws, was thrust violently out of the
+pool, just touching the boy's face. Dick fell back on the prairie
+and scrambled away from the pool. It was a minute before he spoke
+and then he said to Ned:
+
+"Let's get back to work. I don't want another drink for a month. It
+makes me sick to think of it."
+
+The slough was farther away than Ned thought and the road to it lay
+through a marsh. Often they sank to the waist and wallowed for
+rods, carrying the canoe which seemed to weigh a ton, or dragging it
+beside them. Moccasins were plentiful, but the boys were too tired
+to be worried by them. They had to make two more trips to carry
+their cargo, and on the last one, as Dick was staggering under a
+load of smoked meat and a heavy, salted skin, he was heard to say:
+
+"I wonder why I killed that bear. I will never kill another one."
+
+There was dry ground beside the slough, under some willow trees, and
+the explorers were glad to rest there for the night. A duck flew
+down by the willows as if seeking to camp with them and he
+succeeded, for they had him for supper.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+AMONG THE SEMINOLES
+
+
+The young explorers had found an uncharted route from the Bay of
+Florida to the Everglades and the work before them was now easy.
+
+The water was deeper than was needed to float their canoe, and the
+grass too light to trouble them. They sheered off and avoided all
+bands of saw-grass unless they found trails across them. The Glades
+were dotted with little keys of bay, myrtle and cocoa plum. These
+were small and usually submerged. A few larger keys were covered
+with heavier timber, pine, oak, mastic, palmetto and other woods. In
+these, deer were plentiful and bear and panther sometimes found.
+
+The boys went to several keys before they found one with dry land
+enough for a camp. It had been used for camping by the Seminoles for
+many years and was the only bit of land above the surface of the
+water for miles. On it were piles of turtle shells, while scattered
+about were bones of deer and alligator and skulls of bear and
+smaller animals. A cultivated papaw which some Indian had planted
+within a few years, stood twelve feet high and was filled with
+great melon-like papaws, each one of which weighed from five to ten
+pounds.
+
+"Better than cantaloupe," said Dick as he finished half of a big one
+as a preliminary to his supper, "but what's this you are giving us
+for coffee?"
+
+"Coffee's out," replied Ned. "The fellows that took the rifle
+cleaned out most of the coffee."
+
+"Why didn't you make 'em give it back when you had 'em on the run?"
+
+"Reckon I was glad to get out of it as easy as I did. Then I had
+said enough unkind things to them for one time."
+
+"Sorry you think you were unkind. Your feelings must be a good deal
+torn up. But you haven't told me what I'm drinking. Tastes something
+like the sassafras tea I used to get dosed with when I was a kid.
+It's pretty good, though."
+
+"It's something like it. It's made from the leaves of the sweet bay
+tree, which grows on all these islands and all over this country.
+Sweet-bay tea is all you're going to get to drink, excepting water,
+from now on."
+
+"What is that fruit that looks like a big stubby pear on that
+curious-looking tree there?" inquired Dick.
+
+"Custard apple."
+
+"Does it taste like custard?"
+
+"Yes, if the custard has been mixed with turpentine."
+
+The explorers made little progress the following day. Bunches of
+thick saw-grass turned them back. They found shallow water where for
+long distances they had to paddle slowly to avoid little pillars of
+coral rock that came close to the surface and endangered their
+fragile canoe. Most of the afternoon was vainly spent in searching
+for a camping site. They found a key where the water was shoal and
+made a bed of poles and branches. Both of them chose to sleep on the
+bed they had made. Whether this was simply politeness or because
+both were afraid of rolling out of the canoe nobody else knows. The
+poles and branches sagged under their weight until both were wet.
+Then such a deluge of rain as is seldom seen outside of the tropics
+fell on them. They got out in the dark and tied their canvas sheet
+over the canoe. They didn't need it for themselves. They were
+already as wet as they could be.
+
+In the morning they dried themselves--so Dick said--by rolling into
+the water and sloshing around. They made a cold lunch of smoked
+bear, cold hominy, or grits as it is called in Florida, and water,
+choosing to wait for breakfast until they should find land enough
+for a fire. During the day they saw high trees to the eastward and
+made for them. Here they found a Seminole camp of several families.
+
+As they landed from their canoe they saw several pickaninnies, for
+Seminole children are not called papooses like children in other
+tribes of Indians, watching them from behind trees and boats. The
+squaws whom they met were equally shy and kept their faces hidden.
+Ned spoke to several of them, but they gave no sign that they even
+heard him.
+
+"They don't like your looks," said Dick. "Let me speak to the next
+one."
+
+The next one was a young girl and Dick was very confident, as he
+addressed her, with his very best smile. But he was turned down as
+badly as his chum, for the girl didn't see him at all. At the camp
+they found one old Indian and several squaws. The Indian welcomed
+them with a grunt and the question,
+
+"_Whyome_ (whiskey), you got um?"
+
+"_Whyome holowaugus_ (bad), no got um," replied Ned. The Indian
+grunted again and conversation ceased. Dick was sitting on the edge
+of the table which serves also as floor in a Seminole camp, when he
+heard a low growl just over his head. He looked up and saw, crouched
+on a shelf within four feet of him, a full-grown wild-cat, or bay
+lynx, which seemed disposed to spring at him. Dick tried to keep
+from showing how much he was scared, but he asked Ned to find out if
+the wild-cat would bite. To Ned's question, the Indian nodded
+emphatically and replied,
+
+"Um, um, _unca, ojus_ (yes, heap)." Dick moved away, but the
+creature fascinated him and he came back. Dick never could resist
+the temptation to play with wild animals and he put out his hand to
+the wild-cat, saying:
+
+"If that Injun can tame that beast, I can."
+
+"That Injun understands you, just as well as I do. He only pretends
+he doesn't so as to make us try to talk his confounded lingo."
+
+A half smile stole over the stolid face of the Indian, either on
+account of what Ned was saying or because Dick's hand was slowly
+approaching the wild-cat. The paw of the lynx flashed out and back
+so quickly that it could scarcely be seen, but the blood began to
+flow from several deep, parallel cuts on the back of the boy's hand.
+Dick still held out his hand, scarcely moving a muscle, while Ned
+called out:
+
+"Come away, Dick, that beast'll scratch out your eyes."
+
+"Wonder what it would do if I cuffed it?"
+
+The Indian appeared to understand this, for he spoke sharply to the
+lynx, and going up to it patted its head and stroked its body
+lightly. He then motioned to Dick to do the same. To Dick's great
+delight the wild-cat not only allowed him to stroke it, but even
+purred as well as a wild-cat can.
+
+"Ned, I've got to have that cat. I've given up all my other pets
+because you didn't want them in the canoe, or there wasn't room. Now
+Tom will take care of himself and won't need any toting. Shouldn't
+wonder if he'd feed himself, too."
+
+"That's what I'm most afraid of.
+
+"Don't worry. I won't let him eat you. Ask old Stick-in-the-mud
+there what he wants for his beastie."
+
+Ned talked with the Indian and reported to Dick.
+
+"He says he will sell for one otter skin like that one in the
+canoe."
+
+"How could he see that skin from here? Tell him it's a whack. Only
+he must make Tom go with me if there is any trouble about it."
+
+"He says wild-cat go with you, you brave boy, not afraid of him.
+Says somebody get scared, he eat 'em up."
+
+"Ned, you old hypocrite, you made that up."
+
+"Honest Injun, I didn't. I told it straight, just as I got it. That
+Indian likes you."
+
+"Why don't he talk white man lingo to me, then, instead of his old
+gibberish that he can't possibly understand himself? Ask the old
+snoozer what's cooking in that pot. It smells bully and I'm hungry."
+
+Ned turned to the Indian and pointing to the steaming pot, said:
+
+"_Nar-kee?_ (What is it?)"
+
+"_Lock-a-wa._ (Turtle.)"
+
+"_Esoka bonus che._ (I want some.)"
+
+"_Humbuggus cha._ (Come eat.)"
+
+The boys took turns with the big, wooden, family spoon and found the
+mess very good. There was another kettle of which the Indians ate
+freely into which Dick dipped his spoon. He made a wry face as he
+swallowed the portion he had scooped up and said to Ned:
+
+"Tell your copper-faced friend that he had better give that swill
+back to the pigs he stole it from."
+
+"Be careful, Dick, he understands."
+
+"Then let him say so in a decent language and I'll apologize for
+hurting his feelings, but I won't say that stuff is fit to eat, not
+if I am tied to the stake."
+
+Dick spent one afternoon getting acquainted with the Indian
+children, in which he succeeded so well that when he came back to
+the camp streaming with water, the whole bunch, although they were
+quite as well soaked as he, followed him screaming with laughter,
+quite like white children.
+
+"What is the trouble?" inquired Ned as soon as the youngsters gave
+him a chance to be heard.
+
+"Only the usual thing. These Indians don't know how to manage their
+roly-poly canoes and I'm afraid I'll be drowned before I get 'em
+taught."
+
+Dick had found a big family canoe that looked as if it couldn't
+capsize and had made signs to an Indian boy to go out in it with
+him. Before they were fairly afloat all the pickaninnies belonging
+to the camp had piled into the craft. From the smallest squab to the
+biggest boy, the Indian children danced about in the canoe without
+disturbing its equilibrium. The boy in the stern, standing on the
+extreme point of the craft, set his pole on the coral bottom and
+threw his weight back upon it until his whole body stood out almost
+parallel with the water behind the canoe. Dick stood on the tiny
+deck on the bow of the boat, but with every thrust of his pole the
+canoe wabbled till the pickaninnies balanced it. But Dick improved
+with practice and as he grew confident, threw his weight on the pole
+in true Seminole fashion. He would have pulled through with credit,
+but for the slipping of his pole on a point of coral rock, when he
+fell heavily in the water, capsizing the craft as he went overboard.
+At first the boy was alarmed for the safety of his cargo of
+children, but soon saw that they were as much at home in the water
+as on land and were quite capable of caring for themselves. After
+Ned had heard what had happened he called the attention of the
+squaws to the ducking of their babies without causing the faintest
+gleam of interest to cross their stolid faces.
+
+After another day of eating with the Seminoles and sleeping on their
+tables, Dick announced that Tom and he were tired of Injuns and
+wanted to light out. The whole Indian family saw them off, even the
+squaws coming half way to the canoe from their camp. Dick carried
+Tom on his shoulder and the lynx stepped into the canoe as if it had
+always owned it and curled up on the canvas of the tent.
+
+"Where do you want to go, Dick?"
+
+"What's the use of asking me? You have been talking Everglades and
+Big Cypress in a steady streak, for two days to that old Injun. You
+must have a map of his brain by this time."
+
+"We can go through the Everglades to Lake Okeechobee, out through
+the canal and down the Caloosahatchee, but the Everglades will be
+much the same as we have seen, only more and worse saw-grass and so
+harder work. If we go to the east we will pretty soon come out at
+the coast which we want to avoid. I think we had better strike
+across to the prairies and the border land between the Everglades
+and the Big Cypress Swamp. Bear, deer, panther and wild turkey are
+to be found in that country, and we won't have to hurry so much to
+get through in the time we talked of for the trip. What do you say?"
+
+"The woods for me, every time. Then I think it would be better for
+Tom's health. I am afraid he would get melancholy if we kept him on
+the water too much. Let's put in a big day's work and get somewhere.
+I can stand sleeping in the water once in a while, but don't like it
+as a regular thing."
+
+They put in their big day's work without getting very far. They
+struck shoal water in the morning where little pillars of coral,
+rising almost to the surface, threatened to tear a hole in their
+canoe. When they got overboard and waded, the same sharp points of
+coral hurt their feet and bruised their shins. During the afternoon
+they held their course, as best they could, for a tall palmetto,
+which, lifting its head above a waste of water and grass, gave
+promise of land enough for a camp beneath it. They dragged the
+canoe through a narrow strand of saw-grass, but were turned westward
+by a heavier band of the same obstacle, and finally made their camp
+for the night on a bushy little submerged key, where Ned lay on top
+of the canoe and was kept from sleeping by the fear of rolling over
+into the water, and Dick lay on a bed of brush that soon settled
+into the water with him. At first Tom climbed a little tree, but
+didn't seem pleased with his quarters. He looked at Dick's bed for a
+moment and turned in for the night with Ned in the canoe. Good
+progress was made on the following day, for the boys were tired of
+trying to sleep on the water and meant to find land enough for a
+camp before another night. They found much open water, most of the
+grass was light and the few strands of saw-grass they encountered
+were easily avoided. They saw few keys and all of those were
+submerged. So again when night came there was no dry land for a camp
+and the bed of branches was built up in the shallow water. About
+midnight Ned, noticing that his companion was restless, said to him:
+
+"Dick, can you sleep any more?"
+
+"Sleep any more?" said the indignant Dick. "I haven't slept any,
+yet."
+
+"Then let's get out of this and paddle the rest of the night. It's
+full moon, paddling isn't half as hard as trying to sleep on that
+bed and we may get somewhere."
+
+"Good thing, and I move that we keep paddling till we get to those
+woods you talked about, if it takes a week. Tom votes with me.
+Motion carried."
+
+About the middle of the forenoon they saw a clump of palmettos on a
+key, for which they headed at once, where they found ground which
+had been often camped upon. Dick climbed a tree and could make out a
+forest near the horizon, in the west. A few more hours' work would
+see them out of the Glades, but they chose to rest for the remainder
+of the day.
+
+"There goes your pet. That's the last of him," said Ned, pointing to
+the lynx in the top of the tree, which Dick had climbed.
+
+"He'll come back all right. If he doesn't I'll go up and fetch him
+by the scruff of his neck."
+
+[Illustration: "THERE GOES YOUR PET. THAT'S THE LAST OF HIM"]
+
+Dick was right, for when the wild-cat saw the stores broken into for
+dinner he came down for his portion of meat and then curled up for a
+nap on his canvas in the canoe. Tom tolerated Ned, but never
+permitted any familiarities from him, while Dick could handle him as
+he chose and the lynx only smiled, in his own fashion.
+
+To reach the woods they were aiming for the boys left the Indian
+trail they were on and, after forcing their way through a strand of
+saw-grass, found themselves on a prairie, bounded on the west by a
+heavy growth of cypress, oak and other heavy timber, while the
+prairie itself was made beautiful by picturesque little groups of
+palmettos which were scattered through it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+DICK'S WILDCAT AND OTHER WILD THINGS
+
+
+The Everglades had been crossed and that great region of romance was
+no longer a mystery to our explorers, who found a dry, shaded site
+for their camp on the border of the swamp which they planned to
+explore and there fitted up for a long stay. They stretched their
+canvas, tent fashion, and gathered grass and moss for their beds. A
+round, deep pool of clear fresh water was just beside the camp, and
+after one rattlesnake and a few moccasins that claimed squatter's
+title had been killed they felt that nothing was lacking. In the
+evening the distant gobbling of a turkey told the hunters what would
+be the first duty of the next day. When they started out on the hunt
+prepared to be gone for one or more days Dick was troubled for fear
+Tom might not understand his long absence and skip out. He had a
+long talk with the lynx and told Ned that he thought Tom would be
+good. Then he got out two days' rations for the animal, which it ate
+up at once. There was more dry land in this swamp than in those
+farther south to which they had become accustomed, and traveling
+was better, or rather, less bad. Yet to persons with less experience
+than the young explorers it would have seemed to be as bad as it was
+possible for it to be. For half a day the boys tramped and waded in
+the swamp without finding the game they were looking for. They had
+found other birds, some of which they would have shot for their
+dinner had they not been afraid of frightening the wary turkeys,
+which they believed were not far from them. Alligators were
+plentiful, large and small, but the boys were not hunting for hides
+and Dick said that Tom was all the pet he cared to have charge of
+for the present. Early in the afternoon they sat down to rest under
+a big tree and were eating their lunch of smoked meat and cold
+hoe-cake when a turkey gobbler lit on a branch of the tree under
+which they were sitting. The turkey was in plain sight and less than
+twenty feet from them, but Dick's shot-gun was resting against a
+tree fifteen feet from its owner, while Ned's rifle lay on the
+ground five feet from his hand. Both kept as quiet as graven images,
+for they knew that at the motion of a hand the big bird would take
+flight. If Dick's gun had been within five feet he would have jumped
+for it, trusting to be ready with it to cut down the turkey before
+it could get out of sight among the trees. But a run of fifteen feet
+made his chances too small and he waited to see what Ned would do.
+Ned's rifle lay just out of his reach, and before he could lay his
+hand on it the bird would be on the wing and quite safe from
+anything he could do with a rifle. At last Ned began to push himself
+inch by inch toward the rifle, while Dick sat silent and breathless
+with excitement. Very slowly Ned progressed until his hand touched
+the rifle. Before he could move it the fraction of an inch, the
+turkey saw the trouble in store for him and was off. Ned grabbed the
+rifle and took a harmless snapshot at the bird, while Dick rushed
+for his gun and sent after the turkey, which was then a hundred
+yards distant, a shower of shot which could never have overtaken it.
+
+"Next time I eat I'm going to feed myself with one hand and hold my
+gun in the other," said Dick. "I think I'll stay home to-morrow and
+keep camp. Tom will go hunting with you. He's got sense and he
+always keeps his weapons handy."
+
+"Keeps 'em too handy for me. I don't like the way he looks at me
+sometimes. He acts as if he wanted to feel of my ribs to see if I am
+fat enough for his purposes. I reckon I'm the one to keep camp. My
+rifle was right at my elbow, but I didn't seem to know enough to use
+it. Dick! Look at that hole in that tree and all those insects
+around it. It's a bee-tree. There's a barrel of honey there that
+belongs to us!"
+
+"Do you s'pose the bees know that it belongs to us, or will they
+make trouble for us?"
+
+"Of course they'll make trouble. You can't rob a hive without being
+stung."
+
+"I'm going to keep camp to-morrow, just as I told you, and let Tom
+go with you. Wonder how he'd like to climb that tree."
+
+"We will chop down that tree to-morrow and likely get stung a lot,
+but you know, Dick, you wouldn't stay away for a farm."
+
+"Better not try me. I wish I had a sheet-iron jacket and stove-pipe
+pants. Let's go home. I want to see Tom and tell him about it. I'm
+afraid he's lonesome."
+
+But Dick didn't tell Tom anything, for when they got back to camp
+Tom had gone. Dick scarcely tasted his supper and his sleep was
+restless and troubled. He woke with a scream, from a terrible
+nightmare in which a wild beast had him by the throat and was
+crushing him to death under his tremendous weight. He was happy when
+he woke to find that his dream was true. For Tom had come home and
+showed his joy at the sight of Dick by leaping on the boy's chest
+and licking his face and neck. Even Ned rejoiced that Tom had
+returned and stroked his back, which for once the lynx graciously
+permitted.
+
+"You are glad that Tom has come back, aren't you, Ned?" said Dick as
+he laid his face against the soft fur of the wild-cat whose purring
+sounded so like a low growl.
+
+"Oh, yes. I'm glad. 'Course I am. Only wish all of 'em would come
+back, the two alligators, the crocodile and the dead otter. Then
+we'd start a menagerie and I'd tell fearful stories of man-eaters
+while you went into their cages with a big whip in one hand and a
+small cannon in the other."
+
+When the boys started for the bee-tree they carried a bundle of dry
+palmetto fans, an axe, and a bucket for the honey.
+
+"Shall we tote the guns?" asked Ned.
+
+"What's the use? Don't either of us know how to use 'em. Better
+leave 'em with Tom."
+
+But the guns did not stay with Tom, or rather Tom did not stay with
+the guns, but quietly followed the boys as a pet dog might have
+done. He stepped daintily from root to root and walked along fallen
+logs and the branches of trees which he climbed, easily keeping up
+with the bee hunters, without muddying his paws, while they wallowed
+in mud which was usually knee-deep and occasionally a foot more.
+Before tackling the tree they built a fire some fifty yards away,
+which they made smoke by putting on rotten wood and wet moss. They
+intended to hide in this smoke if the bees attacked them while they
+were chopping down the tree. The palmetto leaves were to be kept
+until the tree had fallen and were then to be made into smoky
+torches, under cover of which the boys hoped to secure the honey.
+They took turns in slinging the axe and resting, yet the exercise
+and the bees together kept them pretty well warmed up. For, after a
+while the bees began to take notice of the knocking at their door
+and occasionally a few of them dropped down and stung the chopper
+and the looker on, quite impartially. The art of wood-chopping has
+to be learned before one is born. The children of back-woodsmen can
+sling an axe as soon as they can stand. Boys born as near New York
+City as Dick and Ned were, never can learn. They think when they go
+up in the Adirondacks and chew down some trees with an axe, that
+they are chopping wood, but their guides who lie around smoking
+their pipes while the sportsmen sweat over the task, know better and
+slyly wink at each other while they praise aloud the skill of their
+employers.
+
+When the boys stopped work and went back to their smudge to give the
+bees a chance to rest, and to find out if mud really drew the poison
+out of the little lumps that covered them, the tree had been cut
+nearly half through. Any Nature-lover would have known that a beaver
+had been at work, while everyday folks would have suspected a
+saw-mill.
+
+Dick missed Tom and at first was troubled, but finally discovered
+him sitting on a branch behind a tree around which he could look
+without making himself conspicuous.
+
+"Shall we wait till to-morrow to finish the job?" asked Ned.
+
+"Not much. By to-morrow my face will be so swollen that I can't see
+and the rest of me so sore that I can't move. Let's make a big
+smudge at the foot of the tree. I'd rather be smothered by smoke
+than stung and poisoned to death by those little beasts."
+
+[Illustration: "A FEW OF THE HOMELESS BEES LIT ON THE COMB"]
+
+The smudge worked and the bee hunters had no more trouble until the
+tree fell, when they got into the thickest of the smoke they had
+made. This did not save them altogether, for the bees were very
+numerous and very mad and a few dozen of them got far enough in the
+smoke to leave their marks on their enemies. When the insects had
+quieted down and were gathered in bunches on logs and stumps,
+looking stupidly at the wreck of their home, the boys made another
+smudge near the hole in the fallen tree which led to the home of the
+bees. They sounded the hollow tree and found it only a shell where
+the honey was stored and a little work with the hatchet laid open
+the storehouse of the insects. A few of the homeless bees lit on the
+comb they had made, other bees gathered on the cypress knees which
+abounded in the swamp and through which the great cypress trees
+breathed, but their spirit was gone and they made no attack on the
+destroyers of their home. Of the comb and honey which the boys found
+in the tree they were able to carry away less than half and they
+wondered if the bees would have the sense to save what was left or
+if some wandering bear would scoop it in for his supper.
+
+As the young bee hunters started for camp laden with their spoils,
+Tom stepped softly out of a nearby thicket, licking his chops and
+apparently thinking of the delicate lunch of fat tree-rat he had
+just eaten.
+
+"Dick," said Ned, as they were lazily resting against a log, after a
+supper that was mostly dessert, having consisted of a little smoked
+bear and a lot of honey, "something has got to be done for the
+larder. We go for honey when we need meat. We let Indian hens which
+we can get, escape on the chance of turkeys which we can never bag.
+We are looking for deer that are miles away and overlooking ducks
+that are trying to fly into the pot."
+
+"I'm not overlooking much, Neddy, since that turkey biz. I've got my
+gun in my hand this minute and here's a chance to use it."
+
+As Dick spoke he raised the gun to his shoulder and fired. A little
+black creature, thirty yards away in the grass, sprang into the air
+and fell to the ground. Both of the boys started for it, but Tom was
+ahead and looked back upon them, growling fiercely, with his fangs
+fixed in the throat of the dying creature. Dick tried to coax the
+lynx to give up the creature he had seized, but the animal was
+filled with the fierceness of his race and even Dick dared not touch
+him. The creature which the cat held in its claws was clearly a
+rabbit, little and jet black, unlike anything which either of the
+boys had ever seen before.
+
+"I've heard of these little Everglade rabbits," said Ned. "Tommy
+told me of a key in the Everglades where there were plenty of them.
+If we had time we might look it up."
+
+"How much time have you got, Neddy?"
+
+"Another month will use up the time I said I would be gone. I left
+that word for Dad in Myers. Guess he's there now and maybe my sister
+with him. He won't worry a minute till the time I set is up, after
+that there'll be trouble."
+
+"What kind of trouble?"
+
+"'Most anything," laughed Ned. "Might be a lot of nurses out looking
+for a lost baby."
+
+"He won't be frightened about you if you're not quite up to time,
+will he?"
+
+"Not exactly frightened, but he will want to see me, and I'll be
+glad enough to see him, and sis, too."
+
+"I knew you had a sister, but you never talked about her much."
+
+"She's a nice child, alle samee. I think you're going to like her.
+She's a little your style of foolishness."
+
+"What's that?"
+
+"Oh, it isn't very bad. But you haven't had much to say about your
+own self, lately. You never told me exactly what took you around by
+Key West. Why didn't you come straight to Fort Myers instead of
+taking the tiny little chance of finding me in the big Everglades?"
+
+"Well, I'll tell you. You see, mother knew how much I wanted to go
+with you on this hunt and she begged me to let her foot the bills.
+Of course I couldn't stand for that, you know, and--"
+
+"Oh, Of course not, you stuck-up little donkey," interrupted Ned.
+
+"So I started as a stowaway on the Key West steamer--"
+
+"You cheeky little imp! Did they put you in command of the ship when
+they found you?"
+
+"No, only put me in the fireroom, shoveling coal in the furnace."
+
+"But that's not boy's work. What business--"
+
+"Hold on, Ned, wait till I get through. The captain was bully. So
+was everybody else. I went to him soon as we were outside Sandy Hook
+and asked for a job. I was independent about it. I believe I offered
+to swim ashore if he didn't happen to have a job for me. He gave me
+an easy one, for a boy, but I struck and asked for a man's work, and
+got it--in the fireroom. But I pulled through, Neddy, and made good,
+though once or twice I did have to call myself hard names and think
+how you'd have hung on, if you'd been in my place. Yes, everybody
+was good to me. One passenger wanted to pay for a first-class
+passage for me and I had hard work to beg off, and--but that's all."
+
+"Dick, you mustn't talk that way about me. You make me ashamed. I
+wouldn't have stuck it out in that fireroom for one day. Now how
+about your time for the trip? Will a month suit you?"
+
+"Yes, that's all right. I wrote mother from Key West and told her
+the hunt would be a long one without any chance to mail a letter and
+that she was not to worry because there wasn't a show of danger in
+the whole business. Of course mothers do worry a little when there
+isn't any reason."
+
+"Yes, mothers do worry, foolishly. Pity yours couldn't know how
+faithfully Tom looks after you. She'd be so relieved."
+
+On the day after cutting down the bee tree the boys were glad to
+stay quietly in camp. Ned's neck and arms were badly swollen and
+Dick's eyes could scarcely be seen. Both of them lay awake nearly
+all night, but it was uncertain whether this was due to the pain of
+the stings or the quantity of honey they had eaten.
+
+Tom shed his fierceness soon after he had disposed of the rabbit and
+again became friendly to Dick, who, even while he petted him,
+explained that he could never quite trust him again.
+
+Every evening turkeys could be heard in the swamp near the camp.
+Every morning they had departed. One morning Ned said to Dick:
+
+"I'm turkey hungry and I'm tired of shilly-shallying. The way to get
+anything is to get it. Let us get a turkey. We'll start out for it
+now and come back after we have got it, and not before."
+
+"All right, Neddy, we goes for it, we gits it and we comes back when
+we gits it and not afore."
+
+The boys started out with their usual equipment of weapons, salt,
+matches and axe. They crossed the swamp without finding the bird
+they sought and then, as they were hungry and tired, Dick shot a fat
+young ibis and broiled it for their dinner. After dinner they
+crossed the meadow to a narrow strip of woods, beyond which, on a
+wide stretch of prairie, they saw three bunches of turkeys. The
+bunch nearest them appeared to be a hen turkey with her family, each
+member of which was about as large as its mother. They were a long
+rifle-shot away, and a shot, if it missed, would send every turkey
+to cover for the day. The same thing would happen if either of them
+set foot on the prairie.
+
+"Our best chance," said Ned, "is to wait for them at the edge of the
+prairie. It's getting late and pretty soon they'll be looking for
+places to roost among these trees. They may come right here. Anyhow,
+by spreading out we will cover quite a stretch of woods. It may be
+too late for the rifle but the shotgun ought to do something."
+
+"That means that you're tired of my society, Neddy. So I'll go and
+hide myself on the edge of the prairie, a little further off than
+you can hit anything, in case of you mistaking me for a turkey."
+
+Soon after Dick had reached his station, the turkeys began to feed
+toward the woods. Two of the bunches went to the opposite side of
+the prairie. The hen turkey with her grown-up family fed slowly
+toward Dick's hiding place, but, when just out of range, appeared to
+become suspicious and turned toward Ned. Slowly she walked, darting
+her quick-moving head in every direction as she searched trees and
+bushes for hidden enemies. The younger turkeys put much faith in the
+wariness of the old lady and stalked fearlessly behind her. Ned
+waited for a chance which he thought couldn't be missed and,
+avoiding the mother turkey, shot down one of her brood. Instantly
+the flock was in the air, following its leader down along the edge
+of the forest. This brought them directly over Dick, who neatly cut
+down another member of the family. While Ned was dressing the
+turkeys and building the fire for the broiling of one of them, Dick
+was climbing a young cabbage palm and cutting the bud from its top.
+
+"Couldn't tell this palmetto cabbage from big fresh chestnuts, by
+the taste," said Dick. "I'm going to roast that other turkey at the
+camp to-morrow with his whole inside crammed full of chestnut
+stuffing."
+
+While the turkey hunters were eating their breakfast of cold turkey
+a doe, followed by a fawn which was still in the spotted coat,
+walked out on the open prairie within fifty yards of them and gazed
+at them without a sign of fear.
+
+"They know we wouldn't shoot a doe or a fawn," said Ned. "That's
+what makes them feel so safe."
+
+"Wonder if they would have felt as safe last night, before we got
+those turkeys?"
+
+On their return Tom, met the turkey hunters a quarter of a mile from
+their camp and they wondered whether he had heard them coming, or
+happened to be strolling that way. He looked so earnestly at the
+turkey which Dick was carrying that the boy said to him:
+
+"See here, Tom, that's my turkey and I won't stand for your laying a
+paw on him. So you had better be good unless you are looking for a
+mix-up with me." Tom looked cowed, but showed his friendly feelings
+by walking beside Dick, rubbing against his legs and purring in his
+half-growling fashion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+A PRAIRIE ON FIRE
+
+
+"Dick," said Ned as they rested against a log, having their regular
+after-dinner, heart-to heart talk, "we had better _hiepus_ (light
+out), if we mean to get to the coast and bring up at Myers on time,
+besides taking in all we want to on the way. We know the Harney's
+River route like a book and we've been over the Indian trail to
+Lawson's River, so we've got to find some new way out. There is a
+chain of salt-water lakes between the Everglades and the rivers of
+the west coast and we must get into them. I have made a pretty fair
+chart of the country and can tell how far across the swamps and
+prairies it is to almost any point, but how much of that distance is
+easy water and how much tough swamp or boggy prairie is what I don't
+know, but what we have got to find out. We have explored the country
+right around here pretty well and now let's put in a day working the
+canoe through the grass to the south, then leg it westward till we
+strike salt water."
+
+"That sounds well," replied Dick, "and then, you know, if your
+charts don't pan out straight, you can always ask Tom or me. Wonder
+if you half appreciate your privileges, having us along to take care
+of you."
+
+The young explorers "lit out" as proposed and, after a day of hard
+work and easy work, of open water and thick saw-grass and of clear
+channels and half dry meadows, camped beside a little slough on the
+border of a swamp, in the jungle of which it soon lost itself.
+
+The first excitement of the new camp came in the night when Tom, who
+was sleeping, as usual, beside Dick, sprang up with a fierce cry,
+which they had never before heard from him, and dashed into the
+woods near the camp. There came from the woods the battle cries of
+warring animals, but soon all became quiet and the cat came back,
+but he growled at intervals throughout the night.
+
+"What got into you, Tom?" said Dick to the lynx the next morning,
+after he had looked him over in vain for marks of a fight. "Was it
+jimjams, or only a bad nightmare?"
+
+Tom listened gravely and looked as if he could have explained a good
+deal if only Dick had understood his language.
+
+Tom followed the boys through the swamp on the morning of their
+first tramp, but when they struck a marshy meadow where the water
+was knee deep and the mud as much more, with no trees to make it
+pleasant for a poor cat, he looked reproachfully at Dick and turned
+back toward the camp. At the end of the meadow was a dense thicket
+which Ned entered first. He had only advanced a few steps when he
+turned back and held up his hand in warning to Dick. The thicket in
+which they stood was on the border of a big prairie of rich grass in
+which more than a dozen deer, nearly all bucks, could be seen
+feeding, with only their backs and antlers showing above the tall
+grass, excepting when some buck of a suspicious mind lifted his head
+high and gazed warily about him.
+
+[Illustration: "ALL BEYOND THE DARK MEADOW WAS A LIVING MASS"]
+
+"Isn't it us for the big luck, Neddy?" whispered Dick. "When I ate
+that very last bit of turk this morning I wondered when I'd get
+another meal and Tom asked me in confidence if we meant to let him
+starve. And now, just look. There's venison enough for the rest of
+the trip."
+
+"It don't belong to us yet. You want to be mighty cautious. You can
+sneak up to that tree with the rifle and wait till that nearest buck
+shows up in good shape and then drop a bullet somewhere around his
+fore-shoulder. Don't fire at his head unless you have to. The brain
+is a mighty small mark, and you're not playing to the gallery down
+here."
+
+"Ned Barstow, what are you talking about? Take your own rifle and
+shoot your own buck. If you don't I'll let out a yell that will
+scare the whole bunch to Kingdom Come. I don't run to you with my
+gun, whenever I find game, and ask you to shoot it. You mean well,
+Neddy boy, but sometimes you get mistaken. I'm afraid I didn't
+begin this trip right. I ought to have given you a lickin' every
+day, just to keep you in your place."
+
+Ned crawled out to the tree with his rifle and watched for his
+chance. The nearest buck was within easy range, but the grass hid
+his body and when the creature, scenting his enemy, threw his head
+high in the air Ned sent a bullet through his brain. As the boys
+were dragging the carcass to the woods where they proposed to skin
+and cut it in two for carrying to camp, Dick said to Ned:
+
+"Do you know what hypocrite means?"
+
+"I s'pose so, but what are you trying to get at?"
+
+"Hypocrite means a fellow who tells his friend that the only way to
+shoot a buck is through the body, coz the head is too small to be
+hit, and then goes out himself and sends a bullet plumb through the
+center of the brain of the beast."
+
+"But Dick, I couldn't see the shoulder."
+
+"Neither could I. You can't sneak out that way."
+
+A strong wind from the northwest sprang up while the boys were
+finishing their supper of broiled buck's liver and they built a
+wind-break to protect them while they slept. The wind became a gale,
+but they slept soundly, soothed by its roaring. They were rudely
+wakened by the crashing of some wild animal through the brush of
+their wind-break and, sitting up, saw that the whole western sky was
+lit up and all beyond the dark meadow was a lurid mass of flame.
+The roar of the fire mingled with that of the gale, while, as the
+swirling columns of flame bent to the earth and swept the meadow,
+the crackling of the grass was like the rattling of musketry or the
+spitting fire of a hundred Catlings. Soon the air became filled with
+sparks and cinders, and thick with smoke.
+
+"We've got to mosey, Ned. Reckon there isn't any time to waste,
+either. Shall we take the meat?"
+
+"Got enough to do to take care of our own."
+
+There was plenty of light, but the flickering shadows of the trees
+caused by the wavering flames made the steps of the boys uncertain
+as they fled from the flames that were following so fast. Ned fell
+headforemost into a thicket of the terrible Spanish bayonet and it
+was only the excitement of the hour that made the pain bearable.
+They floundered across the narrow swamp and into the marshy meadow
+often waist deep in the mud and more than once both of them fell
+flat in the water of the marsh. The narrow belt of timber which they
+first crossed checked the fire and although tongues of flame crossed
+it and a few trees took fire, while live coals were scattered
+broadcast over the marshy meadow, the fire died out without crossing
+the belt of woods that first stopped it. The boys crossed the marshy
+meadow to the swamp which they first entered when they left their
+camp the previous morning. As Ned's Spanish bayonet wounds kept him
+from sleeping, the boys sat up and talked till daylight.
+
+In the morning the wind had gone down and a few burning trees and
+little columns of smoke were all that was left of the great fire of
+the night.
+
+"If you will go on to camp, Ned, I'll go back and get that venison.
+It must be well smoked. Hope it didn't burn up. Give my regards to
+Tom. If he isn't good tie him up."
+
+"Guess I'll go with you, Dick. These stickers hurt worse when I keep
+still. Then you will need help to carry the venison. I hope the
+buzzards haven't got at it. We can leave our guns here."
+
+"No, thank you. My gun goes with me. I have had trouble enough from
+not having it handy."
+
+They found the hide of their buck had been destroyed by the fire,
+but the venison had only been roasted and partly smoked and they
+made their breakfast on it. The outsides of the palmettos, on the
+prairie where Ned shot the buck, were still burning and the trees
+looked like big sticks of charcoal, but palmetto trees get used to
+that and are seldom harmed by it, though it does spoil their beauty.
+The boys walked out in the ashes of the grass of the meadow and were
+sorry they did, for it made them look like the burnt ends of
+matches. When they got back to camp Tom came out and sniffed at Dick
+and then, instead of rubbing against his legs, went back and lay
+down. Dick spent the rest of the day working over Ned's face and
+body with tweezers, pulling out bits of thorns. When he got through
+the boys were about equally tired.
+
+Ned's wounds were so painful that for several days the explorers
+stayed around the camp and Dick amused himself and his chum by
+worrying a family of young alligators that lived in a pond near the
+camp. He grunted the little ones to the surface until they were
+tired of being fooled and refused to respond and he drove the
+largest one out of its cave in the bank until the reptile refused to
+play any more and would not come beyond the mouth of his cave. Then
+Dick cut a pole leaving a bit of a branch sticking out like a barb
+at the end and poked that in the hole till the alligator grabbed the
+end of it. Dick now pulled good and hard, the barb caught in the
+reptile's lower jaw and the boy soon had him out of his cave and up
+on the prairie. The 'gator was lively and Dick had to chase around
+the prairie a lot after him and finally get Ned to help before he
+could tie it. Tom didn't approve of the new member of the family,
+but he made no trouble while the camp was awake. The alligator
+became very restless at night and got in the habit of thrashing
+around almost constantly. In the morning his tail was seen to be raw
+and bleeding and day by day it grew worse. Tom was suspected, but
+always denied having had anything to do with it, with an expression
+of such injured innocence when accused that Dick had to believe him.
+One night, however, a heavy blow was heard, accompanied by a yowl
+from Tom and followed by some sort of scrimmage. In the morning Tom
+had a mussed-up look and the reptile had a number of fresh wounds.
+As the camp was moved that day and Ned continued to object to taking
+an alligator in the canoe the reptile was turned loose. He walked
+with dignity out on the prairie until he was near the slough, when
+he scuttled hastily to the water and plunged in.
+
+[Illustration: "THE BARB CAUGHT IN THE REPTILE'S LOWER JAW"]
+
+The new camp was in a little glade on a creek which the explorers
+had followed for about three miles west from the Everglades. They
+paddled through the creek till it melted in the meadows; they poled
+their canoe along the channel which the grass concealed; they
+dragged it by hand under bushes which covered it, until the little
+glade opened to them and showed enough dry ground for a camp and
+several shallow streams winding around clumps of bushes, but always
+stretching out toward the west. At daylight the young explorers were
+again on the move, dragging the canoe along twisting streams not
+deep enough to float it, until they struck a larger stream in a
+heavier growth. The little streams disappeared, the water grew
+deeper, but the jungle became worse, and every yard of their path
+had to be carved out with their knives.
+
+"This doesn't look very hopeful," said Dick as they stopped the
+heavy work for a few minutes' rest. "Hadn't we better go back a ways
+and hunt up a more open trail?"
+
+"Not on your life," replied Ned. "We are on the right track and
+we've got to fight it through. The only thing I'll stop for is a
+mangrove swamp, and I'll try mighty hard to get around that. But we
+won't find any mangrove swamp to trouble us."
+
+"You seem to know just what we're going to find on this trail, if
+you call it a trail."
+
+"I know what we ought to find, and that's better."
+
+"Why is it better?"
+
+"Because then we'll know if we're on the right track."
+
+"All right, Neddy, I quite agree with you. I only wanted to know
+that you were sure of your ground."
+
+The trees became heavier in a narrow belt along the stream, but open
+sky could be seen beyond them.
+
+"Don't you want to walk across to that open place, Ned, to find out
+what kind of country it is?"
+
+"I know now. It's open prairie or swamp and the next big water we
+strike will be the salt-water lakes. We will probably come to a
+fresh-water river first and that pretty soon."
+
+"Conceit's good for the consumption, Neddy. What do you want to bet
+on finding that river in an hour?"
+
+"I'll eat my hat if we don't find it in a quarter of a mile. I won't
+bet on the time, because at the rate you're working it may take
+three weeks to get there."
+
+"Ned, you're a wizard, for there is the river."
+
+The river flowed gently between high banks, densely wooded. The
+waters were alive with fish, and long-legged wading birds of the
+heron family stalked over the shallows in the stream. An hour's
+paddling brought the canoe to the mouth of the river, where camp was
+made. The water beside the camp was fresh, but the salt-water bays
+spread out for miles before them.
+
+"Everything is easy now," said Ned. "These bays are in the Ten
+Thousand Islands and lead to the head waters of the rivers of the
+coast. We may get tangled up in these keys, aground on the flats or
+cornered up in some of the bays and perhaps lose a few days, but
+we're safe to get out without hard work or trouble of any kind."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+DICK'S FIGHT WITH A PANTHER
+
+
+"I've always noticed, Ned, that when everything looks simple and
+easy, it is a good time to expect trouble."
+
+"Not this time, Dick."
+
+But it was this time, and that night Ned had his last care-free
+sleep for weeks.
+
+"How long shall we camp here?" asked Dick.
+
+"Better stay here for a week or two. We can hunt in the woods back
+of us and explore all these bays. This may be the last fresh water
+we will find on the trip, so we don't want to leave it till we are
+ready to pull straight through to Myers."
+
+In the morning the boys started across the woods on the bank of the
+stream, hoping to find a buck on the prairie beyond them. When they
+reached the prairie they saw three deer near its farther end, about
+half a mile away. They went back in the woods and started to work
+their way around the prairie to its farther end where the deer were.
+It took them some hours to get where the deer had been, only to find
+that they had gone. They saw them again on a smaller prairie and
+once more tried to get near the creatures by creeping through the
+woods. When the hunters were as near the game as they could go
+without getting out of cover the animals were yet a hundred and
+fifty yards distant. One of them was a fine buck and Ned watched it,
+rifle in hand, for many minutes, hoping it would come nearer. As the
+deer fed they sometimes came nearer and his hopes rose, only to sink
+into his boots when they turned away. At last he gave up waiting for
+a better chance and fired. The buck threw up his head, looked around
+for a moment and trotted quietly away, entirely unharmed, followed
+by the other deer.
+
+"It isn't our day, Dick," said Ned, ruefully, as he watched the
+disappearing animals.
+
+"Here goes for something to eat, anyhow," replied Dick, as he
+dropped a curlew that was flying over them. After broiling and
+eating the bird, together with some hoe-cake which they had in their
+pockets, the boys resumed their hunt for deer. They saw several more
+during the afternoon, but ill luck followed them and they finally
+set out for camp empty-handed.
+
+As the boys were passing through a thick clump of trees on the bank
+of the river, about two hundred yards from their camp, Ned was
+suddenly held back by a clutch on his shoulder, and turning his
+head, saw Dick's face upturned and his eyes fixed on the large
+branch of a big tree just before them. As Ned looked upward he saw
+the form of a huge panther, or mountain lion, crouching upon the
+limb and apparently about to spring upon him. The animal was within
+ten feet, every muscle was tense, his long tail was waving slowly
+and Ned stood motionless, charmed by the living beauty of the beast,
+until he heard Dick's whisper in his ear:
+
+"Shoot, Ned!"
+
+The hypnotic spell was broken and Ned slowly raised his rifle to his
+shoulder, while the panther crouched lower and waved his tail more
+quickly. In another second it might be too late, and once more Dick
+whispered:
+
+"Shoot, Ned! Quick!"
+
+The bullet struck the beast and the next instant Ned was knocked
+down by the body of the brute. He was unharmed, however, for Dick
+had jumped between them and it was in Dick's arm that the panther's
+teeth were set and Dick's shoulder and side that were being raked by
+its cruel claws. In an instant Ned's clasp knife was being driven
+into the body of the beast whose throat Dick's hand was clutching in
+a feeble effort to keep from his face those long, sharp fangs.
+
+Bullet and knife had done their work and the panther was dead. But
+Dick was unconscious and covered with blood which was flowing from
+deep gashes in his arm and a side that was torn from shoulder to
+waist. Ned half carried and half dragged the unconscious Dick a few
+yards to a level piece of dry ground and examined his wounds. Bad
+as they looked, there was no spouting of blood from an artery, or
+heavy flow from a large vein. With simple bandaging and care the boy
+would get well, and Ned's relief was so great that he was almost
+happy. He removed what the panther had left of Dick's shirt, which
+was sodden with blood, and tearing off his own, bandaged the wounds
+from which blood was still flowing. He then filled his cap with
+water from the river and sprinkled Dick's face, but failed to bring
+him to consciousness. He was wondering what next to try when Dick
+opened his eyes and smiled weakly.
+
+"Did he hurt you, Neddy?"
+
+"No, he didn't hurt me, thanks to you, Dicky boy. Now I'm going to
+bring the camp here, in the canoe. Can you get along without me for
+half an hour?"
+
+"Sure. Don't forget Tom."
+
+Ned didn't forget Tom. He thought so much of him that he took his
+rifle with him when he went to move the camp. For he was without a
+shirt and was stained with Dick's blood and therefore very doubtful
+how the lynx would behave. But Tom merely sniffed at him and when
+the canoe was loaded stepped aboard as coolly as if his passage had
+been paid for. When the canoe landed at the new camping ground Tom
+took a few steps toward Dick and then suddenly sprang into the woods
+and away, as if witches were after him. Ned was surprised at first,
+but remembered that Tommy, the Seminole, had once said to him:
+
+"Wildcat eat 'coon, panther eat wildcat," and he ceased to wonder
+why Tom had run away.
+
+Ned stretched the canvas over Dick, built a camp fire, got out a
+clean shirt for himself and tore up another for bandages. He washed
+Dick's wounds, which had ceased to bleed, with warm water and soap
+and put fresh bandages on them. After he had gathered a lot of moss
+and made a soft bed for the invalid, he picked up Dick's gun and
+walking a few steps down the river bank, shot a curlew that sat on a
+branch by the stream and was young enough to make a broil or stew
+for the invalid.
+
+"Been breaking the law, have you, Neddy?"
+
+"I'd break anything, to get you some nice chicken broth such as I am
+going to make now."
+
+At daylight Ned saw that Dick was sleeping quietly and taking the
+shotgun started out in search of a breakfast suited to a sick boy.
+When he returned, an hour later, he had a brace of ducks, a little
+brown Florida rabbit and a 'possum. Dick was awake when he returned
+and when offered his choice of the game for his breakfast chose all
+of them. Ned stewed the rabbit and broiled a duck, giving Dick a
+little of each, but the 'possum looked fat and greasy and he kept it
+for himself.
+
+"Dick," said Ned after breakfast, "shall I roll that beast into the
+river, or do you want his skin?"
+
+"Want it, of course. I've got no hard feelings against him."
+
+"Want him skinned for mounting or a rug?"
+
+"Rug, I guess. Think I'll enjoy walking on him."
+
+The big cat was nearly eight feet long, including his tail, and was
+so heavy that Ned found skinning him a hard job. After he had
+finished he had to cut a stout stick for a lever, before he could
+get the carcass into the river. The bad luck of the hunters seemed
+to have run out, and game began to come to them. Ducks flew over the
+river beside the camp and plovers often lit on a bank near them. Ned
+went out for deer and came back in an hour with half a buck on his
+shoulders. When he approached the camp he saw Dick sitting up and
+tossing bits of hoe-cake to a 'coon that was watching him with some
+suspicion from a distance of three or four yards.
+
+"You ought to have seen him, Ned. I had him half tamed. He took
+little bits of wet hoe-cake that I threw him and rolled them up into
+balls with his funny little hands before he ate them. In an hour
+more I'd have had him eating out of my hand."
+
+"He'll come back to-morrow, Dick. You've got a way with you that
+wild things understand."
+
+"It's only that I really love them and they know it."
+
+The 'coon did come back the next day while Ned was out exploring the
+bay in the canoe and, although he did not eat out of Dick's hand, he
+came within a few feet of him and showed very little fear. When Ned
+returned, the 'coon scrambled to the top of a little tree and looked
+down on the boys in a friendly way. Day by day the 'coon became
+more intimate with Dick, even to eating out of his hand, but always
+scampered away when Ned came back. On the third day, as Ned came in
+from an exploring trip, instead of the 'coon he found his old friend
+Tom, the lynx, sitting beside Dick with the air of a trained nurse.
+
+"Bully for you, Tom; I'm glad to see you back," said Ned.
+
+"I'm not glad he's come back, the murderer. He has killed my 'coon."
+
+"You remember what my Indian said. 'Panther eat wildcat, wildcat eat
+'coon.' Shall I shoot him, Dick?"
+
+"Shoot Tom? Well I guess not. He didn't know any better. I'm awful
+sorry the 'coon has gone, but I'd hate worse to lose Tom."
+
+"How did it happen?"
+
+"I was feeding the 'coon, and had just put out my hand to rub his
+head when he jumped in the air and started for that tree like a
+streak of lightning. He never got there, though. Something was after
+him like two streaks of lightning. I didn't know it was Tom till it
+was all over. That wasn't very long, either. If there had been any
+time I'd have had Tom by the ears or tail and taught him a thing or
+two."
+
+"Glad you didn't have time, Dick. I'm afraid Tom might have taught
+you a few things. Don't you think you had better get over what one
+cat has done to you before you tackle another?"
+
+"But Tom isn't that kind of a cat, Ned. I'm not afraid of his
+hurting me much. He might scratch me a little at first, but he'd be
+sorry for it, soon as he had time to think it over. Wouldn't you,
+Tom?"
+
+"Cats are cats, Dick, and I don't think it's safe to leave you alone
+with that wildcat. You are too weak to help yourself if he really
+tackled you."
+
+"But he won't attack me. So what's the use of talking about things
+that aren't going to happen? You are a good boy, Neddy, but you've
+got your limitations and you can't appreciate Tom."
+
+[Illustration: "THE COON SCRAMBLED TO THE TOP OF A LITTLE TREE"]
+
+Ned spent much of his time coddling the invalid. He paddled out in
+the lakes and among its keys. He explored the waters and the woods
+and brought Dick wild grapes with much character and cocoa plums
+with little; sea-grapes with juice that had the taste of claret and
+the color of blood; figs, of which Dick said: "De breed am small,
+but de flavor am delicious"; wild sapadillos that were sweet as
+honey, but chewed up into a solid ball of soft india rubber; and
+mastic berries that were delicious to the taste, but stuck like a
+porous plaster to the roof of the mouth. He got out the rod and
+caught mangrove snappers from under the banks and sheephead from
+their hiding places among sunken logs and snags. He dove for turtle
+that he never got and hacked at young palmettos for buds that he did
+get.
+
+Days followed days and though Dick grew better he didn't grow
+strong. Ned got anxious and told his chum that he was going to take
+him to a doctor. Dick laughed and said:
+
+"You are my doctor. I've great confidence in you and don't care to
+make a change."
+
+"Glad to hear it. Your doctor, in whom you have such confidence,
+desires to consult with his brother physicians in Fort Myers
+regarding your case, and you will light out with him to-morrow."
+
+The next morning a little canoe with a cat couchant in the bow, a
+young invalid comfortably reclining amidships and a husky youth in
+the stern started down the river and into the salt-water lakes. The
+first day's run was a short one and the camp was made on a bit of
+high ground covered with thin grass and shaded by a group of
+palmettos. It was bordered about with cocoa plums and sweet-smelling
+myrtle, on one of which flourished an orchid, the vanilla bean,
+which made heavy with its fragrance the whole camping site.
+
+    "But there lurked a taint in the clime so blest,
+    Like a serpent coiled in a ring-dove's nest"--
+
+and as Ned stood dazed by the enchantment of his environment, he was
+brought to earth with a jar by the whirring of rattles almost under
+his feet. Every muscle of the boy was tense with excitement as he
+stood motionless, knowing that death, in a horrible form, was within
+striking distance of him. The strange, paralyzing music of the
+dreaded "King Snake" of the Indians seems to come from all sides
+and until the threatened victim can see the reptile the motion of a
+hand may be fatal. The seconds seemed minutes to Ned as he waited
+and watched, waited and watched, before he saw the fascinating,
+dreadful, gently swaying head and the lightning play of the forked
+tongue within easy striking distance.
+
+[Illustration: "HE SAW THE GENTLY SWAYING HEAD AND THE LIGHTNING
+FLAY OF THE FORKED TONGUE"]
+
+He felt that if he jumped, the snake, so much quicker than he, would
+sink the glistening white fangs of that wide-open mouth deep in his
+flesh before he could get out of reach. He compelled his quivering
+nerves to hold steady while he slowly, inch by inch, moved away from
+the coils of the angry reptile. When Ned was six feet from the
+rattlesnake he sprang back and stood, almost fainting, quite out of
+reach of the reptile, which continued to wave its head and jar its
+rattles, but with less passion. The boy had often been told never to
+leave a rattlesnake alive and he looked around until he found a
+stick about five feet long, with which he returned to the field of
+his fright. The rattler had uncoiled and was creeping away when Ned
+rushed up and struck at him. The snake coiled like a flash and
+striking back, sunk his fangs in the stick within a foot of the hand
+of the boy. Again Ned struck, and the snake returned the blow, both
+of them missing their marks. Then the stick fell on the coils of the
+reptile and the back of the rattlesnake was broken. After a few
+finishing blows Ned dragged the six-foot creature by the tail to
+the bank and was thrusting it into the water when Dick called out:
+
+"Don't you want to save the skin?"
+
+"Don't want to save anything to remind me of it. I never expect to
+get the frightful sight of the open jaws and white fangs of that
+beast out of my dreams."
+
+Dick rested in camp the next day with the lynx, while Ned explored
+with the canoe, looking for the head of some river of the west coast
+that led to the Gulf, or for enough dry land to serve for a camp.
+Every water course that he followed, sooner or later closed up on
+him. He paddled four miles to the west through a long bay, only to
+find that there was no outlet on the western end, excepting a narrow
+creek which he followed until he could drag his canoe no farther. He
+followed floating wisps of manatee grass, freshly torn up by the
+roots, hoping to find the manatee which had spilled them, that he
+might follow him to a channel which would lead out of the
+wilderness. He discovered the manatee and was nearly swamped by the
+first dash of the frightened creature. Then he lost track of the
+animal after a long chase among the innumerable keys of the
+so-called Ten Thousand Islands, and found that he was himself lost.
+He paddled until it was dark and for an hour after that, when he
+gave up hope of finding his camp that night.
+
+He had a map of the country in his brain, but that was for daylight
+use only. He was hungry, and that was nothing; but he was parched
+with thirst from his long labor, and that was everything. He had
+seen no dry land during the day, and it was hopeless to look for it
+at night. It was never easy to keep the canoe balanced; if he dozed
+for an instant he would certainly roll it over. He had made up his
+mind to sentry duty for the night when through the darkness there
+came to him a gleam of light from a far-distant fire. As he
+approached, it brightened and sent up a crackling flame, in the
+blaze of which Ned saw the tall palmettos of his camp.
+
+"Were you worried, Dick?" he asked after the first warm greetings
+were over.
+
+"I sure was. I thought you couldn't get lost and wondered what had
+happened to you. Tom was uneasy, too, and I reckon he is out looking
+for you now. He went away in a good deal of a hurry. I made a
+lighthouse out of those palmetto fans that you cut for my bed, just
+on the chance of your having lost your way."
+
+Tom came home about daylight and lay down beside Dick, where he
+grumbled and growled as if he were a man with a next-morning
+headache.
+
+When daylight came and Ned began to bestir himself, he missed the
+cheery "Good-morning" of his companion, who was not able to lift his
+head from his pillow of palmetto. His wan smile went to Ned's heart,
+and the boy had to busy himself with the fire to hide his emotion.
+Every hour of that day he watched over the invalid, and from time
+to time tempted him with bits of broiled bird, heron soup and sips
+of hot tea made from leaves of the sweet bay. Ned's acquaintance
+with sickness was slight and his apprehension great, so that the
+night was a sleepless one and the day that followed brought no
+relief to his mind. Another day brought new anxieties. Dick was no
+better, and Ned couldn't bear to leave him, for the invalid's thirst
+was continuous, but now the supply of fresh water was running low,
+and a trip back to the river was imperative. He put the bucket, with
+what water was left, beside Dick's bed and said:
+
+"Dick, boy, I've got to go for some water. I'll have to be away a
+few hours, but I'll get back the first minute it is possible."
+
+Dick put out his hand, and his smile was cheery, though his voice
+was weak as he said:
+
+"Don't you worry, Neddy. I'm all right for all day. I don't need
+anything but amusement, and Tom will 'tend to that."
+
+"I'm afraid to leave a big wildcat with you when you are so weak. I
+am going to take Tom with me."
+
+"Don't do it, Neddy. He'd only be in your way, and I do want him for
+company. You don't understand Tom; he likes me and I like him.
+Please don't take him away."
+
+"Of course I won't take him away, Dick, boy, but you will have to be
+very good and keep cheerful and get strong and well to pay me for
+leaving him."
+
+Ned's apprehensions made the day a hard one for him. He was afraid
+of capsizing the canoe and being unable to get back in it. He
+imagined a tarpon jumping into it, a shark swimming against it, or a
+porpoise smashing it. When he reached the river of fresh water he
+carried the canoe up on the bank and tied it to a tree while he
+walked along the river bank and shot a few tender young birds for
+the nourishment of the invalid. His nerves were so unstrung that he
+feared to go far lest he lose his way, and was even apprehensive of
+failing to find on his return the camp where his companion was
+awaiting him, although the path to it was plain as a pikestaff.
+Ned's meeting with Dick was a joyful one, for the boy was clearly
+better and his voice stronger, although his first words were:
+
+"Don't go away again, Neddy. You've been gone a year, and I thought
+you were never coming back."
+
+By careful economy the five gallons of water which their can
+contained was made to last as many days for the three of them, for
+Dick insisted that Tom must share the rations of food and drink of
+the other members of the family. Each day Ned made a little trip
+around the keys nearest the camp by way of doing the marketing for
+his family, and returned when he had shot enough birds for its daily
+needs. He was happy in the thought of the invalid's increasing
+strength, but dreaded the necessary trip for fresh water. Dick
+surprised him by bearing the separation with cheerfulness, and his
+voice was so much firmer and his strength so obviously on the mend
+that Ned began again to plan for his return to civilization.
+
+On one of his marketing excursions Ned saw a skiff containing two
+men about a quarter of a mile distant. He waved his hat to the men
+and paddled toward them, but they rowed away. He followed, but was
+unable to find them, and concluded that they were outlaws, who did
+not care to extend their acquaintance. After this he paddled about
+on the lookout for some one who might help him to carry Dick to the
+outside world, for he had given up the idea of attempting it by
+himself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+CONVALESCENCE AND CATASTROPHE
+
+
+Ned's hopes and plans were suddenly changed, and he no longer hoped
+for help, but planned to take Dick to the coast himself. For Dick
+was getting well. There was no doubt about it. His appetite came
+back, until, instead of urging him to eat, Ned waited for him to ask
+twice for food before giving it to him. He was still thin and weak,
+but his spirits bubbled over, and his laughter was on tap, ready to
+be turned on any minute. He began to clamor for a move toward the
+coast, but Ned was obdurate and refused to stir for a week. Then one
+day Ned started out and paddled some miles toward the coast,
+examining the shores of the keys and the mangrove-lined banks of the
+salt-water rivers for a camping-ground. He could have made his own
+camp on the overflowed meadows almost anywhere, but Dick was still
+an invalid and Ned was always anxious about him. Six miles from the
+camp, where he had left Dick with Tom, Ned found a good camping
+site, marked by a freak palmetto with a trunk that branched into two
+stems about midway up. The ground was covered with palmetto scrub,
+which Ned examined carefully for rattlesnakes, after which he got
+out his fly-rod and caught a mess of fish for supper. On his return
+to camp the lynx sprang into the canoe, seized one of the fish and
+growled so fiercely that Ned thought best to let him keep it.
+[Illustration: "NED FOUND A GOOD CAMPING SITE MARKED BY A FREAK
+PALMETTO"]
+
+"Fresh water is all out, Dick," said Ned that night, "so I'll start
+at daylight and go back to the river and fill up. I'll take it
+slowly and be here about noon. Then we can start out and make easy
+work of being in the new camp long before sun-down."
+
+"Ned, I can paddle all right, and I'm going to help. I am sick of
+being a baby."
+
+"Go 'way, chile, you make me tired. Don't forget that I'm your
+doctor," replied Ned.
+
+"Do you see any chance of getting to the coast?"
+
+"Yes; pretty sure thing. I found a deep channel near the camp with
+some porpoises playing in it, and I think it's near the head of one
+of the big coast rivers. I am almost certain it's Rodgers River."
+
+[Illustration: "THE LYNX SPRANG INTO THE CANOE AND SEIZED ONE OF THE
+FISH"]
+
+Ned was a tired boy when the day's work was done and the young
+explorers were settled in the new camp, but a night's sleep braced
+him up so that he agreed to his chum's plan to make a dash for the
+coast, for Dick had said:
+
+"What is the use of losing a lot of time in prospecting for a soft
+spot for me to sleep? We can be on the coast to-night within sight
+of houses and help if we need it, which we don't, for I'm going to
+do my share of the paddling. I know that coast and you don't, so
+I'll naturally be boss."
+
+When the little canoe had been loaded with all their stores and
+trophies, and the boys were ready for their final trip, Tom stepped
+gravely aboard, and seating himself in the bow, turned to Ned with
+an expression which Dick translated as:
+
+"I am here, you may start the engine."
+
+Ned dipped his paddle deeply in the water, that with his every
+stroke flowed more swiftly. The banks became well defined, and
+although the stream was so crooked that it flowed by turns to every
+point of the compass, its general trend was to the west. The river
+broadened and the channel deepened, the forest on the banks became
+more heavily timbered, and the boys recognized the beautiful Rodgers
+River. Curlews and water-turkeys watched them from the trees; herons
+flew lazily up from the shoals as the canoe approached; porpoises,
+going out with the tide, rolled their backs out of water and gave
+sniffs of affright as they saw the canoe beside them. The fin of a
+great shark, longer than their canoe, cut the water as its owner
+swiftly pursued a six-foot tarpon, which escaped by leaping in the
+air within thirty feet of the canoe, toward which it was headed.
+Another clash of the shark brought its huge body within its length
+of the boys, while the great mouth, with its rows of serrated
+teeth, razor-sharp, opened wide to take in the tarpon, which leaped
+wildly ten feet in the air, and turning, plunged head-down straight
+for Ned as he sat in the canoe, paddle in hand. Dick started up from
+his seat, while Ned tried to fend off with the paddle, but the hard,
+pointed head of the big tarpon tore through the bottom of the
+fragile canoe as if it had been paper. A minute later the shattered
+canoe was floating down the river, while everything sinkable had
+gone to the bottom.
+
+[Illustration: "PORPOISES ROLLED THEIR BACKS OUT OF THE WATER"]
+
+Tom, who had been asleep in the bottom of the canoe, was swimming
+for shore, and Ned, who had not for a second lost his presence of
+mind, was treading water and supporting the unconscious Dick, who
+had been struck by the tail of the tarpon as the big fish crushed
+the canoe. Even as the tarpon struck the canoe Ned was reaching out
+for Dick, and the boys went down together.
+
+Then to Ned came the struggle for life--for two lives. His only
+thought was of Dick. Dick mustn't drown; Dick's face must be kept
+out of the water; he must get Dick ashore. He swam high, wasting his
+efforts to keep Dick's head above the surface. Strength goes fast
+when one struggles in the water, and Ned was soon gasping for
+breath. As he struck out more and more feebly for the bank, while
+the current swept him down the stream, he sank lower and lower,
+until only his eyes were above the surface and his lungs seemed
+bursting for want of air. A great shark swept past him, and the wave
+from the big fish rolled over him. He felt his senses going, his
+muscles refused to respond to the call of his brain. His grasp on
+Dick was loosening, and the thought of this roused him to renew the
+struggle. To save Dick he must save himself; he must breathe; he
+must not exhaust himself, and above all his mind must not wander. He
+was _so_ tired; for himself he would have given up the struggle and
+dropped into rest, but for Dick--never! A great calmness came to
+him. He rolled over with his head thrown back until all but his face
+was under water. This floated clear of the surface as he lay back
+and drew air into his smothered lungs in great gulps. He began to
+kick out with his feet and was soon swimming on his back toward the
+bank, making fair progress with little effort. Some of his strength
+came back, and he found that he was easily dragging Dick along,
+happily with his face upward. Hope took the place of despair, and
+Ned felt that now he could swim for hours. He saw the overhanging
+branches of trees above him and knew he was nearing the bank. Then
+suddenly he found himself aground on a shoal with water less than
+knee-deep. He dragged the unconscious form of his companion into the
+jungle on the bank, and a great wave of thankfulness rolled over him
+as he felt the weak beating of Dick's heart, which was followed by
+the familiar smile as the boy opened his eyes.
+
+[Illustration: "THE HARD, POINTED HEAD OF THE BIG TARPON TORE
+THROUGH THE BOTTOM OF THE FRAGILE CANOE"]
+
+"Well, Neddy, what have you been doing now, and what are you going
+to do? Last time I saw you a thousand-pound fish was dropping on
+your head. Seems as if he hit me, too."
+
+"Going to make a camp for the two of us, feed us, and get us out of
+the wilderness. That's what I am going to do," replied Ned.
+
+"You'll do it, all right; but what have you got to work with?"
+
+"Pocket-knife and some matches. First thing I'll make a fire to dry
+you. Then I'll forage. You see, Dick, we've got to stay right here
+until you get strong enough to travel. I can make a palmetto shack
+big enough to keep the rain off in half a day. The worst trouble
+will be fresh water, but I think I can fix that. I know how to get
+things to eat. I have picked up a couple of old cocoanuts, and I'll
+bring them to you in an hour full of water. Then to-morrow I will
+start early and find that old shack where we camped in the
+graveyard. You remember that old kettle there? Well, I'll bring it
+here full of fresh water. Then if you don't get well pretty quick
+I'll leave you plenty to eat and drink and find my way to the coast.
+I can do it in a day, and have your old friend, who don't believe we
+know a manatee from a tarpon, up here with his boat the next day
+sure."
+
+"Don't do it, Neddy. I'd be thinking of a hundred things happening
+to you, and the night would be pretty lonesome without even Tom."
+
+Ned started away from the river through a wooded swamp, and before
+he had gone a quarter of a mile struck a prairie on which several
+deer were feeding. The animals seemed to know that he had no weapon,
+for they showed no alarm until he had walked some distance toward
+them. There were a number of small ponds near him, and as Ned
+approached the nearest one a small alligator slipped from the bank
+into the water. The boy had provided himself with a short, heavy
+pole, and he waded fearlessly in after the 'gator; but although the
+pond was not thirty feet across and he explored every foot of it, he
+could not find the reptile. He finally came across an opening in the
+bank, in which he thrust his pole, when it was promptly seized by
+the alligator. Ned tried to pull the reptile within reach, but when
+the head came out of the cave it was larger than he had looked for,
+and before he had made up his mind to tackle it the creature had let
+go of the pole and gone back in his cave. Then the boy got earnest
+and determined to have that alligator if he had to crawl into the
+cave after him. He sharpened a bit of branch that stuck out beside
+the big end of his pole like the barb of a harpoon, and again thrust
+it in the cave. Soon he had the reptile fighting mad with his head
+out of the cave, when he pushed the pole into his open mouth, and
+catching the barb in the soft skin under the alligator's jaw, just
+as Dick had done weeks before, hauled him out of the cave and
+dragged him out on the bank. When a few yards from the pond the
+reptile broke loose from the barb and started back for the pond.
+Ned was after him like a tiger and struck two or three smashing
+blows on the creature's head with his pole, and then, as the reptile
+neared the water, threw himself on its back and seizing its jaws
+held them together while he turned the brute on its back. At first
+the alligator lashed out with its tail, but soon became quiet; and
+then Ned got out his knife and severed the spine of the reptile.
+
+The water of the pond was so nearly fresh that its taste was only
+slightly sweetish, and after Ned had drank all he could hold he
+filled his two cocoanuts for Dick. On his way to camp he hunted up a
+young palmetto for the bud or cabbage which grew in the top of the
+tree. The sharp edges of the great, tough leaves tore his flesh as
+he climbed through them, and it was only after more than an hour of
+hard work with his knife that he secured the cabbage he was working
+for. By this time the water he had drunk had oozed out through his
+pores. He was so parched with thirst that he took a long walk back
+to the pond and filled up again.
+
+That night Dick and Ned had broiled alligator steak and palmetto
+cabbage for supper. Both suffered so much for want of water that Ned
+started out at daylight to find the old abandoned plantation. Dick
+was pale and his smile so wan that Ned's heart was sore at leaving
+him. He was too earnest to think of trivial things, and he sloshed
+through the swamp without thought of the swaying heads of little
+speckle-bellies in his path, or the great, ugly cotton-mouth
+moccasins that moved slowly aside as he wallowed through their
+lairs. He stopped long enough on the border of the prairie to find a
+club, with which he fiercely pounded to death a rattlesnake, upon
+whose coils he had nearly stepped when the locust-like warning found
+its way to his consciousness.
+
+After about three miles of tramping, during which he waded
+waist-deep across two sloughs, the prairie opened upon familiar
+ground, and Ned knew that he was opposite the plantation he sought.
+In the decaying building he found an old bucket that would hold
+three or four gallons, and a couple of quart cans in which water
+could be boiled. From a tamarind tree he gathered the half-dried
+fruit with its sweet acidity, and in the old garden he discovered a
+few stalks of sugar-cane. He picked up a rusty fish-hook and from an
+old net got a quantity of string. Then filling his bucket with rain
+water, he started back to Dick and the camp. The journey was a hard
+one, and though he refused to drink a drop of the water, half of it
+was lost on the way. The weight of it pressed him down in the mire
+of the sloughs until he sank to the armpits as he held the heavy
+bucket on his head. Dick laughed aloud with joy, even if it was a
+bit hysterical, when Ned got home to camp.
+
+"Been lonesome?" asked Ned after Dick had drank a quart of water
+and looked as if he wanted a gallon more.
+
+"Not very. Tom has amused me," replied Dick, as he pointed to a
+branch over his head. Ned looked up, and there was Tom gazing
+benignly down upon him.
+
+"Wonder if Tom is hungry?" said Ned.
+
+"Guess not. I tried him with a piece of alligator steak, and he
+turned his nose up at that."
+
+"What do you think he would say to a mess of fish?" and Ned produced
+his fish-hook and line. Dick's eyes glistened.
+
+"Oh! I am so hungry for some broiled fish."
+
+Most Florida streams are alive with fish that are not fussy about
+the tackle with which they are taken. Ned baited his hook with a
+piece of alligator, which was promptly seized by a salt-water cat.
+The cat-fish was given to the wildcat, which grabbed it fiercely.
+Two mangrove snappers were the result of a few minutes' fishing. Ned
+put some tamarinds in one of the quart tins, which he filled with
+water and then stirred with a stick of sugar-cane which had been
+peeled and split.
+
+Dick perked up a good deal during his supper of broiled fish,
+palmetto cabbage and tamarind water, after which Ned made him a tin
+of tea from the leaves of the sweet bay. In the days that followed
+Ned gathered oysters, which he found some distance down the river,
+caught fish and killed several heron and a young curlew with sticks.
+The broils, roasts and stews which he made would have done credit
+to a professional cook. He wanted to set snares for rabbits and
+birds, but had to give it up owing to the difficulty of making a
+snare which would distinguish between Tom, whom he didn't wish to
+catch, and the rabbits which he wanted.
+
+Dick was improving, but so very slowly that Ned determined to find
+his way to the coast and get help. He put it off, at Dick's request,
+for several days, until they had been in camp a week, when one
+afternoon it was agreed that Ned should start early the next
+morning. Dick, who was feeling very blue at the prospect of Ned's
+leaving him, was lying on his bed of moss when suddenly he sat up.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+THE RESCUE
+
+
+"Listen, Ned, listen! There is a motor-boat in the river. Don't you
+hear it?"
+
+"I don't hear it, Dick."
+
+"But you must hear it. It's growing plainer every minute. It's a
+four-cycle engine, and a fast boat, too. I can tell you that. Who
+can it be? Do you suppose it is your father looking for you?"
+
+"I hear it now. No, it isn't Dad. My time isn't up for several days
+yet. After that anything might happen, but until then Dad won't lift
+a finger toward looking me up."
+
+"Oh, Ned! It's coming nearer, nearer, nearer! There! It's 'round the
+bend. Of course, you see it now. How it is coming!"
+
+"You bet it's coming. You ought to see the water pile up against the
+bow. It's a glass-cabin launch. There's a man standing on top of the
+cabin. I think he sees us, for he is pointing this way, and--the
+boat's headed straight for us--hear that whistle, and--Dick, Dick,
+boy!--there's a tall man and a girl standing in front of the
+pilot-house, and--oh, Dick! it's too good to be true, but it's Dad
+and Molly!"
+
+"Molly?" said Dick.
+
+"Yes, my sister, you know. Sometimes we call her Mary."
+
+"I didn't know your sister's name was Molly. What does she look
+like?"
+
+"Just watch that girl who is waving her hat as if she was crazy.
+That's Molly."
+
+Ned was in the launch before it touched the bank, and Mr. Barstow
+was holding his son by the hand, although neither spoke, while Molly
+had her arms around Ned's neck and was laughing, crying and talking
+by turns.
+
+"You blessed, blessed Neddy! What did happen to you? We were
+frightened, oh! so frightened."
+
+"Ned," said Mr. Barstow, "your friend, young Williams, was with you.
+I never saw him, but I hope no harm came to him."
+
+"No, daddy; Dick will be all right, now you are here, but he has
+been very, very sick, and I was dreadfully afraid he wouldn't get
+well, and all his trouble came because he saved my life without
+thinking of his own. Come right ashore and see him."
+
+"Shall I come, too?" asked Molly.
+
+"Sure," replied Ned. "He wants to see you especially."
+
+A moment later Mr. Barstow had one of Dick's hands in both of his
+own.
+
+"My boy, my boy, what made you run away? The hue and cry is out for
+you in Key West. Why did you never tell me that you were Ned's
+nearest friend? Why didn't you tell Molly who you were? Ned has
+talked to her for years about you. Come here, Molly, and tell your
+friend Dick Williams what you think of him for hiding his name from
+you."
+
+But Molly didn't tell him just then. For Dick's strength had been
+overtaxed, and when his eyes met Molly's he promptly fainted.
+
+When Dick had recovered, Ned invited his father and sister to dine
+before going aboard the motor-boat, and as he was busy preparing the
+meal and his father had much to hear from him, the care of the
+invalid fell upon Molly, a duty which she performed to the apparent
+satisfaction of her patient.
+
+"Those oysters are lovely," said the girl as she speared with a
+chop-stick a small one which had been roasted in the shell.
+
+"Yes. Ned waded through half a mile of mud to get them."
+
+"I wondered how Neddy got so muddy. I was so glad to see him that I
+just hugged him, and now I ought to be in a wash-tub. Just look at
+me."
+
+Dick obeyed her so literally that she added a moment later:
+
+"I mean look at the mud on my dress."
+
+The broiled snappers were pronounced the finest fish ever served,
+the palmetto cabbage better than cauliflower, and then the girl
+asked:
+
+"This white meat is pretty good. What is it?"
+
+"Alligator."
+
+"Really?"
+
+"Really and truly. You said you liked it."
+
+"I didn't know it was a reptile. Why didn't you tell me? I wouldn't
+have eaten it if I had known."
+
+"Ned wouldn't have liked it if I had told. He is my doctor, you
+know, and I have to mind him."
+
+"You don't need a doctor any more. What you want is a nurse."
+
+"That's so. I could mind her easy," said Dick.
+
+"Oh, I meant a man nurse," said the girl.
+
+Ned produced some joints of sugar-cane for dessert, and made a can
+of after-dinner sweet-bay tea, and then began to ask questions.
+
+"Daddy, I want to find out whether you and Molly are crazy or
+whether I am. You never saw Dick before. You said so half an hour
+ago. Dick never saw you or Molly. He said so half an hour ago--"
+
+"But Ned--" interrupted Dick.
+
+"You keep still. I've got the floor. Now, Dad, you and Molly rush up
+to this chap, whom you never saw before, and fall into his arms--"
+
+"Neddy Barstow, I didn't do anything of the kind. But I had seen him
+and I did know him," said the girl.
+
+"Now, there you go. How ever did you know this chum of mine, who
+never saw you?"
+
+"How did Dick save your life, Ned?" asked Mr. Barstow in a voice
+that wasn't quite as steady as usual.
+
+"I can tell you," broke in Dick. "He didn't do it at all. That's
+how."
+
+"Dad, when our canoe was wrecked, we lost the beautifullest skin of
+the biggest kind of a panther--eight feet from tip to tip. Dick saw
+the panther first, when he was ten feet from us, ready to jump. I
+fired at the beast, and he sprang for me, but Dick jumped at the
+same time and got between us, so the panther landed on him and I was
+saved. That's why he is sick now. I s'pose that is what knocked his
+memory endwise, so he don't remember anything about it."
+
+"Mr. Barstow," said Dick, "I wish you would ask Ned who it was that
+swam ashore with me when the big tarpon smashed the canoe and
+knocked me out. Yes, and he almost lost his own life in saving mine.
+Please ask him. I want to see if he has lost his memory."
+
+Ned tried to speak, but Molly had her arms around his neck, saying
+nice things to him.
+
+"See here, sis, doesn't part of this belong to Dick?" said Ned, and
+got his ears boxed very promptly.
+
+"Did not Dick tell you, Ned, that he came from New York to Key West
+on the steamer with us, and that Molly and I got acquainted with
+him, and that he then slipped away at Key West so that we could not
+find him?" asked Mr. Barstow.
+
+"Never told me a word. Dick, you gay deceiver, you pretended to
+tell me everything, and you left out the most interesting part. You
+probably thought I wasn't interested in Dad or Molly."
+
+"But, Ned, I never knew they were your father and sister until just
+now. I told you everything that seemed worth speaking of."
+
+"Hear that, Molly? This young man says you didn't seem worth
+speaking of. Can't you get even with him for that? Now, tell me how
+you happen to be here, you and Dad. I told Dick that he wouldn't
+move a finger for us till the time of my vacation was up."
+
+"You were all right about that, Neddy. He wouldn't budge an inch,
+for I tried to make him start out and hunt you up, and he refused
+until--Well, one day the boat that carries the mail between Key West
+and Chokoloskee picked up, out in the Gulf of Mexico, a broken canoe
+that everybody seemed to know was the one you and Mr. Williams were
+out in. Then Mr. Streeter made a night run to Myers, got Dad out of
+bed, and things began to happen. Of course, I was coming, so I got
+into a few clothes, skipped my breakfast and was aboard this boat
+barely in time not to be left, for Dad was just plain crazy. But
+before he came away he chartered everything in sight and told the
+men not to leave an unexplored channel in the whole Ten Thousand
+Islands."
+
+Ned held out his hand to his father without speaking, but Dick
+looked at the girl with more gratitude in his eyes than she could
+possibly have deserved, although she seemed willing to accept a good
+deal of it.
+
+"Well, boys," said Mr. Barstow, "if you are ready we will go aboard.
+I don't see much that you will care to take with you."
+
+"Nothing but Tom," said Dick. "Can't he go? He'll be good."
+
+"Of course he can. But who is Tom?"
+
+"Oh, he's nothing but a savage old wildcat," replied Ned. "He'll
+probably eat us all up but Dick. He has eaten some of him already."
+
+"Oh, what a beauty!" cried Molly, when Tom, who had been sitting in
+a tree over their heads, was pointed out to her. Dick soon coaxed
+the lynx, which sat there looking suspiciously at the strangers,
+down to his shoulder.
+
+"Can't I pet him?" asked Molly.
+
+"No!" said Ned.
+
+"Yes," said Dick, and Molly stepped forward and laid her hand
+fearlessly on the soft fur of the beautiful creature. Tom began a
+low growl, but Dick talked soothingly to him, and in a few minutes
+he became quite friendly with the girl.
+
+"There!" said Molly. "Now we're friends, and I can play with him all
+I want to."
+
+"Oh, no, not yet. You must promise that you won't touch him unless I
+am with you," said Dick.
+
+"Of course, I won't promise. I'll pet him when I please."
+
+"Then poor Tom will have to stay here."
+
+"Do you mean to say that if I don't make that ridiculous promise I
+can't have Tom?"
+
+"Tom belongs to you the minute you make that promise, but not
+before."
+
+"Well, Mr. Williams, I make the promise rather than lose Tom, but as
+for you--" And the blank which Molly left was filled with feminine
+possibilities.
+
+A bunk was fixed up in the cabin of the launch for Dick, and the
+throb of the heavy engines became a steady hum as the boat turned
+down the stream, with water and spray curling up from its bow and
+heavy waves from its propeller breaking with a sullen roar on the
+banks of the river. Dick's bunk must have been uncomfortable, for
+very soon he crawled up on deck and, going forward to where he could
+lean back against the cabin, sat down, looking pale, but not
+unhappy. Molly, who happened to be on the bow of the boat, was so
+indignant with him that she told him he ought to have a guardian,
+and then went below and brought back an armful of pillows and
+cushions, with which she proceeded to make life a burden to Dick.
+Then, as she seemed about to go away, Dick began to talk to her
+about the old plantations on the river and tell her the ghost
+stories that belonged to them, until she sat down near him. "I hope
+you don't think I was rude about Tom? I was only--" But Molly
+interrupted him.
+
+"You need to be good and strong before I tell you what I think of
+that." And the girl walked away from him so indignant that she
+didn't return for nearly two minutes.
+
+As the launch neared the mouth of the river a yawl-rigged craft with
+an auxiliary engine had just entered it. Her captain was sitting on
+deck with his right hand grasping the wheel, his body leaning
+forward, rigid as bronze, while his roving eye scanned water and
+sky, reefs, banks and keys. A roll of the wheel, and the launch
+darted toward him. When within a hundred yards the whir of the big
+engine and the chugging of the two-cycle motor of the yawl stopped,
+and as the boats were passing each other, Mr. Barstow hailed the
+skipper of the yawl.
+
+"Oh, Captain Hull! All's well. The boys have been found. Spread the
+news. Hunt up the other boats and all hands report to me at Myers."
+
+"Aye, aye, sir!" came from the bronze statue, and the chugging and
+the whirring began again as the yawl resumed its course, while the
+launch wove in and out among the oyster reefs, that guard the mouth
+of the river, at a speed that would have torn the propeller out of
+her had she struck one of them.
+
+Dick's eyes sparkled as the Gulf opened out, and the launch turned
+down the coast to clear the bar before making her course. Before him
+were the waters where the waterspout destroyed the _Etta_; the
+Shark River bight was near, and in the distance the cocoa-palms of
+the Northwest Cape could be made out. He turned eagerly to the girl
+beside him, and was telling her the story of the waterspout when Mr.
+Barstow came to them and said:
+
+"Run away, little girl, I want to talk to Dick."
+
+"So do I," said Molly as she made a little face at her father, who
+laughed at her.
+
+"You mustn't think you own Dick. Go play with Tom, there. He looks
+pretty amiable just now."
+
+"But he won't let me play with Tom. He's mean about that."
+
+Dick began to explain, but the girl had gone.
+
+"What are your plans for your future, Dick?" asked Mr. Barstow.
+
+"I am going home and going to work at anything I can find to do."
+
+"How would you like to work for me?"
+
+"I don't know of anything else in the world I would like so well."
+And Dick fairly beamed.
+
+"Then, if the work suits you, your engagement will date from
+to-day."
+
+"What will be my duties, sir?"
+
+"First a vacation to get well in and visit your mother. Then you and
+Ned will go to my timber property in Canada, familiarize yourselves
+with the present methods of working it, and suggest any improvements
+that occur to you, and make the best estimate you can of the amount
+and kind of lumber I have. I don't care for present returns, but I
+wish the property administered in accordance with the most advanced
+knowledge of the science of forestry."
+
+"Mr. Barstow, you are good to me, too good, and I am as grateful as
+I can be, but I can't take money for amusing myself. You would be
+paying me for taking the most delightful excursion in the world, and
+there wouldn't be any other side to it. I couldn't make good to you
+in any way. I don't know anything about lumbering, forestry or
+practical surveying."
+
+"Don't begin by criticizing your employer, Dick. Just make believe
+that he knows what he is about. I am not paying you for what you
+know now, but for what you will know in a few months. I am expecting
+great things of you. The science of forestry and economic methods of
+lumbering are fairly well understood in Canada. You will find
+yourselves with young men of education and enterprise, enthusiasts
+who think nothing of starting out alone on snowshoes for a week or a
+month in the woods, where the mercury in the thermometer often
+freezes. You will find your work cut out for you if you only keep up
+with them, and I am hoping that you will get near the head of your
+class. I want you to learn the business from the beginning to the
+end from the planting to the cutting of the tree, and from forest to
+freight car. So don't fear that you will not have a chance to earn
+your salary. Your pay and Ned's will be the same. It will take good
+care of you, but you will not find much over to waste. Here, Molly,
+come back and hear the rest of that romance that I interrupted. And
+don't look so cross at me next time I speak to Dick."
+
+"Isn't he the nice old daddy?" said the girl to Dick, as she sat
+down near him. Dick looked as if he thought so too, but was troubled
+to find words to express all he felt. The launch, which was now
+flying up the coast, was just opposite the shack of the fisherman
+whom the boys had hired to help with the manatee which couldn't be
+found. Dick was telling the girl the story of the manatee when Ned
+put in an appearance.
+
+"Run away, Molly. I want to talk to Dick."
+
+"Neddy Barstow, when daddy says 'Run away, Molly,' I have to go, but
+when you say it, I stay right where I am. See?"
+
+"But this is important, Molly. It's business."
+
+"So am I important, even if I'm not business. If business is in a
+hurry, it can go ahead; if it isn't it can wait."
+
+"Dick," said Ned, "Dad thinks we need a little vacation before going
+to work, and he offers to take us on a cruise in the _Gypsey_ to the
+Bahamas and to Cuba, or to charter a light-draft boat that could go
+through the Bay of Florida and let us finish our cruise in the
+crocodile country, beginning where we turned back when the fresh
+water gave out. Maybe he will let Molly go."
+
+"Let Molly go!" repeated the girl mockingly. "Only question is
+whether she will let you go. But I thought you said it was business.
+That isn't business; it's fun. We choose the small boat and the
+crocodiles. That will be new. I know all about the _Gypsey_ now."
+
+"Shall we let it go at that, Dick?"
+
+"Sure. Wonder if we can find my crocodile again."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+MOLLY AND THE MANATEE
+
+
+A week later the party of five (for both Molly and Dick insisted
+that Tom belonged) was sailing down the coast in the _Irene_, a half
+houseboat with auxiliary engine, which was sailed by Captain Hull.
+An engineer and a darky cook had been engaged, but the three young
+folks held a meeting and then announced that Dick had been elected
+engineer and Molly chief cook, with Ned as assistant. They added
+that the man engineer and the darky could "go bounce." When they
+notified Mr. Barstow of the result of the meeting he told them to
+see Captain Hull and that if they could stand their own cooking and
+engineering he thought the captain and himself might manage to live
+through it.
+
+The captain grimly assented; said that he had been wondering where
+he could sleep his cook when it rained; that Dick couldn't be a
+worse engineer than the one he had engaged, and that he hoped he
+would keep sober more of the time than the other one was in the
+habit of doing.
+
+The _Irene_ was of less than three feet draft, and towed or carried
+on her davits a small launch and a skiff. Excepting when the wind
+was especially favorable, the sails were kept furled, and an awning
+stretched above the cabin-top made of it a pleasant lounging place.
+When the _Irene_ was opposite the mouth of Broad and Rodgers rivers,
+the whole party, including Tom, who kept beside Dick, were sitting
+on the cabin roof, and Mr. Barstow said to his son, as he pointed to
+Broad River:
+
+"Is that the river where you caught your phantom manatee, that
+wasn't there when you brought a fisherman to get it? You know the
+story is all over Myers that you saw a porpoise and imagined the
+rest. How was it, Ned?"
+
+"Yon've made a lot of fun of me, Dad, and Molly has bothered the
+life out of Dick about that manatee ghost. Now, if you will let Dick
+and me boss this boat for three days, no questions to be asked,
+we'll show you a sure-enough manatee and give some folks a chance to
+think up real handsome apologies."
+
+"But supposing you don't make good?"
+
+"Then Dick and I will do a whole lot of kow-towing ourselves."
+
+"What do you say to that, Molly?"
+
+"See here, sis," interrupted Ned, "it's up to you to put up or shut
+up. If you don't give us this chance to make good you are not to say
+'manatee' again on this trip."
+
+"Give 'em what they want, Daddy. They can't do much harm in three
+days, and just think of the fun I'll have with them afterwards."
+
+"Well, hoys, you shall have your chance. It may prove a good lesson
+to you."
+
+"You heard that, Captain? Dick and I are boss for three days, and we
+want this boat to start up Broad River immejit!"
+
+"Tide's jist a-bilin' out of the river. It'll take all day to get
+anywhere. Hadn't you better anchor at the mouth of the river till it
+turns? We can run up the river in the night, so you won't lose any
+time."
+
+The _Irene's_ anchor was dropped behind the bar that lies opposite
+the mouth of the river, and Molly and the boys went out in the skiff
+to call on a family of pelicans which were keeping house on a little
+coral key, surrounded by oyster reefs, between Rodgers and Broad
+rivers. As the skiff neared the key the old birds flew lazily away
+and lit on a mud-flat a hundred yards distant, but the pelican
+children waddled around on the oyster reef without showing much
+alarm until Dick caught one, when the indignant bird struck him with
+its big bill and punched holes in his hat. As the tide fell the
+oyster bars were uncovered, the water shoaled on the mud-flats, and
+the boys gathered oysters from one, and clams weighing from half a
+pound to four pounds each from the other.
+
+[Illustration: "THE INDIGNANT BIRD PUNCHED HOLES THROUGH HIS HAT"]
+
+A fire was built on the reef, bread and coffee brought from the
+_Irene_, and Mr. Barstow and Captain Hull invited to a picnic
+supper which they were polite enough to say they enjoyed greatly.
+After supper Molly and the boys took a walk on the beach on the
+north side of Rodgers River and amused themselves by chasing the
+crabs that were skurrying along close to the shore to keep out of
+the way of their enemies. They had a lot of fun, but caught no
+crabs, until Dick went back to the _Irene_ for a scoop-net and a
+bucket, which he soon filled with the crustaceans. Molly had never
+before seen shell-fish growing on trees, so Dick cut a few
+oyster-bearing branches from a mangrove tree and roasted bunches of
+the bivalves on the beach. When the sputtering of the oysters on the
+branch told Dick they were cooked, he hauled the limb from the
+coals, sat down with his companion on the beach, and with sharpened
+sticks the young people picked the roasted oysters from their
+shells, while Dick told the girl of that other picnic on the coast
+near-by after the waterspout had wrecked the _Etta_. They talked
+after the oysters were eaten and the fire had gone out, until Ned's
+voice came to them:
+
+"Do you kids expect to settle here and grow up with the country?
+Don't you know it's 'most night, the tide's been right for the river
+for an hour, and everybody is waiting for you?"
+
+When they reached the _Irene_, Mr. Barstow proposed putting off
+their start until morning to give Molly and him a chance to see the
+river as they sailed up it. Mr. Barstow replied to a quizzical look
+from his son:
+
+"Of course, this doesn't come out of your time, Ned. You are to have
+your full three days."
+
+"Maybe you'd like to see some fire-hunting," said the captain.
+"There are 'gators in these rivers, and there's time before the moon
+rises to find one or two. If you don't want one killed I'll fire a
+blank cartridge at him, unless you'd like to shine the eyes of one
+yourself."
+
+"I don't think I'll try any fire-hunting, but I should like to see
+it done," said Mr. Barstow.
+
+Dick was proud of his sculling, and at his request it was arranged
+that he should scull the skiff for the captain, while Ned was to
+pole the little motor-boat, in which his father and sister would go
+with him. Before they had gone far Dick found that he had
+overestimated his strength, and that handling the heavy sculling oar
+was too much for him. Mr. Barstow offered to pole the motor-boat,
+and Ned took Dick's place at the oar in the skiff, where Dick
+remained as a passenger. They entered Broad River and Ned sculled
+slowly along the bank, while the beam of light from the lantern,
+which was bound to the captain's forehead, played along the surface
+of the water under the mangroves that overhung the banks and
+sometimes swept the banks above the water. In the shallow places
+mullet leaped wildly as the rays of the bull's-eye lantern fell on
+them, while porpoises sniffed and tarpon splashed in their light.
+Sculling was hard work for Ned, who had none of the easy and
+graceful swing with which Dick threw his weight on a sculling oar, a
+skill which he had acquired during his life on the sponger. Several
+times the oar jumped out of the scull hole in the skiff, and once
+Ned nearly went overboard. But a little extra noise didn't much
+disturb wild creatures that were fascinated by the light; and on the
+land 'coons sat motionless, two dots of greenish light told of a
+hypnotized wildcat, and when all on the skiff saw the light
+reflected from two big, round eyes, while the captain held the beam
+from the lantern steadily upon them, Dick whispered:
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"A big buck. Wish I didn't have a blank cartridge in the rifle,"
+replied the captain.
+
+They cruised for half a mile up Broad River, then back to its mouth
+against a tide that made the captain take the oars of the skiff, to
+which the painter of the motor-boat was then fastened. Then Ned
+sculled to the mouth of Rodgers River, where, upon a little beach,
+the captain first saw the gleam for which he had been looking. Then
+for a few minutes Dick took the oar and slowly and more slowly
+sculled toward those little round stars. Soon the light from the
+bull's-eye on the captain's forehead showed the head and body of the
+reptile, which remained as motionless as if cast in bronze, while
+Dick held the skiff in place that the launch might come near. With
+the roar of the blank cartridge came the scream of a girl and the
+quick scrambling of the alligator into the water. Every one wanted
+to continue the hunt, but the rising of the moon put a stop to the
+sport.
+
+[Illustration: "THE LIGHT FROM THE BULL'S EYE SHOWED THE HEAD AND
+BODY OF THE REPTILE"]
+
+In the morning the tide was rushing up the river, and with it came
+rolling porpoises and schools of leaping tarpon.
+
+"Couldn't you catch one of those tarpon?" asked Molly.
+
+Dick said nothing, but Ned shook his head slowly, and Molly
+understood that he couldn't so quickly forget that desperate
+struggle in the water, during which two lives hung by a thread after
+a tarpon had wrecked their canoe.
+
+As the _Irene_ sailed up the river birds flew from the trees on her
+approach, alligators slid from their beds on the banks, and otters
+lifted their round heads above the surface of the stream. Six miles
+from its mouth the river spreads out into a bay, and as the boat was
+entering it Mr. Barstow called out:
+
+"There is your manatee, sure enough, boys!"
+
+A big, ugly head appeared beside the _Irene_ for an instant,
+followed by a column of water thrown in the air by the huge
+porpoise-like tail of the frightened animal. The anchor was quickly
+dropped and the little motor-boat, with Dick at the wheel and Mr.
+Barstow and Molly as passengers, started in pursuit of the sea-cow.
+Captain Hull and Ned were in the skiff, which was towed by the
+motor-boat. Every few minutes the long eel-grass of the shallow bay
+choked the propeller of the motor-boat. Then the motor was stopped,
+the skiff pulled under the stern of the power-boat, and Ned, with
+half his head and shoulders under water, tore the grass from the
+wheel. For two miles all eyes scanned the surface of the water
+without sight of the quarry; then came a shout from Molly:
+
+"There it is!"
+
+"Take the wheel, Molly; it's your manatee," replied Dick.
+
+And the girl, without a hat and with her loosened hair streaming
+down her back, headed the power-boat straight for the creature,
+which was distant about the eighth of a mile. Twice the grass choked
+the wheel and twice with desperate haste it was cleared by Ned. The
+boat had gone many yards beyond the place where Molly had seen the
+animal when there was a great swirl in the water beside the craft,
+followed by other swirls, which grew less and less as they led in a
+straight line up a broad tideway that opened into the upper end of
+the bay. A moment later another series of swirls was seen and
+followed, after which, for a time, nothing was seen, although four
+pairs of eyes were scanning every inch of the stream ahead of the
+boat. Then came a cry from the captain, who had been cannily
+watching the water behind the craft. The sea-cow had turned around,
+and, swimming silently beneath the boat, would have escaped but for
+the glimpse the captain got of him as he rose to breathe just
+before reaching a bend in the stream, which would have hidden him
+from his pursuers. Soon the motor-boat was again on his trail, never
+to leave it till the creature was a captive. For the manatee was
+tired and had to come to the surface for breath at shorter and
+shorter intervals, until the power-boat almost ran over him at every
+turn.
+
+"Turn us loose!" shouted Ned, and in a moment the skiff was free and
+being sculled by the captain toward the quarry, while Ned stood in
+the bow with a noosed rope in his hand. Soon the manatee rose beside
+the skiff, so near that Ned laid the noose over the creature's nose.
+But it didn't stay there, for a column of water rose in the air, and
+when it subsided Ned was swimming two yards from the skiff.
+
+There was a cry from Molly in the motor-boat which no one noticed,
+for in half a minute Ned was back in the skiff and the pursuit was
+on keener than ever. Every ten seconds the manatee came up to
+breathe, every time he rose he was driven back under water by the
+blow of the rope across his nose. Finally the half-strangled
+creature lifted his whole head out of the water and held it there
+long enough for Ned to slip the noose over it. The next instant the
+blow of the manatee's tail deluged the boy with water and jarred the
+skiff from bow to stern, which was then dragged through the water at
+a rate which for minutes left the motor-boat behind. The sea-cow
+carried the skiff around keys, through deep channels, over shallow
+banks and under bushes that projected from the shore, until the
+animal was fairly tired out. As the speed of the creature slackened,
+Ned drew the skiff close beside him, and plunging overboard, threw
+his left arm over the neck and with his right hand grasped the right
+flipper of the manatee. Then Captain Hull took a hand, and pulling
+the skiff up to the manatee was soon swimming beside him and
+clinging to his left flipper.
+
+Dick slowed down the motor, while Molly kept the boat circling
+around the swimmers until the manatee surrendered and became quiet
+as a cow. The motor was stopped, and the sea-cow was brought beside
+the boat, where Molly patted the head and laid her hand on the soft
+lips of the gentle creature.
+
+"Now, Daddy," said Ned, "Dick and I want a certificate that this
+isn't a phantom manatee or a porpoise."
+
+"I'll certify to that, Ned. You boys have made good, although nobody
+ever doubted it, anyway, for the fisherman was only having a little
+fun with you."
+
+The manatee was so tractable that Captain Hull swam back for the
+skiff, while Ned loosened his hold on the flipper of the creature.
+Suddenly a cascade of water half-filled the power-boat, drenched
+every one in it, and the manatee disappeared. Ned was chagrined, but
+Mr. Barstow cheered him:
+
+"It is all for the best, Ned. He had done all he could do for us. We
+hadn't time to arrange for his shipment, and so had to set him
+free. The only thing I am sorry for is that I didn't go overboard,
+too, and have some of the fun. I am just as wet as you are, without
+having anything-to show for it."
+
+"Me, too," said Molly, whose red cheeks and sparkling eyes shone
+from among streaming mermaid tresses, and whose pretty frock had
+been deluged.
+
+"Dad," said Ned, after they were back on the _Irene_, "you know Dick
+and I are in command for two days more."
+
+"I thought you were to have charge for three days, or until you
+found a manatee."
+
+"No, sir; three days--seventy-two hours, and not a minute less."
+
+"What are you going to do with all that time?"
+
+"I have elected myself senior boss and Dick junior boss, and we are
+going to show you and Molly the Everglades. The _Irene_ will start
+down Broad River at once. But Molly is to take the power-boat
+through the cut-off to Rodgers River, and down that river to its
+mouth, where she will find us. Oh, by the way, Dick will go with her
+as engineer, but subject to her orders."
+
+When the _Irene_ was opposite the cut-off, the power-boat, with
+Molly and Dick on board, was set adrift and was soon twisting and
+turning at half speed as it followed the channel of the crooked
+creek. Swimming through the creek would have made a snake dizzy, and
+the girl at the wheel had to keep it spinning. There were logs to
+be dodged and sharp-ended stumps to be avoided. Trees lay nearly
+across the stream, leaving barely the width of the boat to spare,
+and others under which the boat had to be driven between flexible
+branches, while the steerswoman crouched low down in the craft.
+There were birds and beasts on the bank, fish and reptiles in the
+water, but the girl could spare them scarcely a glance. Great
+spiders hung in midair on nets that stretched from bank to bank, and
+Molly's face was matted with webs that she could not avoid, while
+her teeth were tightly clenched lest she scream when the hairy legs
+of a spider with a spread of five inches traveled across her face.
+Dick saw her trouble and came forward to where he could lean ahead
+of her and take the brunt of the spider's work. Molly spared him a
+grateful glance, but got in trouble for it the next instant. For
+just then a quick turn of the craft happened to be necessary, and
+although Dick helped to roll the wheel, it was too late, and because
+of the inattention of a moment the motor-boat crashed into the bank.
+The pilot and engineer were thrown violently against the wheel, but
+nothing was injured excepting the temper of the girl, who said to
+her companion:
+
+"That was all your fault, Dick Williams, and I wish you would go
+back to your engine. I will try to manage the wheel by myself."
+
+After two miles of squirmy navigation the boat came out into the
+broad, beautiful Rodgers River, down which they turned; and when
+Dick pointed out where the tarpon had wrecked their canoe and
+stunned him, and told of Ned's struggles to save his life, the
+girl's voice trembled and there were tears in her eyes as she
+listened and asked questions. The tide was low when they arrived at
+the mouth of the river, and Molly ran the boat on one of the oyster
+bars that form a network across the entrance to Broad and Rodgers
+rivers. Almost the instant the boat touched, Dick was overboard
+heaving on the bow, and soon had the craft afloat. Then turning to
+Molly, he said, while mischief sparkled in his eyes:
+
+"I am sorry I ran you on that bar, Miss Barstow."
+
+"You shouldn't bear malice, Dick," replied the girl.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+TO THE GLADES IN THE "IRENE"
+
+
+They found the _Irene_ waiting for them near the mouth of the river,
+with Ned impatient to be off to catch the inflowing-tide from the
+mouth of Harney's River, which was about two miles down the coast.
+
+It was still daylight when they crossed the bar and passed the
+little key inside the mouth of the river, but they sailed up the
+stream by the light of the stars, which gave mystic beauty to the
+smooth water and the shadowy outlines of the tropical forest that
+bordered the banks of the river. Captain Hull anchored the _Irene_
+for the night in Tussock Bay, at the head of the lower division of
+Harney's River, because, as he said, he needed all the daylight he
+could get when he tackled the crooked courses between Tussock Bay
+and the Everglades.
+
+When the anchor was hoisted in the morning, Dick was at the wheel,
+which he held on to when the captain came up to relieve him. The
+captain stood by as the boy steered across the bay, and wondered at
+the chance that kept him for miles on exactly the right course. As
+the boat was passing Tussock Key, Dick headed up to the northeast.
+
+"Too far north," said the captain. "Course is east-southeast."
+
+"No talking to the man at the wheel," said Dick, and Captain Hull
+laughed and waited for the trouble that was coming. But no trouble
+came, and the _Irene_ twisted in and out, always in plenty of water,
+for a mile and a half of crooked creek, until it floated in a wider
+stream, the banks of which were covered with long prairie grass,
+when Dick handed over the wheel to the captain, saying:
+
+"Guess you know the rest of the way, don't you, Captain? If you get
+in any trouble call on me."
+
+"That was one on me," said Captain Hull as he took the wheel. "I
+never came that way before. Wonder who taught you piloting? Mighty
+few pilots can find their way up this river."
+
+"I came that way," said Dick nonchalantly, "because the water is
+deeper and there is less grass. The other river is pretty shallow
+and gets badly choked up at this season."
+
+"That's so," replied the captain, "but I'd like to know who told
+you."
+
+It took the rest of the day to reach the Everglades. There were
+narrow streams so crooked that the _Irene_ had to be poled around
+the sharp corners, broad, shallow rivers, so choked with eel and
+manatee-grass that every five minutes one of the boys went overboard
+to clear the clogged propeller, and twisting creeks, through which
+the water of the Everglades poured so swiftly, that to make headway
+and avoid snags kept the captain busy at the wheel and the boys
+fending off from the banks with oars. Sometimes for miles the
+channel was clear; and while the captain stood at the wheel the rest
+of the exploring family sat upon the cabin roof and chattered like
+children about the turtle and terrapin heads that dotted the
+surface, the leaping young tarpon, grave old alligators, shy otters,
+and birds that flew from the trees or soared overhead.
+
+The sensitive Tom resented Dick's neglect, and was seen sitting on
+the after end of the cabin, in front of the wheel, making friends
+with the captain. Every few minutes Tom put out a paw and rested it
+on the captain's hand as it rolled the wheel. Then Tom would look up
+in his face, and finally rubbed his cheek on the captain's hand, and
+after that became his shadow. That night Tom abandoned his sleeping
+place beside Dick's bunk and turned in with the captain. Dick was a
+little annoyed at first, but his conscience told him that he had
+neglected Tom, and had himself to blame.
+
+When the anchor was dropped, the _Irene_ rested in a solid mass of
+lily pads, with her bowsprit extending over the border of the
+Everglades, which stretched out eastward, a great, grassy,
+overflowed meadow, dotted with keys, to the horizon. A slough of
+clear water, deep enough to float the little power-boat, zigzagged
+out into the Glades, and the captain, with Mr. Barstow, Molly and
+Dick in the craft, followed it for more than a mile. There was
+water enough over the light grass of the Glades to float the skiff,
+which Ned poled through a carpet of white pond-lilies, that here and
+there covered the surface. Many little grassy mounds showed where an
+alligator had his cave. From one of them an alligator slid out and
+started across the Glades at full speed. Ned was soon on his trail,
+poling like mad. He was nearly up to the reptile when it swung
+around and darted away at right angles to its former course, gaining
+many yards on its pursuer, for the grass prevented the quick turning
+of the skiff. Time after time the reptile repeated this dodge, time
+after time the boy was near enough to have touched the alligator
+with a pole, but always he dodged, until Ned was too exhausted to
+follow the creature any farther.
+
+"Oh, I wish you could have caught it," said Molly when Ned returned.
+
+"We'll get one to-morrow sure," said Dick, while Ned's only comment
+was:
+
+"Don't you get Dick to try fool things, sis."
+
+"Captain," said Dick that evening, "I want an alligator, and if you
+will help Ned pole in the skiff in the morning until we are near
+enough to one, I'll either put a rope over his head or go overboard
+and grab him."
+
+"Don't try that on these 'gators; but I'll rig up a harpoon for you,
+and if you can hit one with that there won't be any trouble in
+getting him."
+
+"I don't want to kill the thing with a harpoon."
+
+"I'll fix that. I'll stop down the harpoon so you can't drive it
+more than an inch beyond the hide, and the 'gator will never know
+he's hurt. He'll think a fly lit on him."
+
+In the morning, as they were about to start on the 'gator chase, Ned
+said to his father:
+
+"This is our third day and our last chance, so we have got to keep
+busy."
+
+"Not quite," replied Mr. Barstow. "You and Dick have done so well
+that you can stay in command until I have to call you down."
+
+"Where do I come in?" said Molly. "Haven't I got something to say
+about things?"
+
+"Looks as if you were having too much to say now. You mustn't try to
+influence the officers of this ship or lure them away from their
+duties."
+
+The little face that Molly made at her father wasn't quite
+respectful, but Mr. Barstow only laughed at it.
+
+On this day of the 'gator hunt, Molly took the wheel and her father
+ran the engine of the motor-boat, while Ned and the captain poled
+the skiff and Dick stood in the bow with the harpoon pole. They soon
+started a nine-foot alligator out of his cave, and after a chase of
+ten minutes and a few sudden turns were so near the reptile that
+Dick fixed his harpoon to the end of the pole and stood ready. Twice
+he threw and missed, and each time many yards were lost while the
+pole was being recovered. Dick was so mortified at missing that he
+offered the harpoon to the captain, who refused it, saying:
+
+"You threw all right and almost got him last throw. You'll fetch him
+next time."
+
+The captain's prophecy was fulfilled and at the next throw the
+harpoon pierced the soft hide of the hind leg of the reptile. From
+the beginning of the chase the alligator had been making for the
+river and was within a hundred yards of it when struck. They headed
+it off from the river and Dick dragged on the line while the others
+poled until the skiff was beside the 'gator. A heavy blow on the bow
+of the boat from the tail of the reptile and the big open jaws with
+their rows of great gleaming teeth that swung before Dick's face
+made him drop the line and fall backward into the skiff, while the
+alligator started off in a new direction. On the next approach the
+creature turned on the skiff again and though the captain fended it
+off with an oar the reptile had the best of the battle. Several
+times Dick brought the skiff near the alligator and tried to lasso
+it with the painter of the boat, but the reptile was too wary for
+him. The captain suggested running the reptile into the river,
+saying it would be easier to take it aboard from the deeper water.
+As soon as they gave the brute a chance it plunged into the river
+and towed the skiff two hundred yards down the stream, then turning
+and rising to the surface the alligator came with open mouth at
+Dick, who sprang from his place in the bow and, seizing the
+painter, the boy soon had a rope around the head of the brute and
+its jaws tied. They tried towing the alligator up the river to the
+_Irene_, but it is easier to drag an anchor than an alligator. Then
+as Dick was winded the captain and Ned finally hauled it aboard the
+skiff, where for a time it amused itself by trying to smash the
+skiff or knock somebody overboard with its tail. It became perfectly
+quiet before the _Irene_ was reached, when the captain dragged on
+the rope which bound its jaws while Ned boosted with his arms around
+the tail of the brute. But the alligator was playing 'possum and had
+Ned just where it wanted him and, with a swing of its powerful tail,
+lifted the boy in the air and neatly tossed him overboard. It was
+fortunate for Ned that he was holding the alligator so tightly that
+it was more of a push than a blow that he received. As it was, the
+breath was so completely knocked out of him that for an instant he
+could not swim and was drifting with the current, feebly paddling
+with his hands, just enough to keep afloat, when he felt Dick's
+supporting hand and heard a voice in his ear:
+
+"Don't say you're hurt, Neddy."
+
+"No--no--not a--bit. Nothing but--the talk--knocked out of me. Gee!
+Wouldn't he make a fine spanking machine?"
+
+Both of the boys were glad when the captain came for them with the
+skiff and they were saved a hard swim against the current.
+
+"Where is our alligator?" said Ned to the captain. "Hope you didn't
+turn him loose."
+
+"Nope. He's all right. He slipped back into the water when you went
+in swimming, and of course I knew you wanted him looked after first,
+so I gave his line a turn round the big cleat. When I left he was
+trying to pull it out."
+
+When the boys were back on the _Irene_, Molly clung to her brother's
+hand, hardly able to speak, while Mr. Barstow said to his son:
+
+"Is that the sort of thing you boys have been doing in your odd
+hours when you were not squabbling with panthers or mixing up with
+tarpon? I am afraid you need a traveling guardian to look after
+you."
+
+A hundred feet was added to the rope that held the alligator and he
+was left to pasture in the water until the _Irene_ was ready to
+sail, when he was hauled aboard the skiff and lashed there. While he
+was being tied he was perfectly tame and peaceful, but, though he
+looked as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, no one trusted him
+and even the captain fought shy of his tail.
+
+For two miles from the Glades the river was broad and the
+navigation, excepting for many bunches of moss and manatee grass,
+was easy. Then came half a mile of a twisting narrow creek, in
+places not twice the width of the _Irene_, through which poured
+swiftly the whole volume of the big river. At the head of this
+creek the captain came to anchor.
+
+"We won't get through this creek without a lot of trouble. The
+current will throw us against the bank a dozen times and we haven't
+speed to prevent it and couldn't turn the corners if we had. The
+launch must go ahead and keep the bow of the big boat out of the
+bushes if it can. Then we can't be bothered with the skiff or the
+'gator. We'd likely lose both. Somebody must take the launch and tow
+the skiff through and then come back, if he can get back, and help
+the big boat through. I hate to do it, but we can't tow the skiff
+and, of course, it would be torn off of the davits in two minutes.
+We are going to scrape the sides and perhaps tear out half the
+rigging of the _Irene_, anyhow. Now who volunteers to tow the skiff
+through the creek? I can't go because the launch may not be able to
+buck the current and get back and I must stand by the big boat."
+
+"I volunteer," said Molly, "if you can get anybody to go as
+engineer."
+
+Every one laughed at this, excepting Molly, who blushed a little,
+and Dick pulled the power boat up beside the _Irene_ as if he were
+afraid that somebody would change her mind if there was any delay.
+
+"Can she do it and is it quite safe?" asked Mr. Barstow.
+
+"Do it as well as anybody. They may swamp the skiff or get caught in
+a corner, but they can get out on the bank without anything worse
+than a ducking."
+
+As the power boat started, with Molly at the wheel, Dick standing by
+the motor and the skiff hauled close under the stern, the captain
+called out to Dick:
+
+"Full speed. It's your only chance to get through. Don't bother with
+the skiff, but keep an oar handy to fend off from the bank." The
+speed of the boat was doubled by the current and Dick's heart was in
+his mouth as the banks flew past and some log-guarded point
+threatened to smash the bow of the boat. But Molly was quick to see
+the coming peril and the wheel rolled swiftly to starboard or port,
+always in time to avert it. There were double turns which the boat
+could never have made but for the rush of the current which often
+swept them aside from a stump or log that it seemed impossible to
+avoid. It was a thrilling experience to both pilot and engineer, and
+when the broad, placid river opened before them and the perilous
+trip was past, the girl turned a flushed and beaming face toward her
+companion and said:
+
+"Wasn't it just lovely?"
+
+And the boy replied with enthusiasm:
+
+"It was glorious!"
+
+Dick fastened the skiff to a tree on the bank, gave a look at the
+lashing of the alligator and the return through the creek began.
+There was nothing exciting about this trip. As the craft was working
+against the current, the flow of the water balanced the power of
+the engine, and log stumps and points on the bank were passed
+slowly, inch by inch. Often there was no progress and then the boat
+was steered close beside the bank and Dick pushed with his oar
+against the trees until less swift water was found. The run down the
+creek was made in three minutes. The return 'took half as many
+hours. On the _Irene_ all were anxious but the captain and Tom. At
+the end of an hour Ned was for starting down the creek with the big
+boat, but Captain Hull said:
+
+"No. It may take them three hours. Give them two at least. If we
+start now we'll make sure of a smash-up."
+
+In another minute the motor of the launch could be heard, although
+it was half an hour more before the wanderers were welcomed aboard
+the _Irene_ and their story told.
+
+"It's our turn for trouble now," said the captain, "and we're likely
+to get it, good and plenty."
+
+"Want me to tow?" said Dick.
+
+"Sure," replied the captain.
+
+"Me, too?" inquired Molly.
+
+"No," replied the captain, rather sharply. "It isn't piloting this
+time. You can't steer the launch much while it's fast to the big
+boat. Best you can do is to fend off and then you're likely to get
+caught, and when you do get caught and fifteen tons comes down on
+you at ten miles an hour, somebody has got to be spry."
+
+"Is there much danger to whoever goes in the little boat?" asked
+Mr. Barstow.
+
+"Some, not much. It's the big boat that is likely to get caught and
+if the launch did get stuck and we couldn't sheer off it would only
+mean a quick jump and a little swim and--a busted launch."
+
+The _Irene_ started down the creek with her engine at half speed,
+the captain at the wheel and Dick standing in the bow of the motor
+boat with an oar at hand. Molly stood in the companionway at the
+captain's request because he feared her being swept overboard by
+overhanging branches. Mr. Barstow and Ned were stationed near the
+bow with long poles for fending off from the banks when necessary.
+The first trouble came from a wooded point on the starboard side,
+but Dick swung the power boat to port while Ned nearly went
+overboard as he threw his weight on the pole with which he was
+fending. The bow cleared the point, though the bowsprit swept the
+bushes and a low-growing branch tore out the screens on the
+starboard side. Before the point was passed Dick had the launch on
+the starboard side, working to turn the _Irene_ before she should
+strike the opposite bank. The efforts of all hands failed to make
+the turn in time and a stump by the bank caught in the jib-stay of
+the boat and held her fast. As the stern of the _Irene_ swung on the
+point she had nearly passed, she lay broad-side to the current,
+subject to all its power.
+
+"We're in for it now, if that jib-stay don't part pretty sudden,"
+said the captain.
+
+And before the words were out of his mouth the eye-bolt that held
+the stay broke short off and the _Irene's_ bow swung down the
+stream. The boat was not caught badly again, although her fore
+rigging on the port side was carried away and her sides somewhat
+scarred. The only accident that threatened was prevented by a
+precaution which Dick had taken. He had fastened his tow line to the
+stern of the launch with a knot that could be slipped and led the
+end of the line forward to where he stood by the wheel. It happened
+that when nearly through the creek it became needful to drag the bow
+of the _Irene_ far to port. Dick did this, but found himself in a
+pocket from which he could not escape and in position to be dragged
+stern first under the bow of the big boat. A quick jerk on the
+towing line, and the launch was safe behind the _Irene_. There was
+no more trouble for the big boat, which a minute later was headed
+down the broad but shallow river, at half speed, while Dick picked
+up the skiff with its alligator passenger who slowly opened one eye
+when spoken to. In a few minutes the _Irene_ was traveling at full
+speed toward Tussock Bay while her joyful passengers sat on the
+cabin roof and talked of perils which had passed.
+
+[Illustration: "SLOWLY LIFTING HIS HUGE HEAD OVER THE SIDE OF THE
+SKIFF"]
+
+From Tussock Bay to the coast, the _Irene_ sailed by way of a branch
+of Shark River. The deep water of this river near the Gulf of Mexico
+was roughened by a high wind and the rising and falling of the
+skiff seemed to excite the alligator which for hours had been as
+quiet as if he were asleep or dead. Slowly lifting his huge head
+over the side of the skiff he gave a lurch which strained the rope
+that held him and enough of the weight of the reptile was on the
+side of the skiff to capsize it. The captain, who first heard the
+struggle and saw the upset of the skiff, shouted to Ned, who was
+below oiling the engine, to shut off the power. Before the _Irene_
+lost her headway Ned was in the river with the alligator, resting on
+the bottom of the skiff which he rolled from over the reptile to
+save it from drowning. Instantly the freed jaws of the alligator
+opened wide in his face and the boy threw himself backward in the
+water and swam swiftly away from his dangerous companion. The rope
+had slipped from the head of the reptile, which now seized the
+gunwale of the boat and thrashed about until he had freed himself
+from the rope which bound him, after which he quickly disappeared.
+Half an hour later Ned was pouring his grievances into the ear of
+his chum, who was resting in his bunk from the fatigue of the
+morning.
+
+"Don't you think, Dick, it was bad enough to be scared to death by a
+whopping old alligator that I thought was going to bite me in two,
+without being scolded by everybody on board for recklessness? First
+there was Dad, and he uses pretty powerful language when he gets
+real earnest, then Captain Hull gave it to me like a Dutch uncle,
+and even Molly lectured me and squeezed out a few tears. I told Dad
+it wasn't half as bad as your jumping in the way of that panther,
+but he said that was altogether a different thing and had some sense
+in it."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+IN FLORIDA BAY
+
+
+After the _Irene_ had sailed twenty miles down the coast and was
+about opposite East Cape (Sable) Captain Hull asked for his orders.
+
+"Isn't Madeira Hammock on the coast, about thirty miles from here?"
+inquired Ned.
+
+"Yes, but you will have to go seventy to get there. You've got to go
+way round by the keys."
+
+"Isn't there water enough for the _Irene_ along the coast?"
+
+"Isn't enough to float the skiff. You can go about ten miles. After
+that there's an inch of water and I reckon a mile of blue, soft,
+sticky mud. I've been a few feet down in it and the farther I went
+the softer and stickier it got."
+
+"Suppose we go the ten miles you talk about what will we find?"
+
+"Tarpon, sharks, porpoises, lots of fish, birds and enough sawfish
+to make a picket fence of their saws all around the coast."
+
+"That's us, Captain," said Ned.
+
+And the _Irene's_ mud hook went to the bottom that night in eight
+feet of water off Joe Kemp's Key.
+
+In the shoal water over the broad banks which lay to the south and
+east of the _Irene_ the bayonet fins of many tarpon rose high above
+the surface as the fish beneath them pursued their prey. Often the
+two fins shown by a wandering shark swept swiftly across a bank, or
+three big reddish fins moving in a straight line slowly behind a
+great, swaying, four-foot weapon marked the course of a fifteen-foot
+sawfish. There was water to float the power boat in the channels
+between the banks, and families of porpoises or dolphins were always
+ready to serve as pilots and point the path through these
+labyrinthine waterways. A school of porpoises, rolling in the water
+and leaping in the air, passed the motor boat as if they had been
+telephoned for in the greatest haste. Two minutes later, a quarter
+of a mile away, a great splashing could be seen and huge bodies
+hurled in the air, which seemed to be filled with flying fragments.
+
+The power boat, with Molly at the wheel, started for the fray at its
+best speed and when it reached the battlefield its occupants saw a
+little band of porpoises in the midst of a great school of silver
+mullet. Each blow of a porpoise tail sent several mullet flying in
+the air, each blow that was struck was followed by a quick turn or
+leap of the agile animal for the victim which it caught before it
+fell. Ned and Dick were in the skiff which had been towed by the
+power boat, hoping to harpoon a sawfish or a shark. They had not
+before thought of the swift and wary porpoise. They called to the
+captain to cast them loose, and soon Ned was poling the skiff toward
+the busy porpoises while Dick stood in the bow of the skiff with his
+harpoon handy. Quick as a flash the porpoises separated and
+scattered in every direction and the boys followed several in vain.
+Then Molly took a hand in the game and sent the power boat at one
+after another of them until the captain called to her:
+
+"If you'll stick to one you'll run him down."
+
+Then Molly kept steadily after a single porpoise, until the animal
+came to understand that it was the chosen victim, and quickly put
+half a mile between it and its pursuer. In a few minutes the half
+mile between them had vanished and the creature made another frantic
+dash. After that it swam back and forth as if confused, and traveled
+in narrowing circles, wasting its strength, while the wheel of the
+pursuing boat rolled back and forth without ceasing as it followed
+the course of the animal or took short cuts to head it off. The boys
+came near with the skiff, but the worried quarry paid so little heed
+to them that soon Dick sunk his harpoon in the tail of the porpoise.
+All the life and strength of the creature seemed to come back and it
+threw a column of water in the air which nearly swamped the skiff,
+while Dick's hands were torn and blistered by the outgoing harpoon
+line, before way could be had on the skiff. The frantic creature
+tore back and forth, sometimes striking the skiff a powerful blow
+with its tremendous tail as it passed, sometimes towing it at high
+speed until Dick, who was not yet strong, was more tired than the
+porpoise. He changed places with Ned and the two were nearly worn
+out when the porpoise surrendered.
+
+They took the harpoon from the animal's tail and tried to drag the
+creature over the gunwale of the skiff, but found it too heavy for
+them. At length they lifted and dragged the porpoise up on the
+gunwale of the skiff which they pressed down until the water was
+beginning to flow over it. Half of the animal was now over the side
+of the skiff and the boys threw their weight backward expecting to
+roll the porpoise into the bottom of the craft. This would have
+happened if the porpoise had kept still, which it neglected to do.
+With a blow of its tail on the water the animal threw its own body
+forward and Ned and Dick found assistance instead of resistance as
+they pulled, and promptly went over backward into the water with the
+porpoise and the capsized skiff on top of them. When they got to the
+surface their captive had escaped, but the power boat was beside
+them with three highly edified occupants. After the skiff had been
+righted and bailed out and the floating poles, oar, hats, and line
+tub gathered in, Ned saw the fin and swaying tail of a shark cutting
+the surface of the water near them, and calling on Dick to take the
+harpoon, began to pole the skiff toward the tiger of the sea.
+
+"Look out," shouted the captain. "That's a shark. You'll lose your
+iron if you strike him."
+
+Th captain spoke too late, for the shark was struck and the skiff
+was towed at speed for a hundred feet by the angry fish, which then
+turned and rolled up on the taut line till it caught the rope in its
+mouth and bit it in two as easily as scissors snip thread.
+
+"Told you so," said the captain. "A shark always bites the line and
+often rolls up in it. An alligator always rolls up in it, but can't
+bite it. I've had an alligator roll up against a skiff and pretty
+near come aboard after I'd harpooned it. There's another harpoon on
+the _Irene_, and I'll fix it to-night with a few feet of wire for
+the next shark to bite on. I reckon it'll give him a surprise."
+
+Molly was in full command of the power boat for the day, and as
+harpooning was over, she ran it at her own sweet will. Sometimes the
+captain helped her with a hint when he saw her heading for water
+that was too shoal. The course she took was southerly and brought
+her near Man-o'-war Bush, from which rose hundreds of man-o'-war
+hawks, or frigate pelicans, the most graceful bird on the continent,
+excepting the fork-tailed kite. These birds soared high overhead,
+circling, rising and falling with scarcely a perceptible motion of
+their wings. From another key a flock of roseate spoon-bill, or pink
+curlew, flew at the approach of the boat, while young herons sat
+fearlessly on branches of trees or spread wings and stretched long
+legs as they fled in affright.
+
+That night Mr. Barstow called a council on the cabin top.
+
+"Boys, I would like to have you make Miami in four days from now, if
+you can manage it."
+
+"That's easy," said Ned. "We can make the trip in a day. That leaves
+us one day here and two at Madeira Hammock to find Dick's pet
+crocodile."
+
+"If you're going to Miami by way of Madeira Hammock," said the
+captain, "you'd better allow two days for the trip. You're likely to
+get some tangled up in that country."
+
+"Then we'll cut out our day here. We have had our share of fun out
+of this place. What is there in that bay to the east of us,
+Captain?"
+
+"There's a creek that leads to the Cuthbert Rookery, but it isn't
+the season for that. It's a hard trip anyway, through small
+salt-water lakes and little overgrown creeks where you have to drag
+your skiff most of the way. And you've got to carry all the water
+you drink and you won't find that a joke."
+
+"We have had all we want of that kind of country, Captain, so we'll
+hike out of here at daylight and get to Madeira Hammock quick as you
+can find the way."
+
+"I can find the way now, anyhow as far as Lignum Vitae Key, and if
+the tide doesn't bother me too much in the cut, maybe to Hammer
+Point. Beyond that I want daylight and then I ain't sure. Do you
+want to make a night run?"
+
+"Sure," said both the boys together.
+
+"If you will excuse me from any share in this night navigation,"
+said Mr. Barstow, "I think I will turn in. How is it with you,
+Molly?"
+
+"Oh, I'll stay up a while and help Captain Hull navigate the ship."
+
+The moon rose soon after the anchor was broken out, and its light
+reflected from the white canvas of the bellying sails and the tops
+of the white-capped waves, gave a dream-like beauty to the night.
+Captain Molly called to Engineer Dick:
+
+"Stop that noise in the engine room!" and Dick promptly shut off the
+gasoline from the motor. Captain Hull made no complaint of this
+mutinous interference with his authority, but said:
+
+"That's right, we don't need the engine now and I reckon we ain't
+going to need it to-night."
+
+The wind was fair and strong from the north, and every minute its
+sweep grew wider and the waves bigger as the _Irene_ drew from under
+the shelter of the cape. The captain and Ned stood by the wheel,
+while the girl and Dick sat on the front of the cabin in the
+moonlight, watching the white water that rose from under the bow of
+the clumsy craft, with each heavy blow that it struck upon the
+waves.
+
+[Illustration: "YOUNG HERONS SPREAD WINGS AND STRETCHED LONG LEGS AS
+THEY FLED"]
+
+As they sailed the wind grew stronger and at Horse-neck Shoals the
+crest of breaking waves covered the deck of the _Irene_ with foam.
+Following the swish of each heaving wave as it lifted and swept
+past the boat came a heavy jar as the craft struck in the soft mud
+beneath her and her headway was checked.
+
+"It's all right," said the captain, in answer to Ned's look of
+anxiety. "I expected her to touch, but she'll pull through."
+
+No one else was alarmed, for Mr. Barstow was asleep in his bunk
+below, while Molly and Dick were too busy watching the effect of the
+moonlight on the breaking waves and the distant keys to notice that
+anything unusual was happening. Soon the water became deeper, the
+waves ceased breaking and subsided, and the _Irene_ sailed smoothly
+on till she was hauled up in the wind to enter the cut in the bank
+near Lignum Vitae Key, through which an adverse tide was pouring.
+Dick was called from his post near the bow to start the motor, which
+was kept running until the boat had made her way through the channel
+between the white banks that showed clear under the moon as daylight
+could have made them. Then the motor was shut off and Dick returned
+to his post and resumed his study of moonlight effects as its rays
+fell on the palms of Lignum Vitae, the line of outer keys, the
+Matecumbies, and the jewel of an Indian Key, of which he told Molly
+the legend. At this Molly jumped up and said:
+
+"It's all too lovely for anything and Daddy has got to come on deck
+and see it."
+
+She went below and when she returned had Mr. Barstow in tow, to
+whom she pointed out the beauties of sea and sky, of clouds and
+light just as Dick had been doing to her. Then she went for Captain
+Hull, who turned the wheel over to Ned and came forward, where he
+answered the rapid fire of the girl's questions, about Shell,
+McGinty and other keys as they passed them and about the channel and
+cuts through which their course lay, until he assured her he had
+told all he knew and if she remembered it she was as good a pilot as
+he. But questions continued until, having passed Tavernier Creek and
+neared Hammer Point, the _Irene_ was anchored for the night.
+
+All hands were on deck when the rays of the next morning's sun first
+fell on the mirror-like water about them, but Ned spoke sadly as he
+said:
+
+"I've shipped as cook and I s'pose I've got to get breakfast, but I
+wish my assistant didn't waste so much of her time."
+
+"If you'd let me keep the cook I hired we'd have crawfish for
+breakfast," said Captain Hull.
+
+"Where would we get them?" inquired Ned.
+
+"Every one of these coral keys is built on crawfish and Snake Creek
+here is full of 'em."
+
+"Then after you've shown us a lot of crawfish and we've caught them
+we'll have breakfast."
+
+Captain Hull lashed two tarpon hooks to broomsticks, and getting in
+the skiff with Molly and the two boys, poled to the nearest key.
+Beneath the water the steep coral banks of the key were filled with
+deep holes from out of many of which long feelers projected. Pushing
+a hook into one of these holes the captain gave it a quick turn and
+brought out a squirming, squeaking imitation of a young lobster.
+Then he handed the hooks to the boys. Ned got overboard and began to
+haul out crawfish at the rate of two a minute. Dick was less
+successful, for Molly had promptly commandeered his hook and left
+him nothing to do but watch her when she tried to hook the
+shell-fish. They didn't get many fish and when Ned came along with a
+bunch of crawfish which he dropped in the skiff, he said:
+
+"Here, you kids, you aren't earning your salt. Just take my hook,
+Dick, and catch some crawfish. I'll help Molly do whatever she's
+doing."
+
+On the way to the _Irene_ Molly called out:
+
+"Oh, the beautiful, beautiful, bubble!"
+
+"Don't touch it," shouted Dick.
+
+But he was too late, for Molly had picked up a Portuguese man-o'-war
+and sat wringing her hands with the pain of its poison. For, while
+nothing in nature is more exquisite, few things are more virulent
+than this animated, opalescent, iridescent bubble with its long,
+delicate, purplish tentacles.
+
+Molly's hand pained her all that day and the next, while Dick's
+commiseration was boundless, but was kept in restraint by Ned, who
+frequently assured both of them that, although a surgical case, it
+was probably not quite hopeless. A run of two hours in directions
+that varied, but averaged northwest, brought the _Irene_ to Madeira
+Hammock, where the anchor was dropped.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+MADEIRA HAMMOCK AND--THE END
+
+[Illustration: "THEY SAW A CROCODILE SWIMMING UNDER WATER NEAR
+THEM"]
+
+Mr. Barstow wanted to explore Deer Key which was nearby and Ned took
+him there in the power boat. The captain took Molly and Dick out in
+the skiff to show them a crocodile and Dick stood in the bow with
+the harpoon while Molly sat amidship and the captain poled. Almost
+as they left the _Irene_ they saw a crocodile swimming under water
+near them, but failed to get another sight of him. They cruised
+vainly in open water, beside banks and in narrow channels. Finally
+while going through a narrow creek a wave rolling high ahead of the
+skiff showed that some big creature was fleeing before them. The
+next moment a four-foot weapon of a hand's breadth, armed with a
+double row of teeth, was lifted for a second above the surface and
+was followed by the three fins, tandem, that proved the presence of
+a sawfish. Dick fairly quivered with excitement as he held his
+harpoon at ready.
+
+"Captain," said he sharply, "will there be the least bit of danger
+to Miss Barstow if I strike that fish now?"
+
+"There'll be some, of course. If he turns round and comes back at
+us in this narrow creek the only safe place will be in the bottom of
+the boat."
+
+"Dick Williams, don't you stop for me. I'm not a bit afraid. If you
+don't harpoon that sawfish and give me his saw, I won't speak to you
+for a week," said the excited girl.
+
+"No use, Molly, I wouldn't do it if it meant that you'd never speak
+to me."
+
+"If Miss Barstow will wait on the bank for half an hour you can
+bring her the saw, all right," said the captain, who seemed anxious
+to oblige both of the passengers.
+
+"Put me ashore quick, then."
+
+The girl was soon standing on the bank and the chase was renewed. A
+hundred yards farther up the narrow stream the great sawfish was
+found swimming slowly across a bank where the water was shoal, with
+his two fins and tail showing in line above the water. As the
+harpoon pole was lifted and Dick's every muscle strained for the
+throw, the captain shouted:
+
+"Throw three feet ahead of that forward fin. That's where his back
+is."
+
+The harpoon struck the fish in the middle of his wide back and as
+the freed pole splashed in the water the sawfish made a mighty swirl
+and was off at express speed. The line was strong, the barb of the
+harpoon was under the tough leather of the creature's back, and the
+skiff seemed to fly through the water as Dick gave the line a turn
+around his hand and the captain fended the skiff from the banks when
+sharp turns were made by the flying fish as it followed the channels
+of the crooked creeks. Sometimes the stream broadened, often it
+narrowed; once the sawfish dashed through an overgrown waterway
+where Dick and the captain crouched to the gunwale to avoid the
+arching branches that swept over and tore at the sides of the skiff.
+There was half an hour of this work. Dick's hands were blistered and
+numb and his brain dizzy with the quick turns and changing courses
+of the fish, when suddenly he became panic-stricken and called to
+his companion:
+
+"Captain! Are you perfectly _sure_ you know where you are? _Sure_
+you can find Miss Barstow?"
+
+The captain laughed.
+
+"Find her? Why she's here within a hundred feet of you now."
+
+And, sure enough, the next turn in the creek showed the girl
+standing on the bank by the water's edge.
+
+"Can't I get aboard?" she called out as the skiff swept past, and
+Dick would have said "Yes," but the captain shook his head.
+
+"There's trouble ahead. That fish is just getting ready to fight."
+
+Before they had passed out of sight of the girl, the sawfish turned
+around and for the first time headed for the skiff.
+
+"Down, quick!" yelled the captain and both Dick and he crouched low
+in the skiff as a great broad sword, swung with all the power of the
+tremendous fish, swept over their heads. As the angry creature
+passed them, a second blow which fell upon the skiff and threatened
+to wreck it was echoed by a cry from the girl. The attack on the
+skiff was the last great effort of the fish, and though he still
+swam strongly he could be controlled. The captain ran the skiff on a
+shallow bank and helped Dick with the line until sixteen feet of
+fierceness lay stranded on the bank. As the sawfish is a species of
+shark, Dick had no hesitancy about killing it, but wanted Molly to
+first see his captive and have a look at her saw, before it left the
+place where it grew. The captain brought the girl, and then a rope
+was made fast to the saw of the fish and tied to a tree, after which
+the brute's brain was explored with an axe and the saw cut off as a
+trophy.
+
+[Illustration: "THE HARPOON STRUCK THE FISH IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS
+BROAD BACK"]
+
+"Better wake up," shouted the captain the next morning, before the
+boys were stirring. "There's a shark outside waiting for you, and
+I've wired your harpoon line."
+
+The boys omitted their ablutions that morning and must have hurried
+their devotions, for three minutes after they were called found them
+aboard the skiff which they drove toward a big fin and a swaying
+tail, which was cutting the water a hundred yards from the _Irene_.
+As they neared the shark, Dick took the harpoon pole and made ready
+with the harpoon, while Ned sculled quietly in the wake of the ugly
+fish. Twice the shark heard them and darted away, but on the third
+approach Dick drove the iron deep in the back of the brute. The
+shark lashed out with its tail, sending the water flying as the
+harpoon struck, and then made a straight-away dash for a hundred
+yards while the boys rode in triumph behind it. Then the maddened
+creature turned, and rolling up on the line, bit it savagely but
+vainly.
+
+Again and again the brute dashed away and again and again it turned,
+biting at the line and attacking the boat with its teeth. Dick held
+the skiff close to the shark, which lifted its head and seized the
+gunwale in its huge mouth, when Ned struck the furious creature a
+powerful blow on its nose with the axe. For a moment the brute
+seemed paralyzed, but soon returned to the attack, when the boy
+drove the point of the big gaff through the tough hide of the tiger
+of the sea.
+
+Ned held on to the handle of the gaff, although almost dragged
+overboard during the first wild struggles of his captive, and then
+hauled the head of the brute over the gunwale, where a few blows
+with the axe ended the trouble.
+
+When the boys got back to the _Irene_, Ned was happily surprised to
+find ready a dainty breakfast which his assistant had graciously
+prepared for all hands and which drew from him the unusual praise:
+
+"A girl on a cruise is a mighty nice thing--sometimes."
+
+The day was to be devoted to crocodile hunting and Dick went in the
+skiff with the captain, while Molly was put in command of the power
+boat with Ned as engineer and Mr. Barstow as passenger.
+
+Several crocodile caves were found, but none of the inhabitants were
+at home. One large crocodile showed itself for an instant, but the
+river was deep, the overhanging banks offered good hiding places,
+and the reptile escaped. It was after they had given the hunt up for
+the day and were on their way to the _Irene_ that Dick, who had
+stood faithfully at his post in the bow, with his harpoon ready,
+threw hastily at something he saw crawling on the bottom and found
+on the end of his line a squirming baby crocodile, scarcely four
+feet long. The harpoon had barely touched the side of the little
+reptile and the barb held by a thread-like bit of skin. When the boy
+saw how lightly the iron was held he dropped the line and grabbed
+the baby with both hands. His arms were scratched and his clothing
+torn by the needle-like teeth before he could tie the jaws of the
+creature, after which he took the baby crocodile in his arms and
+tucked it away in the bow of the skiff. Before he had time to tie
+the little reptile in its crib Ned shouted from the power boat:
+
+"There's one under that bank, a big fellow."
+
+The captain sculled the skiff slowly toward the crocodile, which was
+lying on the water, just under the bank. As they approached, the
+creature slowly sank beneath the surface of the water, which was
+shallow, and beneath it a bottom of mud in which the fleeing reptile
+had left his trail. The captain followed the trail by the
+furrow-like track of the tail, the spoor of the paws and the roiled
+water, until Dick got a shot with his harpoon. Then the crocodile
+towed the skiff into the deeper channels of the river, among logs
+and snags and under banks, sometimes rolling up on the line and
+biting at the skiff while Dick vainly tried to get a bight of the
+harpoon line around the creature's jaw. The reptile was too wary for
+him, until finally the captain threatened the crocodile with a pole,
+while Dick got a line around its jaws and took it in the skiff.
+There was so little room in the skiff that Dick sat on the back of
+his captive until they reached the _Irene_. If he had tried this
+with an alligator he would have gone overboard, _pronto_, but when a
+crocodile's jaws are tied he is gentler than most lambs.
+
+[Illustration: "SIXTEEN FEET OF FIERCENESS LAY STRANDED ON THE
+BANK"]
+
+As soon as Dick had his new pets safely on the _Irene_ he examined
+them carefully and then shouted to Ned:
+
+"This is my old crocodile, the very one we turned loose when we were
+here before. I'd know him in a thousand. Don't you remember the
+broken point to the tooth that stuck out through his upper jaw, on
+the right side, too? Why, Crocky, old boy, how are you? I'm mighty
+glad to see you again."
+
+"Don't you want to set them free to-morrow, Dick?" asked Mr.
+Barstow.
+
+"I don't, but I've got to."
+
+"Would you rather send them North to be educated?"
+
+"I surely would. I wish I could."
+
+"I think it can be managed. I know of a zoological collection where
+they will be very welcome. If you think they haven't been injured, I
+will ship both of them North from Miami."
+
+"They are all right. I know that. I made two bad throws and barely
+touched both of them. I don't believe you could find where either of
+them was hit, now."
+
+"Then North they go."
+
+The boys made a box for the little crocodile, gathered a lot of
+grass for his bed and stowed him away in the hold where he would be
+safe from the attentions of Tom. There was not enough lumber on
+board to make a box for the big crocodile and the brute was put
+overboard to pasture at the end of a hundred-foot line. As soon as
+the crocodile was overboard Dick drew it beside the boat and untied
+its jaws. At first it tried to get away, but soon gave it up and
+thereafter rose to the surface every few minutes and gazed gravely
+upon its new friends on the boat. When later the _Irene_ was ready
+to sail, Dick drew his pet up to the side of the boat and tied his
+jaws without remonstrance from the reptile. It took three of them to
+haul the creature aboard, where it was fastened to a ringbolt on
+deck for the first stage of its journey to the Zoo.
+
+[Illustration: "THEY HAULED THE HEAD OF THE BRUTE OVER THE SIDE OF
+THE BOAT"]
+
+"Captain Hull," said Ned, as the whole party were watching the stars
+from the cabin top and waiting for the moon to rise that night, "we
+have got back from the Madeira Hammock every thing we lost there, so
+we will start for Miami to-morrow."
+
+"Aye, aye, sir."
+
+"You know you said we might lose a day round here, and now we have
+got a day to spare."
+
+"You'll be lucky if you don't lose it. There's lots of chances
+between here and Miami, or between here and anywhere. There isn't
+six inches between the _Irene's_ bottom and the rocks this minute
+and we're going to stir the mud a dozen times to-morrow."
+
+"Supposing a storm comes while we are anchored so near the rocks?"
+
+"Anybody who supposes in this country won't ever do anything else."
+
+"Would we make anything by another night run?"
+
+"Make sure to pile up on a bank so high that you'd have time to
+homestead a farm before you got off."
+
+The _Irene_ stirred the mud a few times the next day, but passed
+through Blackwater, Barnes and Card sounds and all the cuts and
+channels to Biscayne Bay without trouble. There a high wind and a
+heavy sea held her back, so that it was dusk when the anchor was
+dropped just outside of the mouth of Miami River. During this, their
+last evening on the cabin roof of the _Irene_, Mr. Barstow said to
+Dick:
+
+"Do you feel perfectly well and strong again?"
+
+"Never felt so well before in my life and am getting my strength
+back fast."
+
+"Then vacation ends for you and Ned to-day. To-morrow morning you
+will take the train for the North, where you will have about two
+weeks to spend with your mother. I will wire her from Miami about
+our arrangement, which I am sure she will approve, and tell her when
+she may expect you. Very soon you will receive your instructions.
+You and Ned will be together, work the same, pay the same, and both
+of you have my perfect confidence that you will justify every hope I
+have of you."
+
+"Mr. Barstow, I haven't any words--"
+
+"Don't say anything, Dick, I understand it all, my boy. Just go
+ahead and make good, both for yourself and me."
+
+[Illustration: "HE TOOK THE BABY CROCODILE IN HIS ARMS"]
+
+In the morning Ned and the captain distinguished themselves by
+waking up a dealer, buying some lumber, hustling it aboard and
+having the two crocodiles boxed up for transportation North in time
+for the train of that day. How much of a feat that was requires a
+residence in South Florida to appreciate.
+
+The _Irene_ was run up the river to the railroad dock, where the
+crocodiles were put on the cars and the boys took their train for
+the North. When the good-byes were said, the captain carried Tom
+across the dock on his shoulder and Dick's last act before leaving
+was to formally present him to Molly.
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Dick in the Everglades, by A. W. Dimock
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13168 ***
diff --git a/13168-h/13168-h.htm b/13168-h/13168-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7b20baa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/13168-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,10035 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
+    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
+<head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type"
+          content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
+
+    <title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Dick In the Everglades,
+    by A.W. Dimock.</title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+    /*<![CDATA[*/
+
+    <!--
+    body                 {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;}
+    p                    {text-align: justify;}
+    blockquote           {text-align: justify;}
+    h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6    {text-align: center;}
+    h1 {margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em}
+    h2 {margin-top: 4em; margin-bottom: 2em}
+    h3 {margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em}
+
+    pre                  {font-size: 0.7em;}
+
+    hr                   {text-align: center; width: 50%;}
+    html>body hr         {margin-right: 25%; margin-left: 25%; width: 50%;}
+    hr.full              {width: 100%;}
+    html>body hr.full    {margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 0%; width: 100%;}
+    hr.short             {text-align: center; width: 20%;}
+    html>body hr.short   {margin-right: 40%; margin-left: 40%; width: 20%;}
+    li                   {margin-top: 0.5em; margin-left: 5%; list-style: upper-roman;
+                        font-size: 0.9em;}
+    .center {text-align: center;}
+    .note {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;}
+
+    span.pagenum {position: absolute; left: 1%; right: 91%; font-size: 8pt;}
+
+    .figure, .figcenter
+    {padding: 1em; margin: 0; text-align: center;}
+    .figure img, .figcenter img
+                       {border: none;}
+    .figcenter           {margin: auto;}
+
+    .inline {border: none; vertical-align: middle;}
+
+    .illustrations {margin: 0.5em 5%; font-size: 0.9em;}
+
+    p.author {text-align: right; margin-right: 5%;}
+
+    a:link {color: blue; text-decoration: none;}
+    link {color: blue; text-decoration: none;}
+    a:visited {color: blue; text-decoration: none;}
+    a:hover {color: red;}
+    -->
+    /*]]>*/
+    </style>
+</head>
+
+<body>
+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13168 ***</div>
+
+    <h1>Dick</h1>
+
+    <h1>In the Everglades</h1>
+
+    <h4>BY</h4>
+
+    <h2>A.W. DIMOCK</h2>
+
+    <h4>Author of "Florida Enchantments"</h4><br />
+
+    <h4>WITH THIRTY-TWO HALF-TONE ILLUSTRATIONS<br />
+    FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY<br />
+    J.A. DIMOCK</h4>
+
+    <div class="figcenter">
+        <img width="300"
+             src="images/page_dec.png"
+             alt="fishing reel" />
+    </div>
+
+    <h4>NEW YORK</h4>
+
+    <h4>FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY<br />
+    PUBLISHERS</h4>
+
+    <h4>COPYRIGHT, 1909.</h4>
+    <hr />
+
+    <div class="figcenter">
+        <a href="images/note.png"
+             name="fig2"
+             id="fig2"><img width="403"
+             src="images/note.png"
+             alt="author's handwritten note." /></a>
+    </div>
+    <hr />
+
+    <h2>PREFACE</h2>
+
+    <p>Dick in the Everglades is a true story. All that imagination
+    had to do with it was to find names for the boys and arrange a
+    sequence of events. Other characters, white and Indian, appear
+    under names similar to, or identical with their own. Any old
+    alligator hunter, familiar with the swamps and the Ten Thousand
+    Islands, can follow the course of the explorers from the text
+    of the story. It would be possible for two fearless boys,
+    imbued with a love of Nature and the wilderness, to repeat,
+    incident by incident, the feats of the explorers in the
+    identical places mentioned in the story.</p>
+
+    <p>Many of the stories are understatements, seldom is one
+    exaggerated. I have been asked if it were possible for a boy to
+    handle a manatee in the water as one of the boys was
+    represented as doing. I have done it myself three times with
+    manatees three times the size of these in the story. In the
+    story the manatees escaped. Two of those which I captured were
+    sent to the New York Aquarium, where one of them lived for
+    twenty months. The crocodiles which the boys sent to the
+    Zoological Park may be seen to-day, alive and well in the
+    reptile house. The frequent swamping of canoes and skiffs by
+    porpoises, or dolphins, tarpon and manatees are all experiences
+    of my own.</p>
+
+    <p>Aside from the Government charts which give the coast line
+    only, the existing maps of the scene of the story are worse
+    than useless. In them a hundred square miles are given to Ponce
+    de Leon Bay, which doesn't exist, unless the little depression
+    in the coast which is called Shark River Bight is accounted a
+    bay. Rivers are omitted; one with a mouth fifty feet wide is
+    represented as a mile broad. A little stream four miles long is
+    sent wandering over a hundred and forty miles of imaginary
+    territory. I have sailed and paddled for days at a time over
+    the watercourses of South Florida, with a compass before me and
+    a pad at hand on which every change of course was noted and
+    distances estimated, and although no attempt at accurate
+    charting has ever been made, I am quite sure that none of the
+    natural features or products of the country traversed by the
+    young explorers have been misrepresented in the book.</p>
+
+    <p>The pictures are from photographs taken on the scene of the
+    incidents they illustrate. They show more conclusively than can
+    any words of mine, how beautiful is the region traversed by the
+    boy explorers and what interesting and exciting adventures they
+    enjoyed.</p>
+    <hr />
+
+    <h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+    <ol>
+        <li>THE CHUMS <a href="#page1">1</a></li>
+
+        <li>DICK GOES TO SEA <a href="#page15">15</a></li>
+
+        <li>LIFE ON A SPONGER <a href="#page27">27</a></li>
+
+        <li>CAUGHT IN A WATERSPOUT <a href="#page38">38</a></li>
+
+        <li>OUTFITTING FOR THE HUNT <a href="#page51">51</a></li>
+
+        <li>DICK'S HUNT FOR HIS CHUM <a href="#page61">61</a></li>
+
+        <li>THE MEETING IN THE GLADES <a href="#page76">76</a></li>
+
+        <li>OLD DREAMS REALIZED <a href="#page93">93</a></li>
+
+        <li>THE CAPTURE OF THE MANATEE
+        <a href="#page108">108</a></li>
+
+        <li>HARPOONING FROM A CANOE <a href="#page123">123</a></li>
+
+        <li>GHOSTS AND ALLIGATORS <a href="#page129">129</a></li>
+
+        <li>HUNTING IN HARNEY'S RIVER
+        <a href="#page136">136</a></li>
+
+        <li>EDUCATING AN ALLIGATOR <a href="#page150">150</a></li>
+
+        <li>ENCOUNTER WITH OUTLAWS <a href="#page157">157</a></li>
+
+        <li>DICK AND THE BEAR <a href="#page165">165</a></li>
+
+        <li>IN THE CROCODILE COUNTRY
+        <a href="#page171">171</a></li>
+
+        <li>AMONG THE SEMINOLES <a href="#page183">183</a></li>
+
+        <li>DICK'S WILDCAT AND OTHER WILD THINGS
+        <a href="#page195">195</a></li>
+
+        <li>A PRAIRIE ON FIRE <a href="#page209">209</a></li>
+
+        <li>DICK'S FIGHT WITH A PANTHER
+        <a href="#page219">219</a></li>
+
+        <li>CONVALESCENCE AND CATASTROPHE
+        <a href="#page234">234</a></li>
+
+        <li>THE RESCUE <a href="#page245">245</a></li>
+
+        <li>MOLLY AND THE MANATEE <a href="#page258">258</a></li>
+
+        <li>TO THE GLADES IN THE "IRENE"
+        <a href="#page271">271</a></li>
+
+        <li>IN FLORIDA BAY <a href="#page286">286</a></li>
+
+        <li>MADEIRA HAMMOCK AND--THE END
+        <a href="#page297">297</a></li>
+    </ol>
+    <hr />
+
+    <h3>ILLUSTRATIONS</h3>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig3">MAP SHOWING DICK'S
+    CRUISE IN A CANOE</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig30">"DICK HUNTED ALL THE
+    TURTLES HE SAW"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig46">"A SILVERY, TWISTING
+    BODY SHOT TEN FEET IN THE AIR"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig76">"THE EVERGLADES AT
+    LAST"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig82">"WE'VE GOTTER HAVE
+    ONE OF THEM YOUNG TURKS IF IT TAKES ALL NIGHT"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig98">"THE SEMINOLE WAS
+    STANDING IN HIS CANOE LOOKING FIXEDLY AT US"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig112">"HE FOUND DICK
+    STANDING IN WATER SHOULDER DEEP, HANGING ON TO THE FLIPPER OF
+    THE MANATEE"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig124">"THE STRICKEN TARPON
+    LEAPED SIX FEET IN THE AIR"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig126">"THE TARPON BEGAN A
+    SERIES OF LEAPS"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig130">"GROUPS OF TALL
+    PALMETTOS, OR MAGNIFICENT TALL PALMS"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig134">"HE HELD THE JAWS OF
+    THE 'GATOR SHUT, WHILE DICK SEIZED THE HIND LEGS OF THE
+    REPTILE"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig146">"THE TARPON LEAPED
+    AGAINST NED WITH FURY"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig152">"OUT CAME THE
+    REPTILE'S HEAD FROM THE CAVE"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig156">"SEE THE BABY 'GATOR
+    SIT UP, NED!"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig193">"THERE GOES YOUR
+    PET. THAT'S THE LAST OF HIM"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig200">"A FEW OF THE
+    HOMELESS BEES LIT ON THE COMB"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig210">"ALL BEYOND THE DARK
+    MEADOW WAS A LIVING MASS"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig216">"THE BARB CAUGHT IN
+    THE REPTILE'S LOWER JAW"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig226">"THE COON SCRAMBLED
+    TO THE TOP OF A LITTLE TREE"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig232">"HE SAW THE GENTLY
+    SWAYING HEAD AND THE LIGHTNING FLAY OF THE FORKED
+    TONGUE"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig234">"NED FOUND A GOOD
+    CAMPING SITE MARKED BY A FREAK PALMETTO"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig236">"THE LYNX SPRANG
+    INTO THE CANOE AND SEIZED ONE OF THE FISH"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig238">"PORPOISES ROLLED
+    THEIR BACKS OUT OF THE WATER"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig242">"THE HARD, POINTED
+    HEAD OF THE BIG TARPON TORE THROUGH THE BOTTOM OF THE FRAGILE
+    CANOE"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig260">"THE INDIGNANT BIRD
+    PUNCHED HOLES THROUGH HIS HAT"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig264">"THE LIGHT FROM THE
+    BULL'S EYE SHOWED THE HEAD AND BODY OF THE REPTILE"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig284">"SLOWLY LIFTING HIS
+    HUGE HEAD OVER THE SIDE OF THE SKIFF"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig292">"YOUNG HERONS SPREAD
+    WINGS AND STRETCHED LONG LEGS AS THEY FLED"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig298">"THEY SAW A
+    CROCODILE SWIMMING UNDER WATER NEAR THEM"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig300">"THE HARPOON STRUCK
+    THE FISH IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS BROAD BACK"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig302">"SIXTEEN FEET OF
+    FIERCENESS LAY STRANDED ON THE BANK"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig304">"THEY HAULED THE
+    HEAD OF THE BRUTE OVER THE SIDE OF THE BOAT"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig306">"HE TOOK THE BABY
+    CROCODILE IN HIS ARMS"</a></p>
+    <hr />
+
+    <h1>DICK IN THE EVERGLADES</h1>
+
+    <div class="figcenter">
+        <a href="images/map.png"
+             name="fig3"
+             id="fig3"><img width="381"
+             src="images/map.png"
+             alt="MAP SHOWING DICK'S CRUISE IN A CANOE" /></a>
+    </div>
+
+    <h1>DICK IN THE
+    EVERGLADES</h1><span class="pagenum"><a name="page1"
+       id="page1"></a>[pg 1]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER I</h3>
+
+    <h3>THE CHUMS</h3>
+
+    <p>"Come in!"</p>
+
+    <p>The doctor's voice had a note of sternness which was not
+    lost on the two boys waiting outside his study door. The taller
+    of the two, Ned Barstow, turned the handle and stepped into the
+    study, followed immediately by Dick Williams. The doctor,
+    sitting behind his desk, looked decidedly uncompromising as he
+    said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Now, Barstow and Williams, you were absent from your room
+    last night. Where were you?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Camping in Farmer Field's woods, sir," replied Ned
+    Barstow.</p>
+
+    <p>"How often has this happened before?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Twice, sir."</p>
+
+    <p>"Was any one else with you?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Only last night, sir. Another boy was with us then," said
+    Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"Who was he?" <span class="pagenum"><a name="page2"
+       id="page2"></a>[pg 2]</span> "I can't tell you, sir."</p>
+
+    <p>"Williams, you may go now. I will see you later."</p>
+
+    <p>After the door had closed on Williams, the doctor turned
+    again to Barstow, and said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Barstow, I have always felt that I could rely upon your
+    influence with the younger boys being for good. Now, I find you
+    aiding to upset the whole discipline of the school by this
+    camping affair. I hope there has been nothing worse. You know I
+    never insist on tale-bearing regarding mere boyish escapades,
+    but I would like to know if there was any other reason for your
+    refusing to give up your companion's name."</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, sir, there was. We had a chicken for supper, that was
+    taken from Farmer Field's poultry-house."</p>
+
+    <p>"Did you or Williams steal that chicken, Barstow?"</p>
+
+    <p>"No, sir, but we knew about it and helped eat it, and are
+    just as much to blame as the boy who took it."</p>
+
+    <p>"And, now, you mean to protect the thief?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, you see, Doctor, a good many fellows don't look at
+    hooking apples, or nuts, or chickens as real stealing."</p>
+
+    <p>"What do you think about it?" asked the doctor.</p>
+
+    <p>"I think it was wrong and I am very sorry it happened. It
+    won't occur again."</p>
+
+    <p>"I have no fear that it will. But it is too serious
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page3"
+       id="page3"></a>[pg 3]</span> an offence to be lightly passed
+       over. In the first place you and Williams must see Farmer
+       Field, tell him what you have done and pay for the chicken
+       that was&mdash;taken. After that I will talk with you. Now
+       send Williams to me."</p>
+
+    <p>When Dick Williams came in the doctor began:</p>
+
+    <p>"Williams, how much do you love your mother?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Why, more than anyone else in the world, sir."</p>
+
+    <p>"She is keeping you here at considerable expense. Don't you
+    think you owe it to her to pay more attention to your
+    studies?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, Doctor, and I am going to do better hereafter."</p>
+
+    <p>"How will your mother feel when she hears of this
+    chicken-stealing episode?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh! Doctor; she mustn't hear of it that way. We didn't
+    think of it as stealing last night, but this morning Ned and I
+    talked about it and we are going to see Farmer Field and tell
+    him what we did and pay for the chicken."</p>
+
+    <p>"Do you mean, Dick," and the good doctor's voice shook a
+    little as he asked the question, "that you and Ned decided to
+    tell Farmer Field about the taking of his chicken, before you
+    knew that I had heard of your camping out?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Why, yes, sir. I supposed Ned had told you."</p>
+
+    <p>"Your friend Ned is rather a curious boy, but when you are
+    in doubt about the right and wrong of anything, you might do
+    worse than ask his
+    advice."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page4"
+       id="page4"></a>[pg 4]</span>
+
+    <p>"Oh! I get enough of that without asking for it," said
+    Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>And the doctor laughed, but he soon looked pretty serious
+    again, and said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Dick, I think no one will tell your mother and she need
+    never know, but I hope you will tell her all about it of your
+    own accord."</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure!" said Dick, "I couldn't keep that or anythink else
+    away from Mumsey for five minutes after I saw her."</p>
+
+    <p>There was a significant pause, during which the doctor
+    stroked his chin meditatively before asking:</p>
+
+    <p>"Now, what in the world made you two boys go on that camping
+    escapade? I want you to tell me that, Dick."</p>
+
+    <p>The boy hesitated a moment and then said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Why, I really don't know, Doctor&mdash;we just wanted to.
+    You see, there are so many things to see and listen to at night
+    that way. Birds and animals, I mean. Ned and I are going to be
+    explorers some day, you know."</p>
+
+    <p>"Hum!" said the doctor.</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, that will do for the present, Williams. I hope you
+    understand that you are escaping serious trouble very easily
+    and that you mean to be as good as you can for the rest of the
+    time you are at the school."</p>
+
+    <p>Fanner Field received Ned and Dick with an air of gruffness
+    that was belied by twinkling blue eyes
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page5"
+       id="page5"></a>[pg 5]</span> and, when Ned had finished
+       telling his story and offered to pay for the chicken,
+       said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Did you take that chicken out of my poultry-house?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Not exactly, but it's the same thing. We knew about it and
+    helped eat it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Was it tender?" asked the farmer.</p>
+
+    <p>"No, sir, it was the toughest thing I ever put in my
+    mouth."</p>
+
+    <p>"I thought so. Why, that rooster was a regular antique. He
+    must have been a hundred years old. Next time you want a
+    chicken for a late supper, better let me choose it for you. Who
+    helped you eat that rooster?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Please don't ask us that. We'll tell you anything about
+    ourselves, but we can't give him away."</p>
+
+    <p>"Wouldn't think much of you if you did. No need of it
+    anyhow. I know who it was."</p>
+
+    <p>"He must have told you then, for we haven't told
+    anybody."</p>
+
+    <p>"Do you remember that while you were cooking that rooster
+    out in my woods, Steve Daly, your companion, said he heard
+    somebody in the bushes and you said it was only a dog?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, I remember it. I did say that."</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, I was that dog!"</p>
+
+    <p>"And you never told on us?" asked Dick. "Then you've been
+    mighty kind and I'm ashamed to look you in the face."</p>
+
+    <p>"Never be ashamed to look anyone in the face,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page6"
+       id="page6"></a>[pg 6]</span> my boy. It isn't good to take
+       even a little thing that doesn't belong to you, but that
+       won't happen again to you. But weren't you playing truant
+       when you had that tough supper in my woods? Doesn't your
+       conscience trouble you at all about that?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Not a bit," said Dick; "that wasn't mean."</p>
+
+    <p>It was fortunate for Dick's peace of mind that his
+    conscience wasn't troubled by mischief, for he was never out of
+    it and was at the root of about all the purely mischievous
+    happenings at the school.</p>
+
+    <p>Even the lesson of the camping incident and the doctor's
+    kindly talk wore off in a fortnight. Yet he was popular with
+    teachers as well as pupils. His head was crowned with a mass of
+    sandy hair and his impertinent face plastered with freckles.
+    The boy was quick and full of grace as a wildcat and so well
+    built and lithe that he was a terror on the football team.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick was often too busy to attend to his studies and fell
+    behind in his lessons, until the good doctor sent for him and
+    gave him an earnest but understanding talk which sent the boy
+    back to his books, filled with remorse and determined to get to
+    the head of his class in a hurry. One of these resolves was
+    usually effective for about a week. After which Dick generally
+    suffered a severe relapse.</p>
+
+    <p>During his last winter at school, he frequently took long
+    tramps in the woods in the hours when he should have been at
+    his books, and was finally taken
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page7"
+       id="page7"></a>[pg 7]</span> to task by his chum for the bad
+       example he was setting the younger boys by playing
+       truant.</p>
+
+    <p>"But, Ned," said Dick, "I just can't keep away from the
+    woods, and they do me good, I know they do. I am a whole lot
+    better every way after a good long tramp by myself through the
+    thickest woods I can find. I'd like to camp out in them
+    to-night and I believe I will."</p>
+
+    <p>"That's all right, Dick. I'll camp with you; only we've got
+    to have Doc's permission. He trusts us a lot, and we can't go
+    back on him."</p>
+
+    <p>"Nice chance we've got of getting that. Maybe he'd camp with
+    us!" said Dick satirically.</p>
+
+    <p>"Shouldn't wonder if he would. You don't understand Doc. Did
+    you ever know him to refuse a fellow anything he squarely asked
+    for, unless he simply had to do it? Come along."</p>
+
+    <p>And the boys walked together to the study.</p>
+
+    <p>"Doctor," said Ned, "Dick and I want to camp out to-night in
+    Farmer Field's woods, if you have no objection."</p>
+
+    <p>"Want to camp out? Well, so do I, only I am afraid I might
+    be needed here. Do you know how to camp? What do you expect to
+    take with you and how will you keep warm?"</p>
+
+    <p>"We thought of taking a hatchet, a blanket for each of us
+    and some potatoes to roast. Then we will make a bed of hemlock
+    boughs, build a fire near it and roll up in our blankets."</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, you may go, and I will help out your
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page8"
+       id="page8"></a>[pg 8]</span> commissariat with a loaf of
+       bread and a chicken. But be sure you have plenty of fuel
+       ready before dark. It will be a cold night and you will have
+       to replenish your fire three or four times before
+       morning."</p>
+
+    <p>"Thank you, Doctor. You don't know how much obliged we are
+    to you for your kindness."</p>
+
+    <p>"And you don't know how much trouble I am in for, when the
+    rest of the boys hear of this escapade of yours."</p>
+
+    <p>But after the study door closed the doctor smiled quietly to
+    himself and said under his breath:</p>
+
+    <p>"Just like myself at their age&mdash;have the woods
+    instinct."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned and Dick slept little that night. There was about a foot
+    of snow on the ground and they scraped bare a place for their
+    camp-fire beside a big stump and gathered enough fuel from
+    windfalls for the night. Then they rolled a log beside the fire
+    for a seat and built a soft bed with fragrant branches of
+    hemlock and spruce. They roasted the chicken over a thick bed
+    of glowing coals and baked potatoes in the ashes of the fire.
+    The chicken was carved with their pocket knives and they got
+    along without forks or plates. By using bark gathered from a
+    birch and softening it over their fire they made cups with
+    which they brought water from a nearby brook. When supper was
+    finished the boys rolled up in their blankets and lying on the
+    bed they had built on the snow, inhaled its fragrance as they
+    watched the eddying smoke of their camp-fire and the stars that
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page9"
+       id="page9"></a>[pg 9]</span> shone through the spreading
+       branches above them and listened to the voices of the night,
+       from the distant cry of an owl to the whish of falling snow,
+       shaken from evergreen boughs by the breeze. They had visions
+       of camps, scattered from the equator to the poles, some of
+       which were destined to be realized. Ned formed a plan that
+       night, of which he wrote to his father, but of which he said
+       nothing at the time to his chum.</p>
+
+    <p>But as Dick stood beside Ned in their last hour at
+    Belleville, and the sadness of parting was in the face and eyes
+    from which fun usually bubbled, Ned said:</p>
+
+    <p>"My father owns a tract of land in the Big Cypress Swamp of
+    Florida. There is a lot of fine timber on it and he intends to
+    set up a lumber mill in the swamp and perhaps build a railroad
+    from Fort Myers to some part of it. A surveyor with a guide is
+    going into the swamp this fall to locate the best timber and
+    I'm going with them. You know how we have planned to do real
+    camping and exploring together. Well, here's our chance. I've
+    written to Dad and he invites you to go with me. We can start
+    any time. When can you be ready, Dick?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Ned, I'd give all I have in the world to go with you, but I
+    can't&mdash;I can't. Mother has spent more than she could
+    afford to keep me at this school and sometimes I'm ashamed when
+    I think how I've wasted my time. Now I don't mean to be an
+    expense to her or anyone else hereafter. I won't take
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page10"
+       id="page10"></a>[pg 10]</span> a penny that I don't earn,
+       from anybody, and I won't go on any trip, even with you,
+       until I can pay my own way, every cent of it."</p>
+
+    <p>"But, Dick, your companionship and the work you can do will
+    be worth all it costs, twice over, to me and to Dad and he will
+    feel just that way about it."</p>
+
+    <p>"It's like you, Ned, to say all that, but it's no use and
+    you know it. You've been mighty good to me ever since I came to
+    this school and I'm going to keep your good opinion by not
+    accepting your offer to go with you now. Some time, when I can
+    keep up my end, I'll be with you bigger than an Injun. If you
+    ever find strange footprints down in those Everglades, better
+    foller 'em up. They'll likely be mine. Good-bye, Ned."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys clasped hands and as Dick walked away tears rolled
+    down his freckled cheeks.</p>
+
+    <p>Four months after the parting of the two friends, at
+    Belleville, Dick received a letter postmarked "Immokalee,
+    Florida," which was headed:</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p class="author">Big Cypress Swamp,<br />
+        20 miles from anywhere,<br />
+        October 10th.</p>
+
+        <p>DEAR CHUM:</p>
+
+        <p>Here I am! on a prairie inside the Big Cypress Swamp,
+        about which we used to talk and where we planned to camp
+        some day. Well, it's bigger than anything we ever dreamed
+        of and every foot of it is alive. Sometimes I sleep in a
+        tent, but more often <span class="pagenum"><a name="page11"
+           id="page11"></a>[pg 11]</span> under the stars. Last
+           night I heard the scream of a panther, so near that it
+           made me shiver, and the next minute a frog dropped from
+           the branch of a tree over my head and fell on my face. I
+           must have screamed louder than the panther, for I scared
+           Chris Meyer, the surveyor, who is camping with me,
+           pretty badly. The guide we expected didn't come, so we
+           are guiding for ourselves. I hope Chris knows where we
+           are, for I am sure I don't. We measure the big cypress
+           trees with a tape line and Chris calculates the number
+           of feet of lumber in each tree. Then we estimate the
+           trees in an acre and guess at the number of acres. At
+           least that's the way the business looks to me. Sometimes
+           the walking is easy, but to-day we had to wade through
+           mud waist-deep and the moccasins were pretty thick. I
+           watched out for the ugly things and it kept me on the
+           jump, but Chris marched straight ahead and paid no
+           attention to them, excepting once when a big
+           cotton-mouth that was coiled on top of a stump struck at
+           him. Then he fell over backward into the mud, and I had
+           a good laugh at him&mdash;afterwards. Chris killed that
+           snake. It was a short, thick snake and about as pretty
+           as a Bologna sausage, but its mouth opened five inches
+           and its long, needle-like fangs were dripping with
+           venom. I am hungry all the time and enjoy our bill of
+           fare very much, although it is only bacon, grits and
+           coffee, morning, noon and night. We are traveling light,
+           for we carry all our baggage on our backs. We see deer
+           and wild turkey <span class="pagenum"><a name="page12"
+           id="page12"></a>[pg 12]</span> every day and it's pretty
+           hard to keep my hands off my rifle, but I promised Dad
+           not to shoot anything out of season. In three weeks the
+           law will be off and then it will be bad for the first
+           buck I meet. Chris says it's good for me to see a lot of
+           deer before I shoot at any. He says I won't be so likely
+           to miss or only wound them when I really hunt them. I
+           guess he's about right, for when I first saw a
+           deer&mdash;it was a big buck and only twenty yards
+           away&mdash;I had a regular attack of buck ague and I
+           couldn't have hit the side of a house even if I'd been
+           inside it. Now I can look at one, point a stick at him
+           and say <i>bang</i>, with my nerves just as quiet as if
+           it were a cow. I have seen a few bears, but they are
+           very shy. We'll turn loose on them, too, when we get
+           round to hunting, but in the mean time we are sticking
+           to our timber job for all there is in it.</p>
+
+        <p>An old alligator hunter is camping beside us to-night.
+        He is bound for Boat Landing, with a lot of alligator hides
+        and otter skins, and I am finishing up this letter to send
+        by him. Just as soon as this surveying business is over I
+        am going to have a glorious hunt. If only you were here we
+        would start out by our lonesomes and have all the
+        adventures we ever talked about. Probably Chris will go
+        with me. I haven't quite the pluck to try it alone, as I
+        know you would do in my place. I may brace up to it,
+        though. Dad has given me permission to do just as I please.
+        He says he trusts me not to be foolish or foolhardy and to
+        keep him informed of my plans. Isn't he a
+        <span class="pagenum"><a name="page13"
+           id="page13"></a>[pg 13]</span> good Dad? Come if you
+           can. Come when you can.</p>
+
+        <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Always and forever your
+        chum,</p>
+
+        <p class="author"
+           style="margin-top:-1.5em">NED.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>Dick's mother read Ned's letter and was quiet and sad all
+    the rest of the day. After Dick had gone to bed she went into
+    his room, sat down on the bed beside him, kissed him and
+    said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Dicky boy, mother wants you to take a good, long vacation.
+    You've worked hard and been a great comfort to her since you
+    left school and now she's going to send you to your chum Ned,
+    down in Florida where she knows your heart is. Now&mdash;don't
+    speak yet&mdash;mother knows what you want to say. dear, but
+    she can perfectly well afford to send you and you will hurt her
+    feelings if you don't let her."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick put his arms around his mothers' neck and as soon as he
+    could speak, half sobbed out:</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, Mumsey, I can't take your money. You've got so
+    little."</p>
+
+    <p>"But mother wants you to, so much."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick held his mother's face close to his own for a minute
+    and then said, very slowly:</p>
+
+    <p>"Mumsey, I'll go&mdash;and it's really and truly because you
+    want me to&mdash;but I won't take any of your money. Hush, now!
+    Don't you say a word, or I'll&mdash;disown you. I've got a
+    ten-dollar bill of my own and I'll keep that in my pocket just
+    so you won't worry for fear I'm hungry; and I will bet you ten
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page14"
+       id="page14"></a>[pg 14]</span> dollars I'll bring that same
+       bill back to you and I won't go hungry one day either."</p>
+
+    <p>"But, Dick&mdash;"</p>
+
+    <p>"Not one word, Mumsey, except to say you'll take that bet. I
+    can get a ride to New York on a boat, any day. Then I'll go to
+    the Mallory Line and work my way to Key West on one of their
+    boats; and from Key West I can find a fishing boat that will
+    land me on the west coast of Florida somewhere within a hundred
+    miles of Ned, and I'd walk that far just for the fun of
+    surprising him."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page15"
+       id="page15"></a>[pg 15]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER II</h3>
+
+    <h3>DICK GOES TO SEA</h3>
+
+    <p>Three days after Dick's talk with his mother, he boarded a
+    Key West steamer just as it was leaving its New York pier. He
+    sat on the deck and watched busy ferry-boats in the river,
+    fussy tugs and chug-chugging launches in the harbor, and the
+    white-winged yachts and great ocean steamers in the lower bay.
+    He looked back from the Narrows upon the receding city, to the
+    east upon Coney Island with its pleasure palaces, and to the
+    southwest upon the great curve of Sandy Hook. Every step upon
+    the deck near him brought his heart into his mouth in dread of
+    what he knew he had to face. When the steamer was opposite Long
+    Branch and there was small chance that he could be sent back,
+    he inquired for the captain, whom he found talking to some
+    young girls among the passengers. This somewhat reassured
+    Billy, for he felt that the captain wouldn't eat him up in the
+    presence of the young ladies, and he stood waiting with his cap
+    in his hand until the captain spoke to him.</p>
+
+    <p>"Do you want to see me, my
+    boy?"</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page16"
+       id="page16"></a>[pg 16]</span>
+
+    <p>"If you are Captain Anderson, I do, sir."</p>
+
+    <p>"All right, go ahead."</p>
+
+    <p>"I want you to set me to work, sir."</p>
+
+    <p>"Why should I set you to work? Do you belong on the
+    boat?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Not yet, but you see it's this way. I had to get to Key
+    West and I thought I'd work my passage with you."</p>
+
+    <p>"Why didn't you ask me before we left the dock?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Because I was afraid you wouldn't take me, if you could
+    help it, and I had to go."</p>
+
+    <p>"You cheeky little devil, I believe I'll chuck you
+    overboard."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh!" said a brown-eyed girl who stood beside the captain,
+    "you mustn't do that!"</p>
+
+    <p>The captain laughed and said to Dick:</p>
+
+    <p>"I hope you understand that you owe your life to this young
+    lady. Now, go and report yourself to the cook and tell him to
+    put you on the worst job he's got."</p>
+
+    <p>"Thank you very much, Captain, but couldn't you make it the
+    engineer instead of the cook? I'd rather work than wash
+    dishes."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'd like to oblige so modest a boy. Report to the chief
+    engineer, give him my compliments and tell him you are to have
+    the hottest berth on the boat. He'll probably set you to
+    shoveling coal."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick thanked him again; then looking into the face of the
+    girl, he said:</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page17"
+       id="page17"></a>[pg 17]</span>
+
+    <p>"Thank you, Miss Brown-Eyes, for saving my life," and,
+    bowing low, turned away.</p>
+
+    <p>"Captain, couldn't you see that he was a gentleman? What
+    made you give him such hard work?" asked the girl.</p>
+
+    <p>"Because he was such a cheeky gentleman that if I let him
+    stay on deck he would take command of the boat by to-morrow and
+    all you young ladies who helped him would be guilty of mutiny
+    and would have to be executed."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick was put to work in the engine-room, oiling the
+    machinery. Some of the work was easy and safe, some of it was
+    easy but not safe. Oil cups had to be filled as they flew back
+    and forth, bearings must be oiled after great steel rods had
+    flashed by and before they returned. The swift, silent play of
+    the great piston and the steady motion of the resistless,
+    revolving shaft, half hypnotized the boy and he stood, dazed
+    and in danger, until called down by the sharp rebuff of the
+    engineer.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Tend to your business, there. Don't watch that shaft or
+    you'll go dotty."</p>
+
+    <p>On the second day of the trip there was trouble in the
+    fire-room. The steamer had started on the trip short of firemen
+    and now a fireman who had fallen in the furnace-room, striking
+    his head on the steel floor, was lying unconscious in his
+    berth. The pointer on the steam-gauge fell back, the engine
+    slowed down, crisp commands came from pilot-house to
+    engine-room, sharper messages passed
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page18"
+       id="page18"></a>[pg 18]</span> between engine and fire
+       rooms, while overworked men grew sullen and threatened to
+       throw down their shovels.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick offered to do the work of a fireman, but the engineer
+    shook his head and said:</p>
+
+    <p>"That's a man's work, boy."</p>
+
+    <p>"Give me a shovel and a chance."</p>
+
+    <p>And they were given him. He soon learned to throw the coal
+    evenly and feed the furnaces like a fireman, but his unseasoned
+    body shrank from the fierce heat; he staggered back from the
+    hot blast every time he swung open a great furnace door and,
+    until the clang of its closing, he could scarcely draw a
+    breath. He threw off his jumper and his white skin fairly
+    gleamed in that grimy place. The other firemen looked curiously
+    at that slight, boyish form which was doing a man's work like a
+    man and there was no more shirking in front of those furnaces.
+    The fireman nearest the boy often pushed him aside and spread
+    shovelfuls of coal over his grates, rushing back to his own
+    work that it might not fall behind. A strong beam wind sprang
+    up and the boat rolled badly, while Dick, with his hands
+    blistered, fought fiercely to keep off seasickness and to keep
+    up his fire.</p>
+
+    <p>Up in the main saloon and around the deck a young girl
+    wandered as if she wanted something without quite knowing what
+    it was. She climbed stairs under the sign "passengers not
+    allowed," went in and out of the pilot-house and, meeting the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page19"
+       id="page19"></a>[pg 19]</span> captain, asked if she
+       couldn't go wherever she wished on the boat. He replied:</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, Miss. I appoint you third mate, with power to give any
+    orders you please and go wherever you wish."</p>
+
+    <p>A little later, with a dark waterproof drawn tightly over
+    her light dress, she opened the door leading to the
+    engine-room, and clinging to the heavy brass rail, climbed
+    slowly down the narrow, greasy iron stairway till she stood
+    beside the mighty engine. The engineer hastened to her
+    side.</p>
+
+    <p>"It's against the rules and very dangerous, Miss, for a
+    passenger to come into this room."</p>
+
+    <p>"But the captain told me I could come."</p>
+
+    <p>"All right, but please be very careful and hold tight to
+    that rail. I am afraid I haven't any right to let you stay,
+    anyhow."</p>
+
+    <p>"Thank you very much and I'll be very careful."</p>
+
+    <p>The girl watched the engine for some time and then crept
+    slowly along a steel bridge that looked like a spider's web,
+    from which she could look into the furnace-room, with its
+    roaring fires, scorching heat and constantly clanging iron
+    doors. For some minutes she gazed silently, then turning
+    quickly, hurried across the bridge, up the greasy stairs and on
+    to the main saloon where she found her father in a big
+    arm-chair, buried in a book. The girl first pulled the book out
+    of her father's hands, then, sitting on the arm of his chair,
+    clasped her hands on his shoulder and whispered eagerly into
+    his ear.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page20"
+       id="page20"></a>[pg 20]</span>
+
+    <p>"Daddy, I want you to get that boy out of that hot place
+    down in the bottom of the boat where he is at work. I know he's
+    sick, for I saw him lean up against the wall and shut his eyes
+    and he was just as white&mdash;"</p>
+
+    <p>"Why, Molly, where have you been to see all this?"</p>
+
+    <p>"First, I went where the big engine is, then I went a little
+    farther and saw&mdash;Oh! Daddy, hurry, please; if you don't I
+    know he'll die."</p>
+
+    <p>"So you want me to get this boy up in the saloon to play
+    with you?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't mean that at all, Daddy. I should think you'd hate
+    to see anybody worked to death down in that hot hole."</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, I'll see the captain about it as soon as I have
+    finished my book."</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't you think you'd better see him now? I'm quite sure
+    you won't enjoy your book while I'm here and I've decided to
+    stay with you for the present."</p>
+
+    <p>"All right, Molly, come along," and they hunted up the
+    captain, whom they found sitting near the pilot-house.</p>
+
+    <p>"Captain, I have taken an interest in that stowaway of
+    yours. Is there any objection to having his name put on the
+    cabin list, at my expense, of course?"</p>
+
+    <p>"No kick coming from me," said the captain, "though we
+    <i>are</i> short-handed in the fire-room and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page21"
+       id="page21"></a>[pg 21]</span> the boy has been doing a
+       man's work there. I don't believe he will accept your offer,
+       for he's an independent little cub and, as I have put him to
+       work, I can't insist upon it."</p>
+
+    <p>The captain sent a deck-hand for Dick, and the boy appeared
+    on deck in overalls and jumper, cap in hand.</p>
+
+    <p>"Dick," said the captain, "this gentleman has put your name
+    on the passenger list. The purser will give you a room and a
+    seat at the table."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, Captain, please don't take me from my work. I know I've
+    got to leave it if you say so, but&mdash;"</p>
+
+    <p>"No, you haven't," interrupted the captain; "you are on the
+    pay-roll and can hang on to your job as long as you do your
+    work."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick's face was still troubled as he turned toward Molly and
+    her father, meeting a reproachful look from the girl, which
+    made him wonder if he had seemed ungrateful for the kindness
+    shown him, and said:</p>
+
+    <p>"I want to thank you a thousand times for your kindness and
+    I will come to the cabin if you think I&mdash;Have you any boy
+    of your own, sir?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, I have a boy of about your age."</p>
+
+    <p>"If he were here, in my place, what would you like to have
+    him do?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I'd be proud of him if he did just what you're doing, my
+    boy."</p>
+
+    <p>Tears were in Dick's voice as he said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Thank you very much, sir," then, turning to
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page22"
+       id="page22"></a>[pg 22]</span> Molly, a roguish smile lit up
+       his face as he bowed to her, saying:</p>
+
+    <p>"Thank you again, Miss Brown-Eyes."</p>
+
+    <p>The next day when Dick was off duty, instead of going to his
+    bunk, he dressed himself carefully and went up on the promenade
+    deck. It was quite contrary to the rules, but the officers only
+    smiled and looked away, while many of the passengers spoke to
+    him, for the story of his having refused cabin passage was
+    pretty well known on the boat. He walked about restlessly, as
+    if in search of something or somebody, until he caught sight of
+    a girl in the extreme bow of the boat, looking down upon the
+    water twenty feet below her. Dick suddenly discovered that he
+    wanted to look over the bow, too. A minute later he was leaning
+    on the rail behind the girl, looking down upon a school of
+    porpoises, or herring hogs, which were playing about the boat.
+    A jet of water and spray curled upward from the cutwater of the
+    steamer, which was running at high speed, but the graceful
+    little creatures kept abreast of her without apparent effort.
+    There were twenty or thirty of them, gliding in and out as
+    gracefully as if they were moving to the measure of a waltz.
+    Sometimes one touched the prow or side of the boat; usually
+    they kept pace with the steamer as evenly as if they were a
+    part of it; but occasionally one darted ahead at a speed which
+    left the boat behind as if it were standing still. At last the
+    girl, long conscious <span class="pagenum"><a name="page23"
+       id="page23"></a>[pg 23]</span> that some one was standing
+       beside her, putting out her hand to that somebody, said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Aren't they dears? Oh!" she added, as her hand was taken
+    and she looked around, "I thought it was Daddy. Please excuse
+    me."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick looked as if he might be persuaded to forgive her, and
+    for some minutes they stood in silence, leaning over the rail
+    and looking at the playful porpoises beneath them, when he
+    said:</p>
+
+    <p>"I hope you don't think I didn't appreciate your father's
+    lovely offer. You will never know how grateful I really was to
+    him&mdash;and to somebody else, too, who, I think, had
+    something to do with it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Of course I don't think you were ungrateful, but I did hate
+    to see you at work down in that hot place and I don't see why
+    you couldn't have come up in the cabin and been comfortable and
+    not had to wear such greasy clothes."</p>
+
+    <p>"How did you know where I was at work?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I happened to be looking at the big engine and I walked
+    along a little way and saw you way, way down near the bottom of
+    the boat in front of a hot furnace, shoveling coal into
+    it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Now I know where that offer came from," said Dick, "and I
+    want you to see why I couldn't accept it. I wanted very, very
+    much to get to Key West and I was very glad of the chance to
+    work my passage. Perhaps it was wrong to come aboard the way I
+    did. I guess it was. But Captain Anderson gave me a job and
+    made it all right. Now I'm not
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page24"
+       id="page24"></a>[pg 24]</span> ashamed to look anyone in the
+       face, even when I have on my fireman's clothes, while if I
+       gave up my work and let a stranger give me what I could earn
+       myself I would feel like a charity scholar and I don't think
+       I'd have the cheek to speak to you or any one else on
+       board."</p>
+
+    <p>Molly told her father of her talk with Dick and he said:</p>
+
+    <p>"I can use that kind of a boy in my business. I'll have a
+    talk with him when we get to Key West."</p>
+
+    <p>Three days later the great steamer lay beside her wharf in
+    Key West. Dick was paid the full wages of a fireman for the
+    trip and when he said he wasn't worth so much, was
+    good-naturedly told to shut up and advised that if he refused
+    to take money that was offered him in that town he was likely
+    to be caught and exhibited as a freak. He shed his jumper and
+    overalls and exchanged hearty good-byes with the whole crew of
+    the steamer. He walked through the saloons, but it was early,
+    most of the passengers were yet in their berths and neither
+    Molly nor her father was to be seen. Dick went out on the dock
+    to inquire for a boat to Chokoloskee, Caxambas or Marco. He was
+    referred to a Captain Wilson, who told him that the boat for
+    Chokoloskee had just sailed, was beyond hailing distance and
+    wouldn't leave again for a week, and that there was no Caxambas
+    or Marco boat in port. Dick found the captain so genial and
+    friendly that he told him something of his
+    story.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page25"
+       id="page25"></a>[pg 25]</span>
+
+    <p>"I'll fix you out," said Captain Wilson. "I own a sponging
+    outfit and am just starting out on a cruise, but I'm one man
+    short. So you come in his place. It will be a short trip, not
+    over four weeks. You'll make good wages and I'll find you a
+    chance to get to Chokoloskee when we get back. You can live on
+    board till I find it. If you stay here you are bound to lose a
+    week and your board anyhow."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'd like to go first rate, but I don't know anything about
+    sponging."</p>
+
+    <p>"You'll learn fast enough. Can you scull?"</p>
+
+    <p>"A little. I can row better."</p>
+
+    <p>"Have to scull in sponging, but you'll pick that up. Can you
+    come aboard now? I want to be off."</p>
+
+    <p>"I need some clothes and would like to say 'good-bye' to
+    some friends on the steamer."</p>
+
+    <p>"I can fit you out on board with all the clothes you will
+    need on the cruise, so hurry up and see your friends. I'll wait
+    here for you."</p>
+
+    <p>But Molly and her father had left the steamer and Dick went
+    with Captain Wilson aboard his sloop, which sailed at once.</p>
+
+    <p>The captain hunted up some clothes for Dick to wear while
+    sponging and as the boy came on deck after putting them on, his
+    first glance fell on the white sails of a schooner yacht which
+    had just passed them, but was then two hundred yards away. The
+    beauty of the boat appealed to Dick and his eyes rested
+    lingeringly upon her. How much greater would have been his
+    interest had he known that the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page26"
+       id="page26"></a>[pg 26]</span> two forms which he could see
+       on the deck of the yacht, near the companionway, were the
+       Molly of whom he was thinking at that moment, and her
+       father, and that they were talking of him. What a pity that
+       he couldn't have known that Key West had been searched for
+       him and that Molly's father had offered a reward for his
+       name and address! Had Dick come on deck two minutes sooner
+       the bow of the yacht <i>Gypsey</i> would have been thrown up
+       in the wind and that tiny launch lowered from the boat's
+       davits in less time than it takes to tell of it. And then,
+       had Molly's father known Dick's name, he would have taken
+       the boy to his yacht, if he had had to tie him to do it, but
+       if Dick had once heard the name of Molly's father it would
+       not have been necessary to tie him. However, if either had
+       known the name of the other this story would not have been
+       written.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page27"
+       id="page27"></a>[pg 27]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER III</h3>
+
+    <h3>LIFE ON A SPONGER</h3>
+
+    <p>The yacht sailed on and Dick, walking up to Captain Wilson,
+    who stood at the wheel, said, as he lifted his cap:</p>
+
+    <p>"I beg to report for duty, sir." The captain grinned, as he
+    replied:</p>
+
+    <p>"I hope you'll always be as polite. You'll sure be a
+    curiosity on this coast. I'll put you in with Pedro. He doesn't
+    know much English, but you can talk enough for both. There he
+    is, that black-mustached fellow, with little rings in his ears.
+    He will let you know what your duties are."</p>
+
+    <p>A string of four dingies trailed behind the sponger and as
+    many poles, each thirty feet long, with a sponge-hook at one
+    end, lay upon the deck. Pedro was examining one of these poles
+    when Billy went to him and said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Pedro, I am to go in your boat. What do I have to do?"</p>
+
+    <p>"You scull where I tell you&mdash;slow&mdash;I look in
+    glass&mdash;see sponge&mdash;take up pole&mdash;you stop
+    still&mdash;then <span class="pagenum"><a name="page28"
+       id="page28"></a>[pg 28]</span> you scull where pole
+       go&mdash;you work good or I keek you."</p>
+
+    <p>"Pedro, if you ever keek me, you'll go overboard queek and
+    don't you forget it."</p>
+
+    <p>The sponger lay at anchor on the sponging ground for nearly
+    a week before the water was clear enough for work. Dick spent
+    most of his time sculling his dingy and soon learned to throw
+    his weight on the big sculling oar to the best advantage
+    without going overboard very often. One day while Pedro sat in
+    the bow, they saw a 400-pound loggerhead turtle lying asleep on
+    the water. Pedro motioned to Dick to scull up to the turtle and
+    when the dingy was within three feet of the creature he jumped
+    on its back and seized the edge of its shell just behind the
+    head, with both hands. Pedro's weight was so far aft on the
+    turtle's deck that the bow pointed upward and the reptile's
+    struggles only served to keep its head above water and thus
+    carry the man comfortably on its back. Soon Pedro shifted his
+    right hand to the tail-end of the turtle and thereafter
+    navigated his living craft with ease. Dick sculled the dingy
+    beside the turtle and, while trying to make fast the boat's
+    painter around the creature, fell overboard. Pedro didn't know
+    enough English to express his feelings fully, and so talked
+    Spanish for a while. Dick thought he could get the rope around
+    the turtle more easily if he stayed in the water, and he
+    finally succeeded, though the reptile got one of the sleeves of
+    his shirt while he was doing it. Then the boy
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page29"
+       id="page29"></a>[pg 29]</span> and Pedro got into the boat
+       and pulled the turtle beside it. In rolling the reptile
+       aboard they shipped a lot of water and as the turtle dropped
+       suddenly to the bottom of the dingy Dick fell backwards out
+       of the boat. Pedro began to express himself in Spanish
+       again, and, as the sponger was less than two hundred yards
+       distant, Dick swam to it, leaving his companion to bail out
+       the dingy and scull it to the big boat. The boat's tackle
+       was required to hoist the turtle aboard, where it was turned
+       over to the Cook, who butchered it on deck. The heart of the
+       reptile continued to beat for hours after it had been
+       removed from the body, so strongly that its throbbing could
+       not be restrained by the grip of the most powerful hand.
+       Pedro said that the heart would beat till the sun went down,
+       and it did.</p>
+
+    <p>For days Dick hunted all the turtles he saw lying on the
+    water. At last he got near enough to one to grab him before he
+    dove. But he got hold too far back, the reptile's head was
+    already turned downward and his flippers forced him rapidly
+    forward. Dick hung on as well as he could, which wasn't for
+    long, for the strong rush of the water and its great pressure
+    as the reptile made for the bottom quickly compelled the boy to
+    let go. Yet he was under water so long that when he came to the
+    surface Captain Wilson was in a dingy sculling like mad to
+    reach him. The captain gave the boy a kindly warning, which
+    affected him so much that in ten minutes he was off after
+    another turtle, which he saw asleep.
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page30"
+       id="page30"></a>[pg 30]</span> The creature began his dive
+       just as Dick jumped for him, and the boy got hold of his
+       tail-end as it was lifted above the water, in time to get a
+       sharp slap in the face from the heavy hind flipper of the
+       turtle. Dick sculled for an hour without seeing another
+       turtle, when, as he was returning to the boat and within a
+       hundred yards of it, one rose beside the dingy so near that
+       the boy was on its back before it could go under the
+       surface. He soon had his charger in fair control, but the
+       science of riding a big loggerhead turtle isn't picked up in
+       a minute. One of the crew came out in a dingy to help, but
+       Dick asked him to pick up his boat and oar and take them to
+       the sponger and said that he would ride back on the turtle.
+       Sometimes his steed was manageable, and once he got within a
+       few yards of the big boat, when it broke loose and carried
+       him fifty yards away. Then, as Dick tried to check the
+       reptile, he pulled its head too far and tipped it over on
+       its back on top of himself, with his own head so near the
+       parrot-like jaws of the loggerhead that when they were
+       snapped in his face they missed his nose by about an inch.
+       The turtle was as anxious to turn over as the boy, and, by
+       favoring his motions, Dick soon had the creature right side
+       up, while he again rode triumphantly on his back. In another
+       hour the halyards were fast to the turtle and Billy had made
+       good his promise to ride it back to the boat.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/30.jpg"
+             name="fig30"
+             id="fig30"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/30.jpg"
+             alt='"DICK HUNTED ALL THE TURTLES HE SAW"' /></a>"DICK
+             HUNTED ALL THE TURTLES HE SAW"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>When the water became clear the dingies were sent out with
+    two men in each, one of whom sculled while
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page31"
+       id="page31"></a>[pg 31]</span> the other sat with his face
+       in a water-glass watching the bottom for sponges. The
+       water-glass is a bucket with a glass bottom which so smooths
+       the surface of the water as to produce the effect of a
+       perfect calm to one who is looking through it. The first day
+       of sponging was like a dream to Dick. The water was smooth
+       as a mirror and no water-glass was needed. He sculled slowly
+       over water so clear that he seemed to be floating in the
+       air. Beneath him was fairyland, filled with waving
+       sea-feathers and anemones, paved with curious shells,
+       strangely beautiful forms of coral and sponges of various
+       kinds, and alive with fish of many varieties. Sometimes
+       there floated on the surface of the water Portuguese
+       men-of-war, most beautiful of created things, like
+       iridescent bubbles, with long silken filaments, delicately
+       lined in pink, purple and entrancing blue. Lighter than
+       thistledown, fitted to drift with the merest zephyr, they
+       can nevertheless force their way against a breeze. Harmless
+       as a soap-bubble in appearance, each of them is charged with
+       virulent poison, and when Dick touched one with his hand he
+       received a shock that made him wonder if a bunch of hornets
+       had hidden in that innocent-looking bubble.</p>
+
+    <p>Sometimes schools of little fish gliding beneath the dingy
+    began to dash wildly about, and a moment later a group of
+    jackfish or Spanish mackerel could be seen darting around and
+    picking up stragglers from the little school, which often
+    huddled for <span class="pagenum"><a name="page32"
+       id="page32"></a>[pg 32]</span> protection close beside and
+       beneath the dingy. Dick like all brave boys, was on the side
+       of the under dog, and he laughed with glee when a
+       quick-moving mackerel shark appeared among the pursuers of
+       the little fish and picked up a few of them for his
+       breakfast as he drove the rest away. As Dick sculled easily
+       with one hand, he kept an eye upon Pedro, and obeyed the
+       signals of his hand, to go to the right, the left, or stop,
+       as sponges were seen. Then from time to time the long pole
+       with the claw at the end was lowered to the bottom and a
+       sponge torn loose.</p>
+
+    <p>Sometimes Dick changed places with Pedro, and manipulated
+    the long pole with the claw, while Pedro handled the sculling
+    oar. Then Dick began to learn the difference between coarse
+    grass and common cup sponges, and the finer fibred glove and
+    choice sheep's wool varieties. For when he was clumsy with the
+    pole, Pedro only swore softly in Spanish, but when he brought
+    up a worthless grass sponge, the big oar was lifted, and the
+    boy might have been knocked overboard but for the iron claw
+    which he held high, while a purpose gleamed in his eye which
+    made Pedro peaceful. But Dick felt that Pedro was half right
+    and he set to work studying sponges until he knew them almost
+    as well as his teacher. His strength and skill with the sponge
+    hook were less than the Spaniard's, but his eye was quicker and
+    Pedro's chronic growls were often changed to grunts of
+    approval. When the surface of the water was
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page33"
+       id="page33"></a>[pg 33]</span> ruffled by a breeze it was
+       needful to use the water-glass. Then Pedro sat with his head
+       in the bucket, studying the bottom, and when he took up the
+       heavy pole which lay on the thwarts of the dingy and dipped
+       it vertically in the water, it was the duty of Dick to stop
+       sculling at once. But once while Dick was sculling and
+       looking for sponges he saw gliding beneath the dingy, a
+       whip-ray, the most beautiful member of the ray family.
+       Shaped like a butterfly, its back is covered with small,
+       light rings on a black background. Its long, slim tail is
+       like the lash of a coach-whip and at its base is a row of
+       little spears with many barbs, which are capable of
+       inflicting exceedingly painful wounds. The roof of the mouth
+       and the tongue of the fish are hard as ivory and shell-fish
+       are ground between them as rock is pulverized by the jaws of
+       a quartz-crusher. As Billy watched the graceful swaying of
+       the body of the whip-ray under the impulse of its wings, a
+       wandering shark came upon it. In its first rush the tiger of
+       the sea almost caught the beautiful creature, which
+       fluttered for a hundred yards upon the surface of the water,
+       with the jaws of its pursuer opening and closing within a
+       few inches of its body.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick was so busy watching the chase and so earnest in his
+    sympathy with the frightened, fleeing whip-ray that he quite
+    forgot his duties. He was reminded of them when Pedro, who had
+    been frantically signaling him, took his head from the bucket
+    and made a speech in Spanish to Dick that must have
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page34"
+       id="page34"></a>[pg 34]</span> used up all the bad
+       adjectives in that language. Dick's conscience hampered him
+       so much that he was quite unable to reply fittingly, and the
+       battle of words was won by Pedro. The dingy drifted so far
+       during the discussion that they were unable to find the
+       sheep's wool sponge that Pedro had seen, and which he now
+       described as the finest one ever found.</p>
+
+    <p>Each day the spongers in the dingies worked farther from the
+    sloop and each day more time was lost when the sloop made its
+    round to pick up the spongers for dinner. There were too few
+    sponges to please Captain Wilson, who sailed over the ground
+    whenever the water was smooth, studying the bottom with
+    practiced eye and throwing out little floats, with anchors
+    attached, wherever a sponge was seen.</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm going to the 'Lake,'" said the captain, one afternoon
+    at the end of a day of little success. "It's a feast or a
+    famine there. You get rich or go broke."</p>
+
+    <p>"What is there at the 'Lake'?" asked Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Sponge, all sponge, the bottom lined with sponge. If the
+    weather is just right we'll pile the deck with sponges in a
+    week till you can't see over them. If the weather isn't exactly
+    right we won't get a sponge. On one cruise there, the men on
+    this sloop averaged twenty-five dollars a day apiece. I've been
+    there five times since without ever making enough to pay for
+    our salt."</p>
+
+    <p>A week later the captain said to the boy:</p>
+
+    <p>"Dick, you are a mascot. You've brought us big
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page35"
+       id="page35"></a>[pg 35]</span> luck. We never had such
+       weather here but once and I don't care now how soon it comes
+       on to blow. I reckon it'll begin to-night from the looks and
+       we'll hike for Key West to-morrow."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick was glad to go. The week had been a hard one, the work
+    incessant and each night he felt as if his back were broken. He
+    was used to the fresh, sweet air of his country home and the
+    sloop he was in was arranged like most of the sponging craft,
+    with quarters sufficient for half the crew it carried. The deck
+    of the sponger was piled with the result of the work of the
+    week. The sponge of commerce, the one you buy at the drug
+    store, is the skeleton of the creature; the thing taken from
+    the water is its corpse. Not until this body has rotted away is
+    it pleasant to live with. Day by day the stench, like that of a
+    charnel house, became more unbearable to Dick. The crew seemed
+    never to notice it, which caused the boy much wonderment that
+    noses had ever been given them. He was glad when a strong wind
+    came and swept some of the smell away instead of leaving it to
+    settle in chunks in every nook and cranny on the boat.</p>
+
+    <p>At Key West most of the crew went to their homes, but Dick
+    was invited to live on the sloop till he found a boat for the
+    coast he wanted to reach.</p>
+
+    <p>Cargoes sent to Key West for a market are almost always sold
+    at auction and the auction houses in the early morning are busy
+    marts. Cargoes of sponge, fruit, vegetables, lumber and other
+    goods are sold <span class="pagenum"><a name="page36"
+       id="page36"></a>[pg 36]</span> in lots to suit purchasers,
+       who range from the dealer who buys by the cargo, or the
+       small merchant who takes a few boxes of pines, oranges,
+       grape-fruit, or tomatoes, to the housewife who wants a
+       watermelon or a bunch of bananas. On the day following their
+       arrival at Key West Captain Wilson handed Dick a roll of
+       bills containing a hundred dollars, saying to him:</p>
+
+    <p>"That's about your share in the cruise, Dick. The sponge
+    hasn't been sold yet, but you are in a hurry to get off and I
+    reckon that's about right."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick was dazed as he took the roll, but a moment later he
+    handed it back to the captain, saying:</p>
+
+    <p>"I can't take that, Captain Wilson. It is ten times as much
+    as I have earned. You took me on as a boy and I want you to pay
+    me just what you would have paid any other boy."</p>
+
+    <p>"Put that money in your pocket, Dick. You've done a man's
+    work and now you've got a man's pay and that's all there is to
+    it. Lucky for you, though, that the weather was good at the
+    Lake. If it hadn't been you wouldn't have got anything but your
+    board. Now come ashore and we'll hunt up a boat for Marco or
+    Chokoloskee."</p>
+
+    <p>They stopped at an auction room in Key West for a minute,
+    when Captain Wilson sang out to a boy who was passing:</p>
+
+    <p>"Hi, Johnny! Where's the <i>Etta</i>?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Same old place, off the end of the dock."</p>
+
+    <p>"Thought yesterday was your sailing
+    day."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page37"
+       id="page37"></a>[pg 37]</span>
+
+    <p>"So it was, but Cap'n's in the calaboose. Got drunk yest'd'y
+    and had a fight. I got ter raise th' cash ter git him out."</p>
+
+    <p>"Why don't the boss bounce him? He's drunk most of the
+    time."</p>
+
+    <p>"Boss says Cap'n Tom's a better sailor when he's drunk than
+    any of th' others when they're sober."</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, I'll get Tom out of limbo for you and charge it to
+    the boss. Only you must take this friend of mine with you to
+    Chokoloskee."</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure! What's his name?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Name's Dick. Can you make an alligator-hunter of him?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Reckon I kin, or kill him
+    tryin'."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page38"
+       id="page38"></a>[pg 38]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER IV</h3>
+
+    <h3>CAUGHT IN A WATERSPOUT</h3>
+
+    <p>The next morning the <i>Etta</i>, with Dick on board,
+    started for Chokoloskee. The weather was bad, with a succession
+    of squalls from the southwest, and the captain kept in the lee
+    of the line of keys instead of taking the straight course
+    across the Gulf. But he carried all sail till the rotten
+    main-sheet parted at the boom, and when he came up in the wind
+    to lower the sail the main throat halyard refused to unreeve.
+    Before an order was given Dick was half way up the mast and
+    soon came riding down to the deck on the gaff. When reefs had
+    been taken in the sails, the sheet replaced, and the boat was
+    again under way, the captain said to Dick:</p>
+
+    <p>"Who taught you sailoring?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Captain Wilson taught me some, and&mdash;"</p>
+
+    <p>"That's enough. You don't need to mention anybody else. What
+    Wilson doesn't know about sailing, sponging and fishing isn't
+    worth knowing."</p>
+
+    <p>By noon they were about twenty miles southwest of North-West
+    Cape and, as the wind had moderated, the reefs were shaken out
+    and the bow of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page39"
+       id="page39"></a>[pg 39]</span> <i>Etta</i> pointed due
+       north, straight for Sand-Fly Pass. The breeze grew less and
+       less, and in two hours had died away entirely. From the
+       northeast a black, threatening cloud was moving slowly
+       toward them, while the sails flapped idly as the <i>Etta</i>
+       rolled to a heavy ground swell. The cloud came nearer and
+       grew blacker, while swirling little tails dropped from it,
+       almost touching the water, and then suddenly returned to the
+       black mass above.</p>
+
+    <p>"What a funny cloud," said Dick to Captain Tom. "Does it
+    mean a hurricane?"</p>
+
+    <p>"No. This is the hurricane month, but hurricanes always give
+    a day or two's warning through the barometer and that hasn't
+    changed a tenth in a week. But this is worse than a hurricane
+    if it hits us. Those are waterspouts in the making, that you
+    see dropping from the big cloud, and when one of them gets a
+    good hold on the water you will see something that you won't
+    forget as long as you live, which won't be a great while if it
+    hits us," said the captain.</p>
+
+    <p>Almost as he spoke a great inverted cone of cloud settled
+    down from the mass above and touching the surface of the water
+    set it whirling furiously. The water from the Gulf was lifted
+    skyward, in a column which constantly grew broader at the base
+    while its pointed top, mingling with the almost equally solid
+    cloud, gave hour-glass form to the huge, swirling, threatening
+    mass that bore down on the <i>Etta</i>, within a half mile now.
+    Suddenly the waterspout separated from the great cloud mass and
+    moved <span class="pagenum"><a name="page40"
+       id="page40"></a>[pg 40]</span> rapidly eastward. For ten
+       minutes the crew of the <i>Etta</i> watched it until, when
+       more than a mile distant, the waterspout collapsed more
+       suddenly than it had formed and from the foam-covered water
+       a great wave rolled outward, spreading until the <i>Etta</i>
+       rocked in its path.</p>
+
+    <p>"Thank goodness, that trouble's over," said Dick to the
+    captain.</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, but how about this one?" replied Captain Tom, as he
+    pointed to the big cloud which was now within two hundred yards
+    of them and more threatening than ever. Another waterspout was
+    forming and soon its roar filled their ears, while a towering
+    mass seemed to spread over their heads, ready to fall upon and
+    crush them. Already, spiteful patches of wind, torn from the
+    revolving cyclone, slapped the sails of the <i>Etta</i> as if
+    to tear them from the mast.</p>
+
+    <p>"Shan't I take in sail?" asked Johnny of the captain.</p>
+
+    <p>"No use," was the reply. "When that thing strikes us nothing
+    will make any difference and a bit of breeze in the next minute
+    might pull us out."</p>
+
+    <p>For a long minute they watched the approaching demon which
+    was now within a hundred yards and its tremendous suction was
+    already disturbing the water about them when the captain
+    shouted:</p>
+
+    <p>"Launch the dingy and get aboard; leave the oars to me!"</p>
+
+    <p>In an instant the little dingy had been slid overboard and
+    the boys were sitting in the stern; then
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page41"
+       id="page41"></a>[pg 41]</span> Captain Tom stepped aboard
+       and was soon pulling mightily away from the <i>Ella</i> and
+       across the line of progress of the waterspout. But it was
+       all too late. The dingy was less than two hundred feet from
+       the <i>Etta</i> when she began to toss, lifting her bow high
+       and then plunging it deep beneath the surface. The first
+       touch of the waterspout carried away mast and sails and
+       swept clear the deck. In another instant the schooner was
+       engulfed, but her bulk broke the back of the waterspout and
+       it began to sway; its straight, smooth column began to kink
+       up and break, and many hundred tons of water fell crashing
+       into the Gulf. When the great column fell the dingy was
+       within three hundred feet and, as Captain Tom threw his
+       weight on the oars in a last effort to increase the
+       distance, one of the oars snapped and the captain fell on
+       his back in the bow of the boat, striking his head on the
+       gunwale with a force that stunned him. At this moment the
+       outflowing wave from the falling water swept over the skiff,
+       rolling it upside down. Dick, who was a regular water-dog,
+       saw the big wave coming and, as it rolled the dingy over, he
+       sank for a moment beneath the surface till the wave had
+       passed, then came up with all his senses alert. He swam to
+       the capsized dingy, which was near him, and was soon joined
+       by Johnny.</p>
+
+    <p>"Where's the captain?" shouted Dick. "We've got to find him.
+    Look everywhere, Johnny."</p>
+
+    <p>The broken water was now tossing madly and it seemed an age
+    to Dick before he caught a glimpse
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page42"
+       id="page42"></a>[pg 42]</span> of the captain's head on the
+       crest of a wave two boat's lengths distant. He swam to the
+       place, and searched the water above and below, diving until
+       he was exhausted. He was losing hope when once more the
+       captain's body came to the surface and Dick seized it. He
+       started for the dingy with his burden, but was fearing he
+       would never make it, when he found Johnny beside him,
+       saying:</p>
+
+    <p>"Here, you're played out. Put your hand on my shoulder. I
+    can take care of the cap'n, too."</p>
+
+    <p>"All right, you take care of the captain. I can get back to
+    the dingy."</p>
+
+    <p>When they reached the dingy the water had become so much
+    smoother that they were able to rest while clinging to the side
+    of the dingy and holding the captain's face out of water.</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't 'spose Cap'n's dead, do yer?" said Johnny.</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't think so, but we've got to get this dingy bailed out
+    and get him in it, mighty soon. Then I know what to do to bring
+    him to, if there's life in him. Lend me your cap and I'll bail
+    out the dingy."</p>
+
+    <p>"That ain't the way we bail boats down here," said Johnny,
+    who got into the dingy and began to rock it. In about a minute
+    he had rocked it nearly dry and finished the job with his cap.
+    Dick then climbed into the dingy and the boys pulled the body
+    of the captain beside it and, bearing down on the gunwale until
+    water began to come in, dragged it aboard, half filling the
+    dingy as they did it. As Johnny began to bail again a feeble
+    voice beside him
+    whispered:</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page43"
+       id="page43"></a>[pg 43]</span>
+
+    <p>"What you fellers doin'?"</p>
+
+    <p>The captain soon got stronger, and said he was all right but
+    for a headache which was splitting his skull. He tried to rise,
+    but fell back in a faint, and Dick told him he must lie still
+    and give orders, which Johnny and he would obey. Then Dick
+    stood on a thwart and studied the water as far as he could see,
+    hoping to find an oar. He saw a mast, a hatch cover and some
+    broken fragments from the <i>Etta</i> and at last the blade
+    from the oar which the captain had broken. Johnny and he
+    paddled with their hands until they recovered the oar blade. As
+    a light breeze had sprung up from the south, which was causing
+    them to drift northward, they headed south, paddling and
+    watching by turns, until they found the lost oar. Then Dick,
+    resting the oar in the sculling hole, called on the captain for
+    orders.</p>
+
+    <p>"Better strike out due east and make for Nor'-West Cape.
+    That's the nearest land and we're liable to be struck by a
+    squall 'most any minute. Then there's a cocoanut grove at the
+    Cape and you'll be thirsty by the time you get there."</p>
+
+    <p>"Gee!" said Dick, "I'm thirsty now. Wish you hadn't spoken
+    of it."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick put his weight on the oar and as he swung back and
+    forth on it the captain called out:</p>
+
+    <p>"You sure can scull, boy, but take it easy; you've got over
+    a dozen miles of it to the Cape and near fifty more up the
+    coast, after that."</p>
+
+    <p>"Where do I come in?" said
+    Johnny.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page44"
+       id="page44"></a>[pg 44]</span>
+
+    <p>"Go 'way, child, this is man's work," replied Dick, as he
+    swung easily on his oar, but with a vim that drove the dingy
+    through the water at good speed.</p>
+
+    <p>Johnny begged for his turn, but didn't get it for two hours,
+    by which time the tops of the cocoa palms could be seen. Then
+    Captain Tom began to feel better and talked of doing his share
+    of the work, upon which Dick whistled a few bars of "Go 'Way
+    Back and Sit Down," which the captain seemed to understand, for
+    he gave no more trouble.</p>
+
+    <p>It was nearly dark when they landed on a beach at the border
+    of a forest of cocoa palms and in a few minutes Johnny had a
+    dozen young nuts on the ground and was hacking at the tough
+    husk of one with his knife. When the ape-faced end of the nut
+    had been laid bare and the eye cut out with a pen-knife blade,
+    he gave the nut to Dick, who was soon absorbing the most
+    delicious drink of his life. There was about a pint of milk in
+    each nut, and it took a round dozen to quench the thirst of the
+    three. They broke open half-grown or custard nuts and ate their
+    pulpy meat and they tried some of the hard flesh of the mature
+    nut.</p>
+
+    <p>The castaways built a fire on the beach for cheer and warmth
+    and piled up fallen leaves of the palm to soften their beds on
+    the sand. Captain Tom told the boys that the plantation house
+    was not occupied, and that the next house down the coast was a
+    number of miles distant and just opposite to the course they
+    wanted to take. He then added that he was no
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page45"
+       id="page45"></a>[pg 45]</span> more captain now than his
+       companions and would give no orders, but he advised that
+       they start up the coast before sun-up and do a lot of their
+       sculling in the cool of the morning. The boys collected a
+       couple of dozen of nuts to keep down their thirst and when
+       the sun rose they were several miles up the coast.</p>
+
+    <p>About nine o'clock Dick said to the captain:</p>
+
+    <p>"I wish it was breakfast time. I'm starving."</p>
+
+    <p>"Have your breakfast any time you want it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Want it now."</p>
+
+    <p>"All right," said the captain, who was sculling, and he
+    headed the dingy for shore, where it struck on a reef at the
+    mouth of a stream.</p>
+
+    <p>"Now, if you boys will rustle some wood I'll have your
+    breakfast ready."</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't see anything to eat round here," said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"How would an oyster roast strike you?" asked the
+    captain.</p>
+
+    <p>"My, but wouldn't an oyster taste good? Do you s'pose there
+    is one within ten miles?"</p>
+
+    <p>Johnny laughed and said:</p>
+
+    <p>"What you standin' on? Must be a hundred barrels on
+    'em."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick looked down and was amazed to see that the whole reef
+    was composed of oysters&mdash;oysters of all sizes, oysters
+    single, in small bunches and in great masses.</p>
+
+    <p>"Woods are full of 'em," said the captain, and he pointed to
+    the mangrove trees that lined the stream,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page46"
+       id="page46"></a>[pg 46]</span> the lower branches of which
+       were burdened with bunches of oysters bigger than Dick's
+       head. A fire was made and branches of these trees containing
+       bunches of oysters were thrown on it. A few minutes later
+       the branches were taken off of the fire, with shells
+       bursting open showing hot, steaming oysters ready for the
+       sharp sticks which took the place of forks with the
+       castaways. After Dick had filled himself with roast oysters,
+       he ate a few dozen raw, by way of a change, and then went
+       back to his roasting, until he was so full that he told
+       Johnny that he never wanted to eat again as long as he
+       lived, at which Johnny grinned. Only three hours later, as
+       Johnny was sculling over a shallow bank, he stopped work and
+       began to thump the bottom with his oar.</p>
+
+    <p>"What is it?" asked Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Bottom covered with clams. Reckon I'll pick up a few for
+    Cap'n and me. You said you didn't want to eat again, ever,"
+    replied Johnny.</p>
+
+    <p>But both of the boys went overboard and in a few minutes had
+    put more clams aboard the dingy than the whole party could have
+    eaten in a week.</p>
+
+    <p>The castaways camped on their second night at the mouth of
+    Lossman's River, where they had a famous clam-roast. They found
+    a fisherman's house where they got fresh water and a can to
+    hold it, also some cornmeal, with which Johnny made an
+    ash-cake, or, as Dick called it, Johnny-cake. The captain said
+    it was the best thing he had ever eaten, and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page47"
+       id="page47"></a>[pg 47]</span> Dick engaged him on the spot
+       as a camping companion on his hunt for his chum.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:50%;">
+        <a href="images/46.jpg"
+             name="fig46"
+             id="fig46"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/46.jpg"
+             alt='"A SILVERY, TWISTING BODY SHOT TEN FEET IN THE AIR"' />
+        </a>"A SILVERY, TWISTING BODY SHOT TEN FEET IN THE AIR"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>The next morning the boys slept till the sun had risen and
+    the captain awoke them to look upon a gorgeous picture seldom
+    to be seen. The unclouded sun was shining brilliantly and the
+    eastern sky clear and bright, but in the west a storm was
+    gathering. There were snow-clad peaks brilliant with sunshine,
+    thunder-heads black as midnight from which lightning was
+    playing, while above and beneath them all shone a perfect
+    double rainbow and an equally perfect reflection of it from the
+    mirror-like surface of the Gulf. So perfect a double-circled
+    rainbow the captain had never before seen, and, though he lived
+    near the coast, Johnny had never seen one at all. By the time
+    they had finished their breakfast of roast clams and ash-cake
+    the rainbow had melted away and the storm-clouds were nearer,
+    but Dick wanted to start on up the coast. The captain shook his
+    head and Johnny recited:</p>
+
+    <p>"Rainbow in the mornin', sailors take warnin'."</p>
+
+    <p>Half an hour later all hands were glad to run to the
+    fisherman's house, from the doorway of which they looked out
+    upon storm-driven sheets of rain that shut out the Gulf and
+    fell in hissing masses upon the palmetto roof that covered
+    them, while the continuous blaze of lightning and crash of
+    thunder gave Dick his first taste of a tropical thunderstorm.
+    Half an hour later the sky was cloudless, the sun more
+    brilliant than ever, and the only reminder of
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page48"
+       id="page48"></a>[pg 48]</span> the storm that had passed was
+       the sullen roar of the surf as the big waves broke on the
+       beach.</p>
+
+    <p>When Johnny proposed to renew their voyage and the captain
+    assented, it was Dick who held back.</p>
+
+    <p>"What can we do out there?" said he, waving his hand toward
+    the white-capped waves that were sweeping in and sending their
+    foam high up the beach. Johnny only laughed in reply, but the
+    captain and he dragged the dingy, in which two poles had been
+    placed, out into the surf until the waves rolled waist deep
+    past them.</p>
+
+    <p>"Tumble aboard, both of you," ordered the captain, as he
+    stood by the stern of the craft, holding its bow squarely
+    against the incoming waves. The boys climbed aboard, and Dick,
+    following Johnny's example, seized a pole and together they
+    held the boat against the sweep of the surf until the captain
+    was aboard with the oar in his hands. It was exciting work and
+    as they pushed on and out, with each new wave tossing the bow
+    of the boat in the air and spilling its crest of water and foam
+    over the gunwales, Dick exclaimed:</p>
+
+    <p>"Isn't it glorious? I never had such fun," and even the
+    captain smiled assent.</p>
+
+    <p>They pushed on until outside of the breakers and among the
+    smooth-rolling waves, where the deepening water made poling
+    difficult and they resumed their sculling. The captain took the
+    first trick, while Johnny bailed out, with his cap, the water
+    that the waves had spilled
+    aboard.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page49"
+       id="page49"></a>[pg 49]</span>
+
+    <p>Everything went smoothly and there was no more excitement on
+    the trip until in the afternoon, when Dick was working the
+    sculling oar. He was swinging it slowly, as he looked down into
+    the water, when there appeared suddenly, just under the dingy,
+    a great black creature, broader than the boat was long. As it
+    rose nearer to the surface, almost touching the craft, he saw a
+    great open mouth, three feet across, with a heavy black horn on
+    each side of it, which looked quite equal to disposing of Dick
+    and his boat at a single bite. The sight was so frightful that
+    Dick impulsively thrust his oar against the creature, and was
+    instantly thrown from his feet as the stern of the dingy was
+    tossed in the air and a column of water fell upon and around
+    him. When the commotion was over and Johnny had crawled back
+    into the submerged boat and was rocking it dry, Dick said to
+    Captain Tom, who was swimming beside him:</p>
+
+    <p>"I believe I'll swim the rest of the way. I'm getting tired
+    of being pitched overboard every few minutes."</p>
+
+    <p>After they were all aboard and Dick had resumed his work
+    with the oar, he asked the captain:</p>
+
+    <p>"What was that thing that looked like a devil, that I hit
+    and that hit back?"</p>
+
+    <p>"That was a devil-fish. They are perfectly harmless," said
+    the captain, adding, reflectively, "unless you punch 'em."</p>
+
+    <p>The tide favored the castaways at Sand-Fly Pass
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page50"
+       id="page50"></a>[pg 50]</span> and they reached Chokoloskee
+       Bay without further adventure, but then came the painful
+       part of the trip: telling the owner of the <i>Etta</i> of
+       its destruction by a waterspout. All the comment Mr.
+       Streeter made was:</p>
+
+    <p>"Glad none of you went down with the boat."</p>
+
+    <p>The captain and Johnny went to their homes, while Dick
+    accepted Mr. Streeter's invitation to stay with
+    him.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page51"
+       id="page51"></a>[pg 51]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER V</h3>
+
+    <h3>OUTFITTING FOR THE HUNT</h3>
+
+    <p>The Streeter home was on the bank of a little river that
+    emptied into Chokoloskee Bay, and Dick, for the first time, saw
+    oranges and grape-fruit growing and tasted the delicious
+    alligator pear and the guava.</p>
+
+    <p>After supper Mr. Streeter said to Dick:</p>
+
+    <p>"Johnny tells me you have got a friend lying around loose
+    somewhere in the Big Cypress Swamp, or the Everglades, and that
+    you and he are going to take a day off to look him up."</p>
+
+    <p>"That's about the size of it, only of course I don't expect
+    to find him in a day or a week. I had some hope that a month
+    would do. I suppose it all seems very silly to you?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Not a bit, not a bit. The Big Swamp isn't a bad place, if
+    you've sand and sense, and I reckon you have both or you
+    wouldn't have got as far as you have. I suppose it's Ned
+    Barstow you're looking for?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Who in the world could have told you? I haven't spoken his
+    name since I left home."</p>
+
+    <p>"Nobody told me, but last week Chris Meyer, the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page52"
+       id="page52"></a>[pg 52]</span> surveyor, was here and, as we
+       are old friends, we talked half the night. He told me of his
+       work for Mr. Barstow, the big lumber man, and said that Ned
+       Barstow, his son, had been out in the swamp with him as
+       surveyor's assistant for 'most a month, Chris told me that
+       when he left, Ned was arranging to go on a hunting trip with
+       Billy Tommy, a Seminole Indian. He thought the plan was to
+       hunt slowly through the swamp to Tommy's canoe, which he had
+       left somewhere between Boat Landing and Charley Tiger's. Ned
+       expected then to work down through the Everglades to Cape
+       Sable if possible."</p>
+
+    <p>"Is there any chance of my finding him in that great
+    wilderness, Mr. Streeter? It looks so much bigger than it did
+    from up north. How is it possible to keep from getting
+    lost?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't have to. Soon as you begin to worry because you don't
+    know where you are, trouble begins. More than one man in this
+    country has gone crazy and killed himself because he thought he
+    was lost. Why, you can't be really lost. If you're worried just
+    start for the North Star. You'll hit somebody before you strike
+    the North Pole. But it's a heap easier to keep from worrying if
+    you've got company. Lordy, the picnic you and Johnny are going
+    to have! I wish I was as young as you and going with you. Your
+    best way to find Ned will not be to follow his trail, but to
+    head him off somewhere in the Glades. That's easier than you
+    think. I could pretty nearly figure out to a mile where he is
+    this minute. You <span class="pagenum"><a name="page53"
+       id="page53"></a>[pg 53]</span> see, he's with Billy Tommy,
+       and I know that Injun. Couldn't make him hurry if he tried,
+       and he won't try. He'll be so busy shootin' things and
+       skinnin' 'em and fussin' 'round camp that they'll get ahead
+       mighty slow. Shouldn't wonder if it took 'em a week from the
+       time they started to get to where Tommy left his canoe. Then
+       they will put out in the Glades and head straight for
+       Charley Tiger's camp."</p>
+
+    <p>"How do you know that?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Because I know Tommy and because it's the only Injun camp
+    'round there where he'd be sure to find
+    <i>whyome</i>&mdash;that's whisky, or rum, or anything that'll
+    make drunk come."</p>
+
+    <p>"But suppose Ned wouldn't go that way?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, Tommy'd fix that. He'd point to the west and say, 'Big
+    Swamp, canoe no can take!' Then he'd wave his hand to the east,
+    'No trail, <i>oko suchescha</i> (water all gone), saw-grass
+    <i>ojus</i> (heaps)!' No, they never got past Tiger's camp
+    without stopping. Then Tommy got drunk and Ned couldn't move
+    him under four days. It's an even chance that they are right
+    there now."</p>
+
+    <p>"How far from here is Tiger's camp?" asked Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Less than forty miles, but you'd think it was four hundred
+    before you got there, if you tried to cross the swamp to reach
+    it. Besides, they would certainly be gone before you could
+    possibly get to <span class="pagenum"><a name="page54"
+       id="page54"></a>[pg 54]</span> the camp. Then you couldn't
+       take a boat, and you've got to have one to follow your
+       friend."</p>
+
+    <p>"Can I buy or hire a skiff, here?"</p>
+
+    <p>"You can do a lot better. One of your Northern tourists left
+    a little beauty of a canoe with me, to be sold first chance I
+    got. It cost seventy dollars, delivered here, and you can have
+    it for twenty. It's only fifteen feet long and about two feet
+    wide amidships, but it weighs only forty pounds and when there
+    isn't water enough for the canoe to carry you, why, you can
+    carry the canoe. Then a few little traps go with it which you
+    may find useful. There's a broken fly-rod, which you can fix
+    all right, and a little single-barrel shot-gun, not worth much,
+    but you can always pick up a supper with it. There are also a
+    pair of grains, a light harpoon, and a cast-net which is torn
+    some, but Johnny can fix it. Johnny's got a rifle and all the
+    camp kit two tough boys will need.</p>
+
+    <p>"Better take a piece of light, waterproofed canvas big
+    enough to keep off some of the rain when it storms, an axe, a
+    bag of salt to save the hides of the alligators you will be
+    sure to kill if Johnny goes with you, and some grits and bacon.
+    Oh! you may need a mosquito-bar, and if you do want it you're
+    likely to want it bad. Make it of cheese-cloth; that'll keep
+    out sand-flies, too. Some of my folks will run it up on the
+    machine for you in a few minutes. There may be some other
+    little things that you'll need, but you can trust Johnny to
+    think of 'em. Now, Dick, you don't have to pay for any of these
+    things till you <span class="pagenum"><a name="page55"
+       id="page55"></a>[pg 55]</span> get good and ready. I'm used
+       to giving long credits and this time I'm glad to do it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, Mr. Streeter, you don't know how grateful I am to you
+    for all you are doing for me. The money is the least part of it
+    and I can fix that all right. You wouldn't think I was a
+    capitalist to look at me, would you?" said Dick, laughingly.
+    "Since I left home I've rolled up quite a fortune as a fireman
+    and a sponger and I can pay my little bills and have money to
+    burn besides. How soon do you think we can get off?"</p>
+
+    <p>"You ought to start to-morrow. You can get ready in an hour.
+    Know anything about canoeing?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Not much, but I've rowed some in a shell."</p>
+
+    <p>"That'll help you a little, but it leaves you something to
+    learn. The man whose canoe you have bought was cruising down
+    here with his family and he told me that every time one of 'em
+    stepped in that canoe he went overboard. He said he had to
+    choose between the canoe and his family and had concluded to
+    let the canoe go. One of my boys owns a little Indian canoe in
+    which Johnny and he have poled around a good deal, so I reckon
+    Johnny can keep inside of your canoe, but you'd better spend
+    the forenoon to-morrow practicing in it with a paddle, then you
+    can get off right after dinner and your clothes will be dry
+    before you make camp at night."</p>
+
+    <p>"Does Johnny know the course we ought to take from
+    here?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Not far, but I can help you some and you'll find
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page56"
+       id="page56"></a>[pg 56]</span> out the rest for yourselves.
+       You'll have to. Then Johnny savvies Injun talk pretty well
+       and you're sure to run across them or their camps. And he'll
+       likely know them, and if Ned's anywhere in their country or
+       has been there they'll sure know it. You will leave this bay
+       by way of Turner's River, which will take you into the most
+       tangled up part of the Ten Thousand Islands. You will go
+       through rivers and bays, around keys, along twisting
+       channels and up narrow, crooked creeks. You'll be lost from
+       the start, but you don't want to think of that. Just make
+       your course average southeast for the first fifty miles,
+       which you ought to cover in three days. Then hunt for some
+       creek coming from the east. It will be a little one, you
+       will have to drag your canoe, perhaps for miles, under
+       branches that close over the creek and you may have to carry
+       your canoe and pack your dunnage over prairie land. In a day
+       you ought to strike the Everglades. Then turn to the north
+       and look for Indian trails, which you want to follow
+       whenever they lead anywhere near where you are trying to go.
+       They will help you to dodge the worst of the saw-grass which
+       is likely to be your greatest trouble.</p>
+
+    <p>"Keep along the border line between the Everglades and the
+    cypress country and you will probably hit Osceola's camp. He's
+    about the whitest Seminole in the State and he'll help you all
+    he can. Remember, when in an Indian camp, that their brand of
+    politeness is different from a white man's, though it
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page57"
+       id="page57"></a>[pg 57]</span> may be just as sincere. If
+       you're hungry, and don't see a spoon lying around, just dip
+       your hand in the family pot, if you can eat that way. If you
+       want to sleep lie down on the nearest unoccupied bunk. If
+       you make a mistake they won't tell you of it.</p>
+
+    <p>"Now, remember above all things, that you mustn't get
+    rattled. That's the biggest risk you'll run in this country. If
+    you get separated from Johnny and think about being lost and
+    get excited and begin to walk fast, or run, stop right there
+    and sit down and don't go on till you're perfectly cool, not if
+    you have to camp right where you are for a night, or a day, or
+    both. Just as soon as you have taught yourself that when you
+    get excited you have got to sit still for an hour or two,
+    you'll stop getting excited. There is mighty little real danger
+    where you are going. There are bear and panther, but the only
+    thing on earth that's a bigger coward than a bear is a panther.
+    People from your country think the alligator is a dangerous
+    brute. I have lived among them, killed them, dealt in their
+    hides, of which I have shipped north the biggest consignments
+    sent from this coast, since before you were born, and I never
+    knew of a human being having been harmed by one. This deep
+    river running in front of my door used to be full of them, and
+    there are some there now, but my whole family of children swim
+    in it almost every day without thought of danger. Only two
+    weeks ago Johnny killed a ten-foot 'gator right in front of my
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page58"
+       id="page58"></a>[pg 58]</span> house and within a hundred
+       feet of it. Any of our hunters will wade into a pond where
+       there are fifty alligators, to drag out one they have shot;
+       many of them will tackle, with nothing but a stick, any
+       'gator under six feet that they can catch on a prairie or
+       asleep on a bank, and a few of the boys will wade
+       bare-footed and bare-handed into a pond on the prairie and
+       bring out little alligators. Johnny is a dabster at that.
+       Likely you'll see him do it before many days.</p>
+
+    <p>"Of course rattlesnakes are bad, but they always give
+    warning, usually a good long one. I've killed hundreds, perhaps
+    thousands of them and never been bitten. Cotton-mouth moccasins
+    are poisonous, but they are sluggish and not so very plenty.
+    You'll have to get used to the smaller moccasins. You will find
+    lots of them. I've kicked them out of my path on the prairies
+    and in the marshes for a good many years without having been
+    bitten by one.</p>
+
+    <p>"Sharks have a bad name, and Florida waters are full of
+    them, but there is no authentic instance on record of their
+    having killed a man, woman, or child in this country. There are
+    convicts and other outlaws in the Ten Thousand Islands. They
+    may steal something from your camp, but they won't harm you.
+    Some of them are bad men, and when they kill their own kind,
+    people here don't mind it, but the outlaws know that the
+    community wouldn't stand for their hurting any of you
+    boys."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick was ashamed when he got up to breakfast
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page59"
+       id="page59"></a>[pg 59]</span> to find that Mr. Streeter and
+       Johnny had been at work for an hour and had got everything
+       ready for a start, even to the mosquito-bar, which one of
+       the family had already made.</p>
+
+    <p>The outfit consisted of a fly-rod, with reel, line and
+    flies; rifle and shot-gun, with fifty cartridges for each; pair
+    grains, harpoon, line and pole; cast-net, fish hooks and lines;
+    forks, tin-cups and plates, two each; light axe, saucepan and
+    frying-pan; piece of waterproofed canvas, six by eight feet;
+    lantern, kerosene, and bag of salt; white bacon, hominy and
+    corn meal, five lbs. each; canoe, two paddles and one long oar;
+    five gallon can of water, and bucket; waterproof box filled
+    with matches.</p>
+
+    <p>Each of the boys carried a clasp knife and a pocket,
+    watertight match safe.</p>
+
+    <p>Nothing had been loaded on the canoe, as Mr. Streeter wanted
+    to be sure that Dick could stay in it, before he filled it with
+    goods that water might harm. He was soon satisfied on this
+    point, for although Dick got into the canoe with exceeding
+    care, he kept his balance perfectly, and after the first few
+    strokes appeared perfectly at home in the craft. He paddled for
+    a few minutes kneeling on the bottom of the boat, then sitting
+    on a thwart, and finally came back to the dock sitting on the
+    stern, while the bow of the canoe tilted up in the air. Then
+    Johnny got in with him and the boys maneuvered the craft until
+    Mr. Streeter called out to them:</p>
+
+    <p>"You kids are all right and don't need to waste
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page60"
+       id="page60"></a>[pg 60]</span> any more time. Better pack up
+       and be off, and save half a day." They loaded the canoe
+       carefully and took their positions, Dick in the stern and
+       Johnny in the bow. Then lifting their caps to the family,
+       who had come down to the dock to see them off, the boys
+       dipped their paddles together in the river and began Dick's
+       hunt for his chum.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page61"
+       id="page61"></a>[pg 61]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER VI</h3>
+
+    <h3>DICK'S HUNT FOR HIS CHUM</h3>
+
+    <p>An hour's paddling brought Dick and Johnny to the mouth of
+    Turner's River, up which they headed the canoe. A strong tide
+    setting up the river nearly doubled their speed.</p>
+
+    <p>"Lucky for us that the tide is running our way," said
+    Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Not much luck about it. Mr. Streeter knew about the tide.
+    That's why he hurried us off 'fore dinner. Tide'll be other way
+    this evenin'," replied Johnny.</p>
+
+    <p>"Isn't Mr. Streeter a brick?"</p>
+
+    <p>"He's all that. Lots o' people 'd have hard times 'f he
+    moved away. He helps th' Injuns, too, when they're in hard
+    luck."</p>
+
+    <p>The first fork in the river was a mile from its mouth and
+    Dick, who was steering, took the right branch, which led
+    southeast, although it was much the smaller stream. At the next
+    parting of the stream one branch led to the east and the other
+    due south. Fortunately Johnny knew which fork to take, and for
+    a mile or two there was no trouble. Then the river opened out
+    into a broad shallow bay,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page62"
+       id="page62"></a>[pg 62]</span> filled with little keys, but
+       nothing to tell Dick which way to steer. He tried to keep to
+       a southeast course, but ran into shallows which soon ended
+       in a pocket from which they had to back out. Often they
+       followed a good channel for a mile, only to have it end in
+       an oyster reef, and again they had to turn back. A pair of
+       dolphins lifted their heads above the surface in front of
+       the canoe and with a sniff of fright started away across the
+       bay like an express train. They were great creatures, nearly
+       nine feet long, and were followed in their flight by a baby
+       dolphin less than half their size, which rose within reach
+       of Dick's paddle, sniffed impertinently in his face and
+       skittered away after his mother as fast as he could wiggle
+       his funny flat tail.</p>
+
+    <p>"Better foller them porpoises," said Johnny; "they know the
+    channel."</p>
+
+    <p>The dolphin is so uniformly miscalled porpoise, on the west
+    coast and everywhere else, that the creature will soon come to
+    think that it really is a porpoise.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick followed the dolphins as long as he could see them and
+    was led into a deep channel which opened out into a series of
+    broad bays through which they paddled until, among the sunken
+    lands of the flooded mangrove keys, they came upon a shell
+    mound, the site of an old abandoned plantation. Dick's aching
+    muscles and Johnny's clamorous stomach had long been pleading
+    for a rest, and the boys landed on the mound for a picnic
+    dinner. They opened a box which Mrs. Streeter had given them as
+    they started <span class="pagenum"><a name="page63"
+       id="page63"></a>[pg 63]</span> from her home, and found a
+       bountiful lunch of cold venison, baked sweet potatoes,
+       boiled eggs, bread, butter, orange marmalade and two
+       pineapples.</p>
+
+    <p>"Gee!" said Dick. "Are we going to live this way, Johnny?"
+    but Johnny only grinned.</p>
+
+    <p>After the boys had eaten, as only boys can eat, they crawled
+    through the vines and among the thorns of the overgrown
+    plantation. They found stalks of sugar-cane and bunches of
+    bananas; wide-spreading guava and lime trees, loaded with
+    fruit; and tall Avocado pear trees from which hung purpling
+    globes of that great, creamy, most delicious fruit, commonly
+    called alligator pear. They filled with fruit the shirts they
+    wore, till they bulged like St. Nicholas, and made many trips
+    between the trees and their canoe. As Dick was standing beside
+    a lime tree, he heard a sound near him like the whirring of a
+    big locust. Dick had never before heard the angry jarring of
+    the rattles of the great king of snakes, but he didn't need to
+    be told the meaning of the blood-curdling sound, which seemed
+    to come from all directions at once. He gazed about him for a
+    moment, with every muscle tense, until he caught sight of the
+    head of the reptile waving slowly to and fro above the
+    irregular coils of his body. The snake seemed to be within
+    striking distance and the unnerved boy sprang suddenly away
+    from it, landing among the thorn-bearing branches of a big lime
+    tree. Dick soon recovered his nerve, and hunting up a big
+    stick, went cautiously in search of the reptile, which
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page64"
+       id="page64"></a>[pg 64]</span> he found still coiled. He
+       broke the creature's back with his first blow and had struck
+       several more when Johnny came crawling through the
+       undergrowth, and called out:</p>
+
+    <p>"Want to save his skin?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure," replied Dick, who hadn't thought of it before.</p>
+
+    <p>"Then don't smash him any more and I'll show you how to
+    round-skin him. He's dead enough, now. A feller from New York
+    showed me how. He skinned 'em for a livin'. Birds, too. Said
+    he'd give me ten dollars if I'd get him the skin of one of
+    these fork-tailed kites. He wanted the nest and eggs, too. Say,
+    but he could skin things. Skin a bird without losin' a feather
+    or gettin' a drop o' blood on it. Said the best way to skin
+    snakes was 'fore they was dead."</p>
+
+    <p>As Johnny began cutting the skin free from the jaws of the
+    reptile, the long, needle-like fangs dripped yellow venom and
+    Dick, looking on with a white face, half whispered:</p>
+
+    <p>"Suppose you happened to touch those fangs?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Ain't a-goin' to touch 'em. Wish I had my pliers here, to
+    pull 'em out. You oughter save 'em, and the skull, too. The
+    feller I was tellin' yer about always did."</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't want them; makes me sick to look at them," said
+    Dick, who looked mightily relieved when, the head having been
+    skinned, it was cut off and thrown into the bay. After that he
+    became <span class="pagenum"><a name="page65"
+       id="page65"></a>[pg 65]</span> interested and helped Johnny
+       with his work until he held in his hand the beautiful skin
+       of a diamondback rattlesnake, over six feet long.</p>
+
+    <p>In the afternoon the boys entered a big bay that seemed to
+    have no other outlet. They followed its shore for an hour,
+    exploring every little bay that looked big enough to hide the
+    smallest creek. They sounded the depth of the water with their
+    paddles and traced a little channel to a clump of bushes that
+    overhung the water from the shore. Johnny pulled the bow of the
+    canoe under the overhanging branches and found a little creek
+    through which the water was flowing. They dragged the canoe
+    into the stream and found water deep enough to float it, but
+    branches and vines obstructed them above, while logs and snags
+    troubled them below. They used their knives and the axe more
+    than they did their paddles. At times they lay down in the
+    canoe and dragged it under branches and at others got
+    overboard, and standing in water and mud, lifted it over logs.
+    They were in the deep gloom of a jungle from which the thick
+    growth above shut out nearly all the light. As they pushed the
+    canoe forward, unseen vines seized their throats in a garroting
+    clutch, while solid masses of spider-webs stuck to their faces
+    and spiders the size of a saucer ran over them. As Johnny sat
+    in the bow, he collected the most spiders, since Dick only got
+    those which his companion managed to dodge, but then Johnny was
+    used to the critters and didn't mind them, while Dick wasn't,
+    and did.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page66"
+       id="page66"></a>[pg 66]</span>
+
+    <p>"What kind of snakes are these swimming round my legs?"
+    asked Dick, as he stood nearly waist-deep in mud and water and
+    helped lift the canoe over the biggest log they had struck.</p>
+
+    <p>"Speckle-belly moccasins. Mustn't get scared o' them, if
+    you're goin' to hunt in this country. They ain't likely to bite
+    if yer don't step on 'em and they won't kill yer, nohow," said
+    Johnny.</p>
+
+    <p>The stream was so crooked that the boys had to travel three
+    miles to gain one and as the troubles in their path seemed to
+    increase they talked of turning back. But as it was already too
+    late to get out of the creek before dark, they decided to keep
+    on. As it was, darkness overtook them while they were yet in
+    the creek. Among their stores was a lantern, by the light of
+    which they progressed for a little while, when Johnny proposed
+    making camp.</p>
+
+    <p>"But we can't camp here. I'm not a merman, to sleep in the
+    water," said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"You can stretch out in the canoe, if we tie it so it won't
+    tip over, and I'll build a brush bed good enough for me in ten
+    minutes," said Johnny, who took the axe, and cut a short pole,
+    which he rested on the branches of two trees which grew side by
+    side, so that the stick lay parallel to a fallen tree trunk
+    which lay about five feet distant. Then he cut a number of inch
+    saplings into six-foot lengths, with which he made a platform
+    from the pole to the tree, and spreading his blanket on this
+    elastic couch announced that his bed was ready. The boys made a
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page67"
+       id="page67"></a>[pg 67]</span> hearty supper from the
+       fragments that were left from the bountiful provision that
+       Mrs. Streeter had made for their dinner. Dick's bed in the
+       canoe was probably softer than Johnny's bed, but he didn't
+       sleep as well. The sides of his canoe were only five inches
+       above the water which contained the moccasins, and Dick was
+       sure he could feel their tongues touch his face as the
+       reptiles searched for a soft place to strike. Then the
+       snarling from a tree beside him would have been less
+       terrifying if he had known that instead of being, as he
+       supposed, two wildcats quarreling for the first bite at him,
+       it was merely a friendly family discussion between two
+       'coons.</p>
+
+    <p>Things looked more cheerful by daylight, and when Johnny
+    asked whether they should go on or turn back, Dick replied:</p>
+
+    <p>"Go on just as long as the creek runs." But the creek became
+    choked with brush and turned back on its course, until Johnny
+    said:</p>
+
+    <p>"If this crik gits any crookeder it'll fetch us back
+    home."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys had to cut away two trees which had fallen across
+    the creek where the growth was so thick that to cut a path
+    around would have been more work than to clear away the logs.
+    The trees were large, their axe a little one, and when the boys
+    came to three trees lying near together across the stream Dick
+    was so dismayed that he said to
+    Johnny:</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page68"
+       id="page68"></a>[pg 68]</span>
+
+    <p>"Let's get back out of this creek. We must be on the wrong
+    track, Mr. Streeter said Indians and hunters got through this
+    country, but they never got through this way. What do you
+    think?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Hate to go back, but s'pose we've got ter."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick's spirits ran low during the return trip through the
+    creek. They were going in the wrong direction, and each hour
+    was taking him farther away from where he supposed Ned was.
+    Many times he wished they had kept on and fought their way
+    through the creek. After reaching the bay they had left the day
+    before they turned to the east and north as they followed
+    labyrinthic channels that led around big and little keys in
+    that part of the ten times Ten Thousand Islands. The work
+    became confusing, the waterways they followed led them toward
+    every point in the compass. Sometimes a narrowing stream made
+    them think they had struck a creek which flowed from the
+    mainland, but always it opened into some small bay filled with
+    little keys. Late in the afternoon they found a point of land
+    high enough for a camp, where they spent the night. After they
+    had eaten their supper, Dick said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Johnny, do you know where we are?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Nope; bin goin' 'round so fast I've got dizzy."</p>
+
+    <p>"You mean we are lost?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yep; but that's nothin' s' long's we don't stay lost."</p>
+
+    <p>"What shall we do, and where shall we
+    go?"</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page69"
+       id="page69"></a>[pg 69]</span>
+
+    <p>"Go anywhere, only stick to it. Got ter do sumpthin; fresh
+    water's 'most gone. Reckon we'd better go 'bout sou'west. We
+    kin find a river that'll take us t' the coast, 'nd I kin find a
+    way that'll take us where you wanter go."</p>
+
+    <p>An hour's paddling brought the boys to a bay in which were
+    several pretty keys, on one of which Dick saw a number of
+    beautiful white birds.</p>
+
+    <p>"What are those?" he asked.</p>
+
+    <p>"Egrets," said Johnny. "Want ter shoot 'em?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Of course not," replied Dick. "It's against the law, and
+    wicked, besides. They are the loveliest birds there are and
+    never ought to be killed just for fun."</p>
+
+    <p>"We never kill 'em for fun. Only tourists do that. If you
+    Northern fellers didn't pay us ter git plumes we'd never kill
+    'em. D'ye remember that key over there?"</p>
+
+    <p>"No. What about it?"</p>
+
+    <p>"See that crik by the palmetter 'nd the big stump? Know it
+    now?"</p>
+
+    <p>"What! Isn't that the creek we slept in night before
+    last?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure! 'nd that's where we wanter go now. Them trees that we
+    stopped fer was cut by our fellers to keep off the Lossman
+    River plume hunters. We've got ter cut 'em out, er git 'round
+    'em if 't takes a week."</p>
+
+    <p>"How about water?"</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page70"
+       id="page70"></a>[pg 70]</span>
+
+    <p>"Find it t'other side o' the crik. I'd rather go without
+    than go back t' anybody's house fer it."</p>
+
+    <p>"But that old shack where we killed the rattler isn't far
+    off, and I saw a water-barrel under the caves."</p>
+
+    <p>"So did I, 'nd a possum floatin' in it, too. That's why I
+    didn't fill up there. We'll go slow on what we got 'nd do
+    without a day 'r two, 'nd we'll find some by then if we stick
+    t' anything."</p>
+
+    <p>"We're going to stick to things hereafter, Johnny. It was
+    plumb foolish to lay down just because a tree got in our way,
+    and it was my fault, too. It isn't going to happen again,
+    though. Let's get through that creek to-night, if we have to
+    work by the light of the lantern."</p>
+
+    <p>"Ain't you 'fraid o' the snakes?" said Johnny.</p>
+
+    <p>"No. I'm too ashamed of myself for backing out of that creek
+    to be afraid of anything, except doing it again."</p>
+
+    <p>When the boys got back to the trees which lay across the
+    creek, they took turns with the little axe, which was not much
+    heavier than a hatchet, until they had cleared an opening for
+    the canoe. They found other trees in their way, but they kept
+    on. Once they unloaded the canoe on stumps and logs until they
+    could lift it over a log that lay so deep in the water that it
+    was hard to cut. Five minutes later, and within a hundred yards
+    of where they had turned back on the previous day, the boys
+    reached the end of the creek, where it opened into
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page71"
+       id="page71"></a>[pg 71]</span> a bay which seemed to Dick as
+       beautiful as a dream. It was dotted with little islands, on
+       some of which were picturesque groups of palmettos, and on
+       others big trees filled with white-plumaged birds. Two black
+       dots on the surface of the water a hundred yards from the
+       canoe moved slowly across its bow. Johnny stopped paddling
+       and said:</p>
+
+    <p>"There's a 'gator. D'ye want him?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't see him."</p>
+
+    <p>"See them two black knobs on the water? The little one's his
+    nose 'nd the big one's his eye. He's turnin' 'round 'nd showin'
+    both eyes, now. Shoot him in the eye if yer want t' kill him.
+    It'll take some time t' skin him, though, 'nd mebbe ye're in a
+    hurry to get along."</p>
+
+    <p>"I sure am," replied Dick, and as the paddles dipped
+    together in the water, the alligator, suspicious of them,
+    slowly sank from their sight.</p>
+
+    <p>At the end of the bay the boys found a deep, narrow river
+    with a current which Dick supposed was tidal, but which Johnny
+    thought came from the Glades. Dick tasted the water and was
+    surprised to find that instead of being salt it had the
+    sweetish taste of merely brackish water. There were birds of
+    many kinds in the trees on the banks of the river, and as the
+    boys paddled against the current Johnny saw a brace of ducks
+    swimming ahead of the canoe. He took in his paddle and picked
+    up the shotgun, which, with much forethought, he had placed
+    beside himself in the canoe before starting out. Dick
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page72"
+       id="page72"></a>[pg 72]</span> paddled very slowly and
+       quietly toward the ducks until they were within easy range.
+       Johnny had been told that if he wanted to be a real
+       sportsman he must never fire at birds with a shotgun unless
+       they were flying. So he waited until the ducks rose before
+       firing at them. The next instant a bird fell heavily on the
+       water a few yards ahead of the canoe.</p>
+
+    <p>"Why, that bird fell out of this tree!" said the astonished
+    Dick. "I didn't know you fired up in a tree."</p>
+
+    <p>"I didn't," replied Johnny. "That was a water-turkey, and he
+    isn't hurt a bit. They often act so when they're scared. Watch
+    out for him under the bank."</p>
+
+    <p>In a minute or two Dick saw a long, snake-like head and neck
+    thrust out of the water by the bank. The head twisted about
+    with a quick, jerky motion till the bird's eyes rested on the
+    canoe, when it disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared.</p>
+
+    <p>"What became of the ducks?" said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Reckon we'll find one of 'em 'round that p'int. The other
+    got away." Johnny was right, and the duck was found just around
+    the point.</p>
+
+    <p>At some places the river narrowed into deep creeks and at
+    others broadened out into wide, shallow bays, where the boys
+    were puzzled to find the inlet they wanted. It was nearly noon
+    when they struck a stream of quite a different sort from
+    anything they had previously seen. Its mouth lay between banks
+    that were high for Florida, and through it flowed
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page73"
+       id="page73"></a>[pg 73]</span> a stream of crystal-clear
+       water, which, to the great relief and delight of the boys,
+       was fresh as a mountain brook The bed of the stream looked
+       like sand to Dick, but when he thumped it with his paddle he
+       found it was coral rock. Suddenly Johnny called to him:</p>
+
+    <p>"Watch out fur the boat," and resting his hands on the sides
+    of the craft leaped into the water without disturbing in the
+    least the balance of the canoe.</p>
+
+    <p>As Johnny swam rapidly under water, close to the white coral
+    bottom of the creek, Dick saw that he was chasing a turtle
+    which was skurrying toward the bank for protection. It got
+    there all right, but the bank didn't protect it, and soon
+    Johnny came to the surface hugging to his breast with his left
+    hand a wildly flapping turtle, while with his right he struck
+    out for the canoe. Getting into the canoe would have been a
+    ticklish job, so Johnny handed the turtle to his companion and
+    swam to the bank while Dick followed with the canoe. By the
+    time Johnny had butchered the turtle, Dick had constructed a
+    very creditable camp-fire under a palmetto, in the shade of
+    which the boys rested while they waited for the turtle stew to
+    be ready for them. Their breakfast had been a cold one,
+    consisting entirely of fruit, and they had decided that for
+    dinner they would begin with turtle stew and end with broiled
+    duck. When the stew had been finished, Johnny inquired:</p>
+
+    <p>"Want that duck cooked
+    now?"</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page74"
+       id="page74"></a>[pg 74]</span>
+
+    <p>"No, I don't. If I ate another mouthful I'd bust. Let's have
+    the duck next week."</p>
+
+    <p>Yet each of the boys managed to eat about a hatful of wild
+    grapes, which they found growing a short distance from their
+    camp-fire.</p>
+
+    <p>Just as the boys were starting out again, Dick saw a turtle,
+    and, laying down his paddle, said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Johnny, if you can catch turtles, I can. See me go for that
+    one."</p>
+
+    <p>"Hold on," shouted Johnny, as Dick was about to jump
+    overboard. "That's an alligator turtle. Bites worse'n a
+    bulldog, and ain't good fur much t' eat, nohow."</p>
+
+    <p>As they kept on up the creek, its banks came nearer
+    together, trees were more numerous, and the bushes thicker.
+    Soon these began to close overhead, while the stream itself
+    broke up into several smaller ones. As these twisted about,
+    forming a labyrinth of little channels bounded by hundreds of
+    tiny keys, all cohered by an interlaced canopy of leaves and
+    branches, Dick wondered if ever they could find their way out.
+    But he had resolved that morning that never again would he turn
+    back in his exploring so long as it was possible to go on. The
+    little streams continued to become smaller and the turns
+    shorter, until to get around the bends the axe was in constant
+    use to clear a path, while the boys waded and often dragged or
+    carried the canoe. It was wearing work, and they frequently sat
+    down to rest. On one of these occasions Johnny
+    inquired:</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page75"
+       id="page75"></a>[pg 75]</span>
+
+    <p>"How long you want ter keep this up? This ain't the right
+    creek, not the one Mr. Streeter told about."</p>
+
+    <p>"I know that. The creek he spoke of must be away south of
+    this, but this will probably take us to the Everglades, or near
+    them. So we had better keep on till the brook gives out and
+    then travel to the east, toting the canoe till we get to the
+    Glades. We may be away north of Osceola's camp, but there will
+    likely be a trail that will help us to find it, and anyhow we
+    will be near the line that Mr. Streeter thinks Ned and the
+    Indian will follow. Don't you like the plan?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Me? Sure! I don't want any better fun than t' keep on t'
+    the Atlantic Ocean, only 'fraid it'd be too hard fer you."</p>
+
+    <p>Night found the toys in a narrow stream, scarcely more than
+    the width of the canoe, with bushes around them so thick that
+    they found it hard to clear a place big enough to sleep on.
+    They were tired enough to sleep soundly, in spite of the
+    occasional cries of the birds and beasts of the forest.</p>
+
+    <p>They made an early start in the morning, and, although the
+    creek was crooked and they had to cut away many small trees,
+    they were encouraged to find the bushes becoming less abundant
+    as the water grew more shallow, and by dark they were on the
+    border of an open prairie, where they made camp for the
+    night.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page76"
+       id="page76"></a>[pg 76]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER VII</h3>
+
+    <h3>THE MEETING IN THE GLADES</h3>
+
+    <p>"The Everglades at last!" said Dick the next morning as the
+    rays of the rising sun fell on the waters of the Everglades in
+    the distance and lit up the clumps of cypress and groups of
+    palmettos that dotted the prairie before him. A little to the
+    north and extending into the Glades was a row of willows which
+    Johnny visited and found that it marked the course of a slough
+    that crossed the prairie and extended far out into the
+    Glades.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/76.jpg"
+             name="fig76"
+             id="fig76"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/76.jpg"
+             alt='"THE EVERGLADES AT LAST"' /></a>"THE EVERGLADES
+             AT LAST"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>They were soon afloat in this slough, paddling toward the
+    Everglades, but the channel which they followed was crooked and
+    it was an hour before they reached them. The boys made their
+    camp beside a little group of palmettos on a bit of dry ground
+    which had often been used for that purpose. Johnny pointed to a
+    faint line in the grass of the Glades and told Dick that it was
+    an Indian trail. Dick was excited at the thought that the chum
+    he had come so far to meet might even now be in sight. When,
+    far to the north, he saw what Johnny said was an Indian canoe
+    with two people poling it, he could scarcely restrain himself
+    from <span class="pagenum"><a name="page77"
+       id="page77"></a>[pg 77]</span> paddling out to meet it. The
+       canoe came on rapidly, and Dick's excitement increased until
+       he began to fancy that in one of the faces that showed above
+       the grass he could make out the features of his chum, when
+       Johnny dashed his hopes to the ground by saying:</p>
+
+    <p>"Them's Injuns. Squaws, too. B'lieve I know 'em."</p>
+
+    <p>Then as the approaching faces showed more clearly through
+    the tall grass:</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure thing. It's Miami Billy's girls. They'll savvy where
+    Charley Tommy is."</p>
+
+    <p>The Indian girls were poling past the canoe without
+    appearing to see it, when Johnny spoke to them. Then the girls,
+    who were clothed in the brightest of prints, with masses of
+    beads on their necks, sat down in their canoe and had a pow-wow
+    with Johnny that was altogether unintelligible to Dick. When
+    the girls had gone, Johnny explained:</p>
+
+    <p>"Squaws say: 'Think so Charley Tommy not been Osceola Camp,
+    two moons. Been Big Cypress; hunt 'gator. Maybe so hunt with
+    white man. Not been Charley Tiger camp this moon.' The girls
+    left that camp day 'fore yesterday. Only other trail from
+    Tiger's camp goes t' Miami. We c'n camp right here 'nd ketch
+    'em sure."</p>
+
+    <p>Johnny proposed that while waiting they do some alligator
+    hunting. They got out their canvas and rigged up a regular
+    camp. Dick wrote a few lines on a scrap of paper, addressed it
+    "Mr. Edward <span class="pagenum"><a name="page78"
+       id="page78"></a>[pg 78]</span> Barstow," and fastened it on
+       a palmetto tree, in such a way that no one passing along the
+       trail could fail to see it. The boys then unpacked the
+       canoe, and turning it upside down on a bit of dry land
+       stowed their stores under it. They gathered a lot of grass
+       for their beds, arranged for an early start in the morning,
+       and slept dreamlessly till morning came. The hunt was to be
+       on foot, and Johnny insisted that Dick carry the rifle,
+       while he made up a light pack for himself of axe,
+       frying-pan, forks and a little bacon, corn meal, bait and
+       matches. When Dick saw Johnny's pack, he said to him:</p>
+
+    <p>"Won't we get back to-night?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Mebbe so, but you can't allers tell. We might get to
+    follerin' sumthin and be gone two or three days. I don't reckon
+    we're goin' to get lost, though we may be bothered some."</p>
+
+    <p>"If there's a chance of that we haven't got enough to
+    eat."</p>
+
+    <p>"Got plenty. All we really want is a rifle, matches and
+    salt. They'd be good for a month."</p>
+
+    <p>"What do you do for bread?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Cut the bud out of a cabbage tree."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys tramped across the prairie to a belt of cypress,
+    where Johnny stopped for some minutes, looking back to study
+    the landscape and take note of every clump of trees and bit of
+    water in sight.</p>
+
+    <p>"I thought you were not afraid of getting lost," said
+    Dick.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page79"
+       id="page79"></a>[pg 79]</span>
+
+    <p>"I ain't afraid. I could alters git home all right, but I'd
+    hate to lose the canoe."</p>
+
+    <p>The cypress strand was swampy, and they crossed it by
+    stepping from root to root, excepting that once, when Dick was
+    looking at a moccasin, he made a misstep and landed in the mud,
+    where he sank to his waist. The woods were narrow, and beyond
+    them was a broad prairie with clumps of trees and pools of
+    water scattered through it. As they walked and waded they
+    crossed the tracks of many animals and birds, to most of which
+    Johnny could give names. There were plenty of 'coons, a few
+    wildcats, some deer, and one bear, while between the little
+    ponds alligators had worn regular paths.</p>
+
+    <p>"What's that?" said Dick as a lizard-like creature scuttled
+    through the grass some fifty yards in front of him.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Gator! Shoot quick, 'fore he gits t' that pond!"</p>
+
+    <p>Dick fired, and his bullet spattered the mud over the
+    reptile's back as it slid into the water.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick was very much chagrined at missing his quarry, but
+    Johnny consoled him.</p>
+
+    <p>"I'll git ye another shot at him. I'll call him out o' the
+    water, and if he don't come I'll take a stick an' go in there
+    an' run him out."</p>
+
+    <p>Johnny stood beside the pond and grunted in imitation of a
+    young alligator. In a few minutes two black dots appeared on
+    the surface of the water, and, slowly rising, disclosed the
+    eyes and the point of the nose of an alligator. Johnny grunted
+    again, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page80"
+       id="page80"></a>[pg 80]</span> and the big mouth opened wide
+       to take in the baby 'gator which the reptile thought he
+       heard. Then the horny ridges of the back began to appear,
+       and soon the whole body of the reptile lay on the surface.
+       Johnny whispered to Dick:</p>
+
+    <p>"Shoot him in that hump behind his eyes." Dick took careful
+    aim and fired. The alligator rolled slowly over, with its
+    yellow belly on top and its four paws uplifted. Johnny waded
+    into the pond and dragged out the body of the reptile, which
+    Dick helped him skin. When this had been done Johnny cut from
+    the creature a round strip of white flesh, about a foot long,
+    beginning at the hind leg and running toward the tail.</p>
+
+    <p>"What's that for?" said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Fur dinner. I told ye we'd find 'nuff t' eat."</p>
+
+    <p>"Do yon s'pose I'm going to eat that?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure! 'nd yer goin' ter like it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Then I wish I hadn't helped skin it."</p>
+
+    <p>Just as the boys were leaving the pond they heard a little
+    grunt, and turning around saw a baby alligator, less than two
+    feet long, lying on the surface.</p>
+
+    <p>"Want ter ketch that alive?" asked Johnny.</p>
+
+    <p>"Can you do it?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I'll show' yer."</p>
+
+    <p>And Johnny took off his shoes and waded into the pond. He
+    waded about the pond, feeling in the mud with his toes until he
+    felt the reptile, when, slipping his toes under it he lifted
+    his foot suddenly <span class="pagenum"><a name="page81"
+       id="page81"></a>[pg 81]</span> and brought the alligator
+       near enough to the surface to be able to seize him. Dick was
+       delighted with the captive, but was frank enough to say:</p>
+
+    <p>"Johnny, I said once that I could learn to do anything that
+    you could. I take that back. I couldn't learn to do what you
+    did then in a thousand years."</p>
+
+    <p>Johnny laughed and said:</p>
+
+    <p>"You'd do it this afternoon, and I'll bet on it."</p>
+
+    <p>Johnny tied a string around the jaws of their little pet and
+    handed it to Dick, who carried the wiggly thing so awkwardly
+    that Johnny took it back and, opening the bosom of his shirt,
+    put the alligator where he would have a soft bed and plenty of
+    room to prowl around.</p>
+
+    <p>"That's another thing I'd be scared to do," said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>Johnny led the way to a clump of palmettos beside a clear
+    little spring and a nice shady bit of ground, where they made a
+    camp-fire, after driving away a family of moccasins that seemed
+    to own the place. A slice of alligator steak, nicely browned,
+    was served on a palmetto fan to Dick, who nibbled squeamishly
+    at the delicate morsel at first, but soon handed back his leafy
+    plate for another helping.</p>
+
+    <p>"Wouldn't have believed it," said Dick, "but I never tasted
+    any better meat."</p>
+
+    <p>"Wait till I cook ye a rattler. That beats fried
+    chicken."</p>
+
+    <p>"No, thank you. I draw the line at
+    snakes."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page82"
+       id="page82"></a>[pg 82]</span>
+
+    <p>"You drawed it at 'gators this mornin'. Want some more?"</p>
+
+    <p>And Dick shamelessly passed up his plate.</p>
+
+    <p>The boys walked and waded several miles, until they were
+    near a heavily wooded tract, which Johnny said was cypress
+    swamp. It was late in the day, and they were about to turn back
+    when Dick saw a turkey, which was holding her head half as high
+    as his own, step silently into the cover of the woods, followed
+    by half a dozen of her half-grown brood. Johnny saw the birds
+    almost as soon as Dick, and exclaimed excitedly:</p>
+
+    <p>"We've got ter have one of them young turks if it takes all
+    night."</p>
+
+    <p>They entered the swamp and got sight of one of the turkeys
+    as he ran along a log, and they walked to where they saw the
+    bird, only to get another glimpse at about the same distance.
+    Again they followed the birds, this time as cautiously as if
+    they had been stalking hostile Indians. Often they saw one or
+    more of the turkeys, but never within easy range.</p>
+
+    <p>"Better try a long shot. They're gettin' wild," said
+    Johnny.</p>
+
+    <p>"No, you try 'em, Johnny; you're used to the rifle and
+    you're a better shot than I, anyhow."</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/82.jpg"
+             name="fig82"
+             id="fig82"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/82.jpg"
+             alt="WE'VE GOTTER HAVE ONE OF THEM YOUNG TURKS IF IT TAKES ALL NIGHT" />
+        </a>"WE'VE GOTTER HAVE ONE OF THEM YOUNG TURKS IF IT TAKES
+        ALL NIGHT"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>Johnny took the weapon, and his chance came soon. One of the
+    young birds lit on a stump within long range of him and
+    remained there until he had taken a careful sight and fired.
+    The bird fell, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page83"
+       id="page83"></a>[pg 83]</span> the rest of the brood flew
+       into the depths of the swamp. When the boys were ready to
+       start back to camp, Dick discovered to his chagrin that he
+       had no idea of the direction in which they should travel.
+       Johnny, too, was in some doubt, and as it was already
+       growing dark and they had been traveling in the swamp for an
+       hour or two, he proposed that they camp right where they
+       were.</p>
+
+    <p>"How can we camp here? Water's knee-deep, there's no place
+    for a fire, and I'd starve to death before morning. Don't you
+    expect to have anything to eat until to-morrow?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Bet yer I do! What's the matter with young turkey?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Young turkey's bully, but raw turkey's bum."</p>
+
+    <p>Johnny laughed and waded to where a fallen tree had left a
+    level place among its upturned roots. A few minutes' work with
+    the hatchet, which Johnny always carried when hunting, cleared
+    out a good foundation for a fire.</p>
+
+    <p>"Bully for you! I'll dress the turkey while you build a
+    fire," said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>By the time the bird was ready for the frying-pan, Johnny
+    had not only built the fire, but had cut a lot of poles and
+    rigged up a rough cot between the fallen tree and a rotten log
+    that lay near it. Johnny cut some thin slices of bacon for the
+    frying-pan and then filled it with thick slices and chunks of
+    turkey. When this had been cooked and disposed of, Dick still
+    looked hungry, and another panful
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page84"
+       id="page84"></a>[pg 84]</span> of the bird was fried. Dick
+       slept some during the night, but complained that he had a
+       map of his bunk on his back, which had been printed deeply.
+       When breakfast was over and the last bone of the turkey had
+       been picked, the boys turned their faces to the east and
+       started for their camp. They soon reached an open glade,
+       which was quite unfamiliar to them, and were about to enter
+       it, when Johnny, who was ahead, slipped behind a tree and
+       held up his hand warningly to Dick, who promptly got behind
+       another. Two deer were in the opening, about a hundred yards
+       to windward of the boys, toward whom they were slowly
+       feeding. Dick was excited and was nervously raising his
+       rifle, when Johnny whispered:</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't hurry. Got lots o' time."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick was ashamed of his nervousness, and determined to
+    conquer it, even if he didn't fire at all. One of the deer was
+    a buck with fine antlers, and Dick watched his slow advance, as
+    he looked around for a moment and then browsed for a minute or
+    two, until the boy felt that his nerves were steady once more.
+    The buck was within fifty yards when Dick lifted the rifle to
+    his shoulder and let his cheek rest upon its stock. In another
+    instant the hunted deer had caught sight of the hunter, but it
+    was too late. The beautiful creature stood motionless for half
+    a minute, while Dick wondered if he could have missed, and then
+    sank slowly to the ground, dead. At the report of the rifle the
+    other deer, which <span class="pagenum"><a name="page85"
+       id="page85"></a>[pg 85]</span> was a doe, scampered a few
+       yards, then, turning back her head, gazed with wondering
+       eyes upon her fallen mate. Johnny took from his pocket a
+       cartridge, and, holding it between thumb and finger, looked
+       inquiringly at Dick. Dick shook his head, and in another
+       instant the doe had scampered out of danger. Dick helped
+       Johnny skin and dress the deer, and learned a lot while
+       doing so, but he seemed less happy than a boy should be
+       after killing his first deer.</p>
+
+    <p>"Johnny, I wish that buck hadn't looked at me out of his big
+    eyes just when I was killing him. If I had waited a second I
+    believe I wouldn't have fired."</p>
+
+    <p>"Glad ye didn't wait, then. Why didn't yer worry about th'
+    'gator? 'Gators has fine eyes."</p>
+
+    <p>When the boys started on again they counted their loads
+    light, but after they had crossed the glade and waded and
+    wallowed through a mile or two of swamp they were of a
+    different opinion. When at last they had crossed the swamp and
+    only a bit of prairie lay between them and the Everglades, they
+    were glad enough to throw down their packs for a long rest. The
+    Everglades were before them, but where was their camp? In that
+    open country they could have seen it for three, perhaps four,
+    miles. Johnny had studied the country around the camp when they
+    left it the day before, but could see nothing familiar now.
+    However, the boy wasn't
+    worried.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page86"
+       id="page86"></a>[pg 86]</span>
+
+    <p>"Reckon we're too fur north. Better go south a few miles,
+    'nd if we don't find it we'll turn 'round 'nd go t'other way.
+    All we got ter do is t' stick t' the saw-grass," said he.</p>
+
+    <p>For a quarter of a mile the tramp was an easy one. Then the
+    boys struck a hit of boggy ground, in which they sank over
+    their knees at every step. When the ground became firmer the
+    water got deeper, and after wading half a mile without a chance
+    to lay down his pack and rest, Dick said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Johnny, I always heard that Florida deer were small, but
+    this one must have weighed a ton. Wonder if your half is as
+    heavy as mine. I've got to sit down on that hummock and
+    rest."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick waded to the hummock and sat down on it, wondering what
+    Johnny was laughing at. The next minute he understood, for the
+    hummock gave a heave and Dick rolled off into the water, while
+    a scared alligator scurried away through the water and mud of
+    the prairie. The hummock was only a pile of loose grass such as
+    alligators often collect and under which they live in the
+    Everglades and the submerged prairies about them. Soon the boys
+    found dryer ground, and after a brisk tramp of half an hour
+    were cheered by the sight of their camp. There was no sign of
+    life about it, to the great disappointment of Dick, who had
+    been hoping that Ned had found it. Before reaching their camp
+    they had to cross a slough that was wide and deep.</p>
+
+    <p>"Reckon we've got ter swim," said Johnny as he
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page87"
+       id="page87"></a>[pg 87]</span> found a dry place on the bank
+       for his pack and his rifle before wading into the stream.
+       But the bottom was of coral and hard, the water reached only
+       to his arm-pits, and the boys crossed without trouble,
+       carrying their packs on their heads. Dick decided to wait
+       for Ned at the camp, and Johnny collected wood and proceeded
+       to smoke their venison. For two days they stayed by the
+       camp, watching the trail and keeping the buzzards away from
+       the venison by day and listening to the cries of the wild
+       creatures in the woods near-by at night, when Dick's
+       patience gave out.</p>
+
+    <p>"Johnny," said he on the morning of the third day, "we've
+    got to find Ned Barstow. Do you s'pose if he knew that I was
+    within fifty miles of him he'd loaf in camp for a week
+    expecting me to run over him? Not much he wouldn't. He'd be
+    sky-hootin' from daylight till dark over the whole country till
+    he lit on me. Mr. Streeter said Charley Tommy couldn't get past
+    Tiger Tail's camp under four days. Now, what's the matter with
+    our meeting him there? Can't you follow the trail of those
+    squaws bade to Tiger's camp?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I kin try. Mebbe 'tain't so easy's you think, though."</p>
+
+    <p>"What risk do we run in trying it?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Nothin', 'cept we may miss your man. We're all right 'nd
+    could live anywhere in this country for a year on what we've
+    got and could pick
+    up."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page88"
+       id="page88"></a>[pg 88]</span>
+
+    <p>"Then let's hike out. I can't keep still any longer."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys followed the trail by which the squaws had come
+    without difficulty for a few miles. Then came a stretch of open
+    water, where their eyes failed to catch the faint traces of the
+    passing canoes among the few scattering blades of grass that
+    appeared on the surface. Several times they picked up the trail
+    after they had lost it, but at last they missed it for miles.
+    They decided not to go back, and kept on, hoping to find it
+    again. They kept in the light grass as much as they could, but
+    in avoiding the strands of the heavy saw-grass of the Glades
+    they were forced farther and farther to the east, until night
+    found them in the open Everglades with no hope of a place to
+    camp.</p>
+
+    <p>They made their way to a flooded key of sweet-bay, myrtle
+    and cocoa plums, and Johnny piled up brush on which he tried to
+    sleep, while Dick lay in the canoe, which had been lashed
+    between two little trees. They were awakened by a deluge of
+    rain, and in a few minutes there wasn't a dry rag between them.
+    They used their canvas to protect guns, ammunition and such
+    things as had to be kept dry. A cold wind chilled them to the
+    bone, and they had to sit down in the water to get warm. It was
+    a short-lived storm, and when the rain ceased and the stars
+    came out Dick said to his companion:</p>
+
+    <p>"It's no use trying to sleep to-night; let's pull out for
+    Tiger Tail's."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page89"
+       id="page89"></a>[pg 89]</span>
+
+    <p>When morning came the boys saw, far to the northwest, an
+    Indian camp which they knew must belong to Charley Tiger Tail.
+    But between them and the camp was an almost impassable barrier
+    of saw-grass. They paddled to the east, keeping on the southern
+    border of the saw-grass strand, and whenever an opening
+    appeared they followed it until turned back by grass too heavy
+    for them to force their way through. They worked until noon and
+    were out of sight of the Indian camp when they saw, a mile
+    north of them, a couple of Indians poling their canoe. Johnny
+    waved his hand to the Indians, who stopped poling and waited
+    for the boys to get to them. He was soon pow-wowing with them,
+    and translating to Dick as he talked.</p>
+
+    <p>"These Injuns, Charley Jumper and Cypress Tiger. This Miami
+    trail. Goes Tiger Tail's camp, 'bout six mile. Hooray! Charley
+    Tommy 'nd your man there. No, went away this mornin'. They say
+    think so on Osceola trail. That's the trail the squaws was on,
+    'nd we lost it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Can't we cut across to that trail and head them off, or
+    catch up with them?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I asked 'em. They say: 'No good, trail bad, trail to
+    Charley Tiger good, then go Osceola trail. Maybe so Charley
+    Tommy stop Osceola camp, maybe Miami Billy camp, maybe so not
+    stop anywhere.' They say they sick <i>ojus</i>, want
+    <i>whyome</i>. That means they're awful sick and want whisky,
+    but all Injuns <span class="pagenum"><a name="page90"
+       id="page90"></a>[pg 90]</span> is that. These is good
+       Injuns. Better do what they say."</p>
+
+    <p>The trail to the Indian's camp was a crooked one, but Johnny
+    followed it without trouble, although it was nearly dark when
+    they reached the camp. They slept on one of the high tables
+    which the Seminoles use for their beds, and found Charley Tiger
+    Tail quite a civilized Indian, who spoke a little English, sold
+    whisky and dealt in the contraband plumes of the egret.</p>
+
+    <p>The boys were up and off at daylight, for they had agreed to
+    do two days' work in every twenty-four hours till they caught
+    the canoe they were chasing. Johnny had talked with Tiger about
+    the Osceola trail, until he felt he could follow it
+    blind-folded, and little time was lost in studying as they
+    poled and paddled that day.</p>
+
+    <p>Soon after their start in the morning Dick had said, as he
+    threw his weight on the paddle, which he was using as a
+    pole:</p>
+
+    <p>"Are you game, Johnny, to camp to-night where we jerked the
+    venison?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I kin stand it if you kin. Them squaws took two days,
+    though, 'nd I ain't lookin' ter beat Injuns much with a
+    canoe."</p>
+
+    <p>It is doubtful if the boys could have made the camp, for
+    darkness came before they were in sight of it, had not Dick
+    said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Johnny, isn't that a light over there toward
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page91"
+       id="page91"></a>[pg 91]</span> the land? I've seen it two or
+       three times. Do you s'pose it's a fire in the woods?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't see it," said Johnny. "Yes, I do, now," adding
+    excitedly an instant later: "Don't you 'member th' big bend in
+    th' trail jest after we left th' camp we're lookin' fer? That
+    fire ain't in th' woods. It's at our old camp, 'nd Charley
+    Tommy built that fire, sure as shootin'."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick was faint with excitement, and could scarcely hold his
+    paddle.</p>
+
+    <p>"We must get there soon as we can," said he.</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure!" said Johnny. "Only let's go quiet 'nd s'prise
+    'em."</p>
+
+    <p>If Charley Tommy had been a white man the plan would
+    probably have been successful. As the boys approached the camp
+    they moved more and more slowly, until Dick laid down his
+    paddle and Johnny did all the work. There was not a sound that
+    Dick could hear, and when the canoe was within a hundred feet
+    of the fire he could see Ned Barstow resting his elbow on a log
+    near it, while the Indian lay beside a palmetto, apparently
+    asleep. But as the canoe continued to approach, Charley Tommy
+    lifted his head, took a swift look around, and, half rising,
+    gazed keenly out over the water toward the boys in the canoe.
+    Further concealment was impossible, and Dick called out:</p>
+
+    <p>"Hello, the camp!"</p>
+
+    <p>Ned sprang to his feet, and looking across the water in the
+    direction from which the dream voice
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page92"
+       id="page92"></a>[pg 92]</span> seemed to have come, was
+       silent until he saw the shadowy outline of a canoe, when he
+       spoke in a voice that trembled with emotion:</p>
+
+    <p>"Dicky boy, is that you?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, Neddy!" And soon the reunited chums had grabbed and
+    hugged one another till both were breathless. Then they began
+    asking and answering questions, sometimes by turns and
+    sometimes together, till they were breathless again.</p>
+
+    <p>"How did you come to recognize my voice so quickly?" asked
+    Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Because I was thinking of you, Dick, and wondering when we
+    could take the trips we planned in that camp in the North. Now
+    those wonderful dreams have come
+    true!"</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page93"
+       id="page93"></a>[pg 93]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER VIII</h3>
+
+    <h3>OLD DREAMS REALIZED</h3>
+
+    <p>There was a long council around the camp-fire that night,
+    and it was settled that Ned and Dick were to take the light
+    canoe with their own stores and start off by themselves on the
+    hunting and exploring tour of which they had dreamed for years.
+    Johnny was to go on an alligator hunt with Charley Tommy.
+    Johnny thought the Indian could stand the work about two
+    months, after which they would go to Chokoloskee and sell the
+    hides. Ned paid the Indian for his time and made him a present,
+    in addition, of an outfit of clothing from hat to shoes,
+    without any objection from Charley. But when Dick came to
+    settle with Johnny there was trouble. For Johnny refused to
+    take any pay and said that if Dick paid him for coming to where
+    Ned was he would have to pay Dick for carrying him to where
+    Charley was. Ned had to chip in before Johnny could be
+    persuaded to take the pay he had earned. Ned had a better
+    equipment than Dick and a much larger lot of stores. These he
+    shared with Johnny, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page94"
+       id="page94"></a>[pg 94]</span> so that the boy was provided
+       with more luxuries than are often carried on an alligator
+       hunt.</p>
+
+    <p>When the boys were about to start away in the morning,
+    Johnny told them that Tommy wanted to go to Osceola's camp for
+    a day or two, and he proposed that the boys come with them.
+    Johnny said that if they went to the Indian camp with Tommy the
+    Indians would talk and the boys could learn a lot of Seminole
+    in two or three days, enough to pull them through in their
+    visits to other camps. The chance was too good to be lost, and
+    the long, heavy Indian canoe was followed down the Glades by
+    the light Canadian canoe of the boys.</p>
+
+    <p>Ned and Dick were pretty husky youths, and as their canoe
+    didn't weigh more than one-fourth that of the one just ahead of
+    them, they thought they were in for a picnic. Very soon they
+    changed their minds. Sometimes they could paddle, but generally
+    they used their paddles as poles. They had one oar for pushing,
+    which helped them a little. A light push sent the canoe
+    forward, but when the push ended so did the motion. It took a
+    stronger push to start the Seminole canoe, but the stroke was
+    much longer, and when the stroke ended the motion continued.
+    The boys were game and wouldn't admit that it tired them to
+    keep up. But when a strand of heavy saw-grass had to be crossed
+    they found trouble to burn. The round, heavy wooden cylinder of
+    Seminole make slid slowly through the tall, stiff, saw-edged
+    mass. But the light canoe was thrown
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page95"
+       id="page95"></a>[pg 95]</span> back from each stroke by the
+       elastic grass. Dick never liked to be beaten, so he went
+       overboard and floundered along the trail ahead of the canoe,
+       dragging it by the painter, while Ned got out and pushed
+       from behind the stern. The sharp, serrated edges of the
+       grass cut their faces and lacerated their hands. No air was
+       stirring at the foot of those tall spears, and Dick thought
+       of his hours in the fire room of the Southern steamer.
+       Sometimes a big, deadly cotton-mouth, the ugliest snake in
+       the world, swam in front of Dick as he struggled forward,
+       but though his flesh quivered he said nothing lest he make
+       Ned nervous. Then occasionally a poisonous brown moccasin
+       rose out of the mud which the canoe stirred up, and, with
+       uplifted head and open mouth, threatened Ned as he stumbled
+       behind the craft, but he was silent about it lest he worry
+       the chum who was new to the country. The saw-grass strand
+       was only two hundred yards across, although it seemed a mile
+       to the boys, who made light of it when they reached the
+       other canoe, but their bleeding hands, torn by the terrible
+       grass, told another story.</p>
+
+    <p>The canoes and cargoes arrived at Osceola's late in the
+    afternoon, and Ned and Dick saw their second Seminole camp. It
+    was the best camp in the Everglades, as Osceola himself was
+    perhaps the best specimen of the Florida Seminole.</p>
+
+    <p>The three buildings which constituted the camp consisted
+    merely of high roofs, beautifully constructed of palmetto,
+    which came within four feet of the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page96"
+       id="page96"></a>[pg 96]</span> ground at their outer edges.
+       Below this they were entirely open. These buildings were
+       nearly filled with tables, about four feet high, on which
+       the Indians slept at night and occupied as a floor during
+       the day. The buildings were placed about a round shed, under
+       which the cooking for the whole camp was done. The fire was
+       built in the usual Seminole fashion. Logs of wood were
+       arranged like the spokes of a wheel, and the fire built at
+       the hub. When the cooking was finished the logs were drawn
+       back a few inches and the fire went down to coals, but
+       continued to smolder. When the logs were brought together
+       again the fire blazed up.</p>
+
+    <p>Ned and Johnny made their bed on one of the tables and slept
+    well, but they kicked at dipping their hands in the family
+    stew, and broiled their venison and made their coffee over the
+    common fire. It was a good-natured camp, but the boys made life
+    a burden to the Indians for two days by their incessant
+    attempts at conversation in the Indian tongue. Some of the old
+    Indians were sociable, and the boys got along very well with
+    them, but the younger ones were shy and refused to talk until,
+    having put on the white man's clothes that Ned had given him,
+    Tommy took several of the young squaws and pickaninnies out in
+    an Indian canoe. The young Indians laughed so much at Tommy
+    that they began to forget their shyness, and when Tommy bought
+    for Ned a bright-colored Indian shirt that a squaw had just
+    made and the boy put it on, the Indians
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page97"
+       id="page97"></a>[pg 97]</span> gathered around him and made
+       fun, very much as white children would have done. One of the
+       squaws brought him a red handkerchief, such as many of the
+       Indians wore, and when Ned nodded and tied it around his
+       neck they all laughed. Another squaw motioned at Ned's hat,
+       and then at several Indians who were bareheaded. Ned nodded
+       again and tossed his hat aside. Then as a squaw pointed at
+       his trousers and afterwards at the bare-legged Indians about
+       him, Ned shook his head vigorously, and even the older
+       Indians joined in the laughter.</p>
+
+    <p>The children of the camp were shy things, and peeped out at
+    the strangers from behind trees and out of hiding-places, but
+    Dick was fond of all wild creatures and few of them could
+    resist his friendly advances. Soon every pickaninny in the
+    place was tagging after him. The older ones took him out in
+    canoes, which soon were capsized, and all hands swam back, each
+    accusing the other of having upset the craft.</p>
+
+    <p>When the boys went to the Osceola camp of Seminoles with
+    Tommy they found a people as stolid and taciturn as those of
+    any Indian tribe of which they had read. After four days,
+    during which all hospitality was extended to them, they left
+    behind them a kindly group of untaught native Americans, who
+    went out of their way to show friendliness to their guests.
+    Johnny nearly cried over the parting, and would have bartered
+    his hopes of the hereafter
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page98"
+       id="page98"></a>[pg 98]</span> to have been allowed to
+       accompany the boys, while Tommy, clothed again in his native
+       costume and in his right mind, preceded them for two miles
+       in his canoe to show them a blind, side trail which they
+       were to take. When they turned to take their last look at
+       him, the Seminole was standing in his canoe, leaning on his
+       long pole and looking fixedly at them.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/98.jpg"
+             name="fig98"
+             id="fig98"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/98.jpg"
+             alt='"THE SEMINOLE WAS STANDING IN HIS CANOE LOOKING FIXEDLY AT US"' />
+        </a>"THE SEMINOLE WAS STANDING IN HIS CANOE LOOKING FIXEDLY
+        AT US"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>For a few miles the trail was easy, but then became too dry
+    for paddles, and Dick pushed with an oar, while Ned used a pole
+    which he had brought along for use with a harpoon. As the trail
+    grew dryer, it became impossible to pole the canoe, and Ned
+    took the painter and, stepping into the nearly dry ditch in
+    front of the canoe, dragged the craft, while Billy got
+    overboard and pushed from behind. Sometimes Ned stopped to kick
+    something out of his path, and at last Dick called to him:</p>
+
+    <p>"What are you kicking, Ned?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Nothing but yellow-bellies and once in a while a brown
+    moccasin. I used to worry myself half sick over them, but after
+    seeing Chris Meyer wade through bunches of them in the Big
+    Cypress without paying any attention to them, I got ashamed of
+    being afraid, and now I don't mind moccasins much unless they
+    are cotton-mouths."</p>
+
+    <p>"But they have all got fangs, are all poisonous, and all
+    seem anxious to bite," said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"But their bite isn't fatal. Tommy told me that he had been
+    bitten six times, and when I asked if
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page99"
+       id="page99"></a>[pg 99]</span> the bites made him sick, he
+       said: 'Lilly bit, one moon.' I asked him about rattlesnake
+       bites, and he said: 'Make sick <i>ojus</i> (heap), think so
+       big sleep come pretty quick.' He told me that the moccasins
+       bit him while he was pushing his canoe and stepped on
+       them."</p>
+
+    <p>"Neddy, Johnny used to talk just as you do, and Mr. Streeter
+    said a lot more, but it makes me sick to hear it. I can feel
+    the little squirmy beasts under my feet every step I take."</p>
+
+    <p>About noon the boys struck a creek, where their paddles came
+    into play, and very glad they both were. For a time grass
+    troubled them, and their progress was slow, but the stream
+    gradually broadened and deepened, while its banks became
+    covered with trees and vines, and the very sound of their
+    paddles dipping into the clear water was a joy to them. Again
+    the brook widened, this time into a shallow bay, but a narrow,
+    deep channel remained, which soon led the boys into a tidal
+    river.</p>
+
+    <p>They were about to follow the current of the river when the
+    head of some strange animal was lifted above the surface of the
+    water near them, followed by a mass of water thrown high in the
+    air by a big tail, which flashed in sight for a moment. A line
+    of great swirls, like those made by the propeller of a
+    steamboat, led out in the bay and marked the course of the
+    fleeing creature. Ned and Dick forgot that they were tired, and
+    paddled furiously on the trail until they reached the end of
+    it. Another <span class="pagenum"><a name="page100"
+       id="page100"></a>[pg 100]</span> line of swirls showed where
+       the creature had gone, and once more they followed him.
+       Again and again they were led on until they had traveled a
+       couple of miles, when they lost the trail completely. While
+       they were trying to find it Dick saw the head of the thing
+       lifted for an instant, some two hundred yards away, at the
+       mouth of a little cove. When they reached the cove they
+       found the water clear and deep, and while drifting quietly
+       on its surface they saw resting on the bottom near them a
+       curious creature about ten feet long, with flippers like a
+       seal and a big, powerful tail set crosswise like that of a
+       dolphin.</p>
+
+    <p>"I know what that is," said Ned excitedly. "I've been
+    reading about the fauna of Florida lately, and this isn't a
+    fish. It's a very rare mammal, a manatee, or sea-cow. It's
+    perfectly harmless. I wonder if we could catch it. Let's try
+    it. I'll fix a lasso and throw it over the manatee's head when
+    it comes up to breathe."</p>
+
+    <p>"S'pose you get your rope over its head, what will happen
+    next to the canoe&mdash;and to us?"</p>
+
+    <p>"That's what I want to find out. Please paddle a little
+    nearer very quietly. He is beginning to rise," said Ned, who
+    had made a noose in the end of a harpoon line and was standing
+    in the bow of the canoe, ready to throw it the instant the
+    creature's nose reached the surface.</p>
+
+    <p>"I see our finish," said Dick as he held his paddle ready to
+    steady the canoe, which was already
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page101"
+       id="page101"></a>[pg 101]</span> endangered by Ned's
+       standing up in it. The next instant the manatee came to the
+       surface, and as the creature lifted its head Ned threw his
+       lasso over it. An upward stroke of the big tail of the
+       manatee sent a column of water in the air which half filled
+       the canoe and nearly capsized it, in spite of Dick's best
+       efforts. When the commotion subsided Ned had disappeared.
+       Dick looked wildly over the surface and then into the water,
+       and was just going overboard to search the bottom when Ned's
+       head appeared on the surface. At first the boy seemed
+       confused and swam away from the canoe, but turned when Dick
+       called to him. The canoe was half full of water, and as it
+       would have been difficult for Ned to get aboard without
+       capsizing it, he swam to the nearest key, while Dick paddled
+       the canoe to the shoal water beside it. As the boys stood in
+       the water bailing out the canoe and examining its cargo,
+       Dick said to Ned:</p>
+
+    <p>"What did your book say about the manatee being a perfectly
+    harmless animal? I'd sure hate to be spanked by that harmless
+    tail."</p>
+
+    <p>"So it is harmless, and if we can tire one out I'm not
+    afraid to go overboard and tackle him in the water."</p>
+
+    <p>"Neither am I afraid, and I'll go overboard with you, only
+    I'm afraid that by the time we've tired one of those things I
+    won't be able to swim at all."</p>
+
+    <p>Late that afternoon, as the boys were paddling through a
+    long narrow bay of many keys, they
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page102"
+       id="page102"></a>[pg 102]</span> became anxious, because for
+       hours they had not seen a bit of ground on which they could
+       camp.</p>
+
+    <p>"Looks as if we've got to sleep in the water," said Dick.
+    "If Johnny were here he would fix up a camp anywhere, and I'll
+    do the best I can. Let's keep on to that point where the
+    palmettos are. If we don't find land there we'll camp on
+    mangrove roots."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys were in luck, for under the palmettos on the point
+    was a regular Indian camping-ground, with logs for the
+    camp-fire in place and poles ready for stretching a canvas
+    covering, or rigging up mosquito bars.</p>
+
+    <p>It was the boys' first real camp together, the very camp of
+    which they had talked and dreamed for years in that far-off
+    Belleville, now more than a thousand miles away. Never before
+    was there so wonderful a supper as the boys enjoyed that night.
+    There was venison, superbly broiled by Ned; a perfect ash-cake,
+    built and baked by Dick, and a pot of gorgeous coffee, for
+    which both claimed credit. They lingered long over their
+    supper, and then talked for half the night as they lay on their
+    bed of palmetto leaves and watched the stars that looked down
+    upon them through the tops of the trees. From the deep water
+    that flowed past the point on which they were encamped came the
+    occasional snort of a dolphin, the crash of a whip-ray as he
+    struck the water after a leap high in the air, and the
+    splashing of fish as they pursued others or were pursued
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page103"
+       id="page103"></a>[pg 103]</span> by them. From the thicket
+       behind their camp came the snarling of wildcats, while in
+       the more distant woods the curdling cry of the panther, or
+       mountain lion, could be heard from time to time. A long roar
+       that rose and fell and seemed to come from all sides at once
+       was recognized by Ned as the bellowing of an alligator.
+       Sometimes they heard the beating of invisible wings as
+       flocks of birds flew over them, while the "Hoo! hoo hoo! hoo
+       hoo!" of talkative owls as they conversed lasted throughout
+       the night.</p>
+
+    <p>Ned was so anxious for another chance at a manatee that the
+    boys decided to camp where they were and hunt the creature
+    regularly.</p>
+
+    <p>"We'll leave all our stores in camp," said Ned, "because we
+    might get capsized."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, yes! We <i>might</i> get capsized! Is there a chance on
+    earth that we might <i>not</i> get capsized? We'll leave
+    everything in camp excepting the paddles and that lasso of
+    yours which did you so much good yesterday."</p>
+
+    <p>"You like to talk, Dick, but you know you wouldn't miss that
+    manatee hunt for a farm. We will have to put it off a day or
+    two, though, until we kill a deer and jerk the venison. We've
+    just eaten the last scrap of meat in camp. There's a trail
+    running back into the bushes that must lead to a meadow where
+    we can walk and probably find deer."</p>
+
+    <p>"All right. You'll take your rifle and I'll tag
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page104"
+       id="page104"></a>[pg 104]</span> on with the shotgun, just
+       to see that you keep out of mischief."</p>
+
+    <p>The trail which the boys followed did lead to a meadow where
+    there were plenty of deer tracks, but no deer. They waded and
+    tramped through the meadow to its farther side, where they
+    entered a wooded swamp. Here they started up a deer, at which
+    Ned took two snap-shots as the creature ran away. They traveled
+    in the swamp for an hour, when they came to another meadow, on
+    the farther side of which two deer were feeding. The wind must
+    have carried a hostile scent to the quarry, for they slipped
+    quietly into the swamp, and when the boys entered it were not
+    to be seen. Again the young hunters sought their game through
+    the swamp. They worked their way through thickets, among
+    tangles of roots and vines, and wallowed through
+    moccasin-infested pools of water and mud. In the excitement of
+    the chase the boys took no note of time or of the direction in
+    which they were traveling. It was late in the day when, with
+    clothing muddied and torn, the boys, exhausted and discouraged,
+    sat on a log in a swamp and decided to give up the hunt and go
+    back to camp. They turned back and Ned led the way while Dick
+    followed until they brought up against an impassable mangrove
+    swamp. Ned looked to the right and the left, and then turning
+    to Billy asked if he knew where camp was.</p>
+
+    <p>"No," said Dick.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page105"
+       id="page105"></a>[pg 105]</span>
+
+    <p>"Then we're lost."</p>
+
+    <p>"Of course. You're always lost in a swamp. Mr. Streeter says
+    so. He says you may lose your boat or your camp, but with a
+    rifle, matches and a little salt you can travel over all South
+    Florida.".</p>
+
+    <p>Ned looked so unhappy over their prospects that Dick took
+    the lead, saying:</p>
+
+    <p>"If we don't get out of this swamp pretty soon we'll have to
+    camp in it, and we'll need some daylight to fix up in."</p>
+
+    <p>At this moment a night heron lit on a branch near Dick, who
+    raised his gun and shot it.</p>
+
+    <p>"That's our supper, Ned. I wouldn't shoot a bird sitting
+    unless I was starving. Don't the woods look lighter over
+    there?" In a few minutes the boys were in an open prairie,
+    where Dick produced a waterproof match-box, which was well
+    filled, and a small bag of salt. A fire was soon built, the
+    heron dressed, broiled and eaten with only fingers for forks.
+    The boys washed down their dinners with water from a pool,
+    which they first examined for moccasins by the light of a
+    burning palmetto fan.</p>
+
+    <p>Ned slept with his rifle by his side, and Dick was awakened
+    in the morning by its discharge. He saw Ned sitting beside him
+    with the rifle in his hand, while a hundred yards away, on the
+    edge of the clearing, a buck lay on his back kicking. While the
+    boys were hoisting the carcass to the branch of a tree, Ned
+    said to Dick:</p>
+
+    <p>"I was in a blue funk yesterday afternoon. I want
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page106"
+       id="page106"></a>[pg 106]</span> you to promise to kick me
+       if I get scared that way again."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick laughed and replied:</p>
+
+    <p>"That would be all right, Ned, if I felt sure what you would
+    be doing while I was kicking you."</p>
+
+    <p>After breakfast, which consisted of venison, Dick suggested
+    that they go to work systematically to find their lost camp,
+    and proceeded to climb a tall palmetto that stood in the
+    clearing to take an observation. When half way up the tree he
+    slid back to the ground looking like a chimney-sweep. For the
+    outside of the palmetto, like most of those that grow on
+    prairies, had been turned into charcoal by the burning of the
+    prairie grass.</p>
+
+    <p>"Ned," said Dick, when the former had stopped laughing at
+    the blackamoor before him because he was out of breath, "I
+    guess it's your turn to kick me. Do you see that trail where I
+    stopped last night to build our camp-fire because I didn't know
+    the way to camp?"</p>
+
+    <p>"See it now. Didn't know it was there before, though."</p>
+
+    <p>"No more did I; but I saw it yesterday morning, and I took
+    special notice of this palmetto and made sure that I'd never
+    forget this prairie. Why, Ned, this is our own camping-ground,
+    and I could throw a biscuit from this prairie to our canoe. Now
+    you can kick."</p>
+
+    <p>After the boys had carried their venison to their camp, Ned
+    said:</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page107"
+       id="page107"></a>[pg 107]</span>
+
+    <p>"Dick, do you know how to jerk venison?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I've seen Johnny smoke it. Is that the same thing?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure! So while you're skinning the buck I'll lam into that
+    black mangrove log and build a fire under the little scaffold
+    of small poles there, which you hadn't seen, but which was
+    built to cure venison. Say, Dick, don't you want to hire out as
+    a scout?"</p>
+
+    <p>Dick grinned, but made no other reply, and they began the
+    work of jerking the venison. They cut it in thin strips and
+    hung it over the fire of the black mangrove, which is one of
+    the smokiest woods on earth. All day long they fed the fire and
+    watched the venison, while scores of buzzards sat around on the
+    trees and overlooked the work. Far into the night the boys lay
+    beside the fire, watched its curling smoke, and talked of that
+    camp in the snow in the North of the long
+    ago.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page108"
+       id="page108"></a>[pg 108]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER IX</h3>
+
+    <h3>THE CAPTURE OF THE MANATEE</h3>
+
+    <p>The manatee hunt began as soon as the venison had been
+    cured. The boys explored the waters about their camp, making
+    each day a longer trip and taking careful note of all the
+    waters they explored. They usually hunted through the forenoon,
+    and after dinner Ned mapped out the course they had taken while
+    Dick took a walk with the shot-gun and picked up an Indian hen,
+    or limp-kin, or a brace of ducks for supper. Within a week Ned
+    had made a good working chart of the country about them, both
+    land and water, and the boys had come to know their
+    surroundings as if they had been born among them. Nearly every
+    day they found and chased a manatee. Sometimes they found three
+    or four in a day, but the creatures always swam faster than
+    their pursuers and were still frisky when the boys were worn to
+    frazzles.</p>
+
+    <p>One morning a big manatee which they were chasing happened
+    to come up beside the canoe to breathe, when Ned splashed it
+    with his paddle and drove it under water before it could catch
+    its breath. The sea-cow had to come up again in a few seconds
+    and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page109"
+       id="page109"></a>[pg 109]</span> was once more driven below
+       the surface by Ned. Almost instantly the creature lifted its
+       head so far above the surface that Ned dropped his paddle
+       and seized the soft nose of the manatee with both hands.</p>
+
+    <p>"Look out!" yelled Dick, but he was the one to have looked
+    out. For, as the sea-cow threw down its head and tail, Ned was
+    dragged out of the canoe onto his upward-arching back. Then the
+    animal's back was curved downward and the flat tail thrown
+    violently upward into the air. As the stern of the canoe was
+    over the tail and Dick was in the stern of the canoe, both boy
+    and canoe went suddenly in the air with a few barrels of water
+    over and around them. When Dick came to the surface he saw his
+    companion being savagely tossed about by an angry monster that
+    seemed to be holding him between his jaws. Dick was terribly
+    frightened and swam as swiftly as possible to Ned's help, but
+    before he could reach him the boy had been tossed aside and the
+    manatee had disappeared.</p>
+
+    <p>"Are you hurt?" said Dick, as soon as he got enough breath
+    to speak.</p>
+
+    <p>"Course not! Manatees are harmless. Told you so before. But,
+    say, Dicky boy, why didn't you get there a minute sooner and
+    grab a flipper? He'd be our manatee now, if you had."</p>
+
+    <p>"More likely he'd have had us, Neddy. You didn't see what he
+    did to me with just one slap of his tail."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys collected their paddles and swam with
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page110"
+       id="page110"></a>[pg 110]</span> the canoe to shoal water,
+       where they lifted it, poured out the water and got
+       aboard.</p>
+
+    <p>On their next hunt the boys put a number of chunks of wood
+    in the canoe and when a manatee was started they paddled
+    quietly and tried not to frighten the creature by going too
+    near it at first. Then Ned took in his paddle and armed himself
+    with chunks of wood, while Dick paddled toward the quarry. When
+    the sea-cow lifted its nose out of water, for air, it was hit
+    or splashed by a chunk. The frightened animal dove quickly, but
+    came up again almost immediately for the air it had to have.
+    Another chunk hit its nose, but, confused and half strangled,
+    the manatee hardly moved until Dick had driven the canoe beside
+    it and Ned had landed on its back. Ned failed to grasp the
+    creature's nose with his right hand, but caught the manatee by
+    the flipper with his left and clung to it, although tossed off
+    of the back of the animal. But Dick was in the river a second
+    after his companion and was clutching the right flipper of the
+    manatee with one hand and reaching for its nose with the other.
+    The sea-cow threw its tail high in the air, then lashing it
+    downward, plunged, head-foremost, deep in the water. The boys
+    went under but hung on to the flippers, and Dick got a grip on
+    the creature's nose. Both of the boys were expert swimmers and
+    divers, and were prepared to stay under water as much as a
+    minute rather than release their quarry, but within half that
+    time the animal wanted to breathe and rose to the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page111"
+       id="page111"></a>[pg 111]</span> surface. After that the
+       boys had little trouble, and the manatee, which was a small
+       one, became almost tame. They swam with it to a shoal place
+       where, standing in water a little more than waist deep, they
+       petted and soothed their prize until it seemed quite
+       friendly. Suddenly, Dick exclaimed:</p>
+
+    <p>"What's become of the canoe? I capsized it when I went
+    overboard and haven't thought of it since."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'd forgotten it, too. It must have floated with the tide a
+    good ways down the river by this time. I'll swim down stream
+    and hunt it up, if you will stay here and take care of the
+    manatee, unless you think we had better turn it loose and both
+    go for the canoe. We will be in a bad fix if we lose it. If you
+    can take care of the manatee I can find the canoe." And Ned
+    swam away down the river.</p>
+
+    <p>Helped by the current he had swum a mile when the stream
+    spread out into a bay that was a mile long and nearly as wide,
+    which was filled with eel-grass and covered with moss. He soon
+    found one of the paddles, but in getting it became entangled in
+    the long grass, until he was in great danger of drowning. By
+    lying lengthways on the paddle, keeping his legs extended and
+    swimming with long over-hand strokes, he got out of the tangle.
+    He had been pretty well frightened, and swimming to the shore,
+    climbed up on some mangrove roots. After looking for a long
+    time, Ned made out the bow of the submerged little canoe
+    sticking out from a bunch of moss in the eel-grass. It was
+    about an eighth of a mile away
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page112"
+       id="page112"></a>[pg 112]</span> and he started for it,
+       swimming along the edge of the field of grass, but sheering
+       away constantly, as the treacherous current seemed striving
+       to sweep him within the clinging clutch of the swaying
+       blades of the rope-like grass.</p>
+
+    <p>When Ned got opposite the canoe he found that it was forty
+    feet within the field of grass. He dreaded to put himself again
+    within that deadly grasp, but the thought of Dick waiting for
+    him, alone with that strange beast, nerved him to make the
+    plunge. Again he lay on the paddle, keeping his feet quiet and
+    making his way slowly with his hands toward the canoe. At last
+    he reached the craft, but could do nothing with it. He could
+    not pull it and it refused to be pushed. He could touch the
+    bottom with his feet, but it was of soft mud and the thick
+    grass tangled him worse than ever. He got into the canoe and
+    lay on his back under the thwarts, with only part of his head
+    out of water. By rocking the canoe, with a short, jerky motion,
+    he got rid of some of the water and finished the bailing with
+    his hat. It was not easy to paddle out through the grass and
+    moss to the open water, but Ned accomplished it. Standing up in
+    the canoe, he searched for the other paddle and soon saw and
+    recovered it. He had now more than a mile to paddle against a
+    tide that was still strong, and he saw, to his alarm, that it
+    was nearly sunset. It was about midday when they tackled the
+    manatee, and Dick must have been alone with it for a good many
+    hours. Ned was so anxious that
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page113"
+       id="page113"></a>[pg 113]</span> he paddled furiously and
+       was glad enough when he found Dick standing in water
+       shoulder deep, hanging on to the flipper of the manatee, and
+       occasionally patting its nose with his hand.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/112.jpg"
+             name="fig112"
+             id="fig112"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/112.jpg"
+             alt='"HE FOUND DICK STANDING IN WATER SHOULDER DEEP, HANGING ON TO THE FLIPPER OF THE MANATEE"' />
+        </a>"HE FOUND DICK STANDING IN WATER SHOULDER DEEP, HANGING
+        ON TO THE FLIPPER OF THE MANATEE"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"Oh, Ned! I'm glad to see you," was Dick's greeting to his
+    chum. "A hundred times, I've almost let this beast go so that I
+    could swim down the river and look for you. If I hadn't heard
+    you coming a few minutes ago I'd have been off by now,
+    anyhow."</p>
+
+    <p>"What could you have done, swimming down a big river like
+    this, in the dark?"</p>
+
+    <p>"What could I have done here, or back in camp, without you,
+    Ned?"</p>
+
+    <p>Ned gave an amusing account of his adventures and made fun
+    of his fears.</p>
+
+    <p>"Now tell me what happened to you, in those long hours. Did
+    you get scared, too, Dick?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Most of my scare was about you, though I did have one or
+    two little troubles of my own. For a good while after you swam
+    away the baby behaved like a cherub. He let me put my arm
+    around him, as far as it would go, and when I rubbed his soft
+    mouth with my hand he seemed to like it. Then, suddenly he
+    lashed out with his tail, threw me off my feet and carried me
+    out into deep water. I don't quite know how I managed to turn
+    him around and get back with him into shoal water. I know I was
+    under water a good deal and got very much out of breath. I
+    guess, though, from the grip I kept on that baby's nose, that
+    he was short of wind himself. Anyhow,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page114"
+       id="page114"></a>[pg 114]</span> when we got back and I let
+       go, he lifted his head out of water and sniffed and snorted
+       like a cow with the consumption. Then, just as I was feeling
+       pretty good and thinking what a nice nurse for a manatee
+       baby I was and what an easy job it seemed, I got a terrible
+       jar.</p>
+
+    <p>"Something punched me gently in the back, and when I turned
+    my head I saw a monster that must have been twelve feet long,
+    and weighed a ton or two. It was Baby's ma! She poked her nose
+    all over him and even rubbed it against my arm, which was
+    around him, but I never flinched, though there ought to be some
+    stronger word than scared to fully express my feelings, when I
+    felt that big mouth against my arm. The great manatee mother
+    didn't seem to mind me a bit, as she swam around us two or
+    three times, but I squirmed a good deal when that tremendous
+    tail, which was moving so slowly, came opposite me, and I
+    wondered if it was going to mash me as flat as a sheet of
+    paper, or only knock me over the tops of the mangroves. But
+    that scare was nothing to the next one. After Ma Manatee had
+    gone, Baby and I had a quiet hour or so and I was getting
+    pretty tired and beginning to worry a lot about you, when
+    something happened to set me to worrying about myself. This is
+    a big, deep river, and there was enough going on to amuse me,
+    dolphins, turtles and tarpon coming up to blow as they passed
+    and small fish jumping out of the water most of the
+    time.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page115"
+       id="page115"></a>[pg 115]</span>
+
+    <p>"Sometimes a splash and the scattering of little fish when a
+    big one got after them startled me for a minute, but I got over
+    minding it much, when a big, big splash came and there was a
+    long struggle in the river near me. Perhaps I wouldn't have
+    minded it so much, but Baby got crazy again and I couldn't
+    soothe him. Next minute I didn't blame him, for I was 'most
+    crazy myself. Out from all the ruction in the water, there
+    came, swimming slowly toward us, a great leopard shark. I knew
+    him from the spots which covered his body, for he was so near
+    that I could have counted them. He was certainly over ten feet
+    long and looked as if he had plenty of room in his stomach for
+    both the baby and me. I remembered that Mr. Streeter had told
+    me that no shark in this country had ever attacked a human
+    being, so I braced up a little and pulled that splashing
+    manatee baby out toward the shark, and I splashed some myself
+    and acted as if I wanted to eat that Tiger of the Sea. Would
+    you believe it? He was scared silly and, though I was in a blue
+    funk myself, I laughed so that you might have heard me if you
+    had been listening. For behind that shark was a wake such as a
+    big motor boat would have made. After the shark had gone, I had
+    another worrying fit. You had been gone a long time, and the
+    thought kept coming to me that you might have met that shark.
+    Neddy boy, next time you go off alone on a long swim, I'm going
+    with you. Now what shall we do with the baby? The tide will
+    turn before long and I s'pose we could
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page116"
+       id="page116"></a>[pg 116]</span> get him to camp. He'd go
+       along all right, but it would be a mile swim, though we
+       could take turns at it."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'd rather swim all the way," said Ned, "than to climb into
+    this canoe once, from the river. But what's the use? There's no
+    grass at the camp and the water is too deep for an infant like
+    Baby. Why not tie him here for to-night? Then to-morrow we will
+    take him down to that big bay and make a nursery for him in a
+    shallow little cove that I saw there. It's full of nice manatee
+    grass and we can put stakes across the mouth, or pasture Baby
+    at the end of a rope. But what are we going to do with him,
+    after that?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't borrow trouble, Ned. That question will come up
+    later. The next thing for us to do is to tie this little beast.
+    So trot out that harpoon line."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick untied the harpoon line, which was kept lashed to a
+    thwart in the canoe, and, after getting overboard, carefully
+    fastened the painter of the canoe to a mangrove root. The boys
+    made a harness for the little manatee of one end of the line,
+    by making one loop around the body of the baby, just behind his
+    flippers, another around his tail and then connecting the two.
+    The other end of the harpoon line was then fastened to a
+    mangrove tree on the bank and the baby was turned loose. Dick
+    steadied the canoe while Ned climbed aboard, but when Ned tried
+    to steady it for Dick to get in it, there was a capsize. Dick
+    apologized for his clumsiness and Ned
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page117"
+       id="page117"></a>[pg 117]</span> complained that he hated to
+       get wet. The next attempt was successful and the boys were
+       soon eating venison and drinking coffee at their camp. They
+       were tired and talkative when they lay down for the night,
+       and both went to sleep in the middle of a sentence.</p>
+
+    <p>The boys hurried through their breakfast the next morning,
+    anxious to see their captive, which they found where they left
+    him, quite friendly and almost unafraid. Dick took the line in
+    the stern of the canoe, while Ned paddled from the bow. Baby
+    was tractable and allowed himself to be towed, even swimming
+    himself. He behaved best when his head was brought beside the
+    canoe and seemed to like the petting that Dick gave him. When
+    the baby had been tied in the little cove that Ned had
+    discovered, in such a way that he could range over the whole of
+    his nursery, the boys decided not to put a row of poles across
+    the mouth of it. Dick thought it was too much work and Ned said
+    it was no use, because Ma Manatee would knock the whole
+    business over the tree-tops with one gentle little whack of her
+    tail.</p>
+
+    <p>They paddled back to their camp and hunted over the prairies
+    behind it all the afternoon. Ned shot another buck, this time
+    in a very boggy swamp. It was not a big buck, but before they
+    got out of the swamp with it the boys had learned several ways
+    in which a deer should not be carried. First, one took the
+    carcass by the tail-end and the other by the head. The middle
+    of the body sagged down in the mud and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page118"
+       id="page118"></a>[pg 118]</span> pulled the boys after it.
+       Then the creature was slung on a pole, which they took on
+       their shoulders. This was better, but every time one
+       stumbled, which was most of the time, both landed in the
+       bog. Then Ned remembered what all boys should know, and the
+       legs of the buck were skinned up to the knee joints. With
+       these loose ends of skin, the legs were so tied together in
+       pairs as to form a loop through which the arms could be
+       thrust and the whole body of the deer worn like a coat.</p>
+
+    <p>By taking turns at toting the thing, the boys got their
+    venison to camp without very much trouble. While jerking it
+    they were very glad to lie around camp and rest, and gossip.
+    But their talk always came around to one subject&mdash;what to
+    do with their captive. Ned wanted to send him North to some
+    aquarium, but didn't quite see how to do it. Dick offered to
+    swim him down the rivers to the Gulf of Mexico if Ned would
+    sail him up the coast to Marco or Myers, for shipment by water
+    or rail.</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm really in earnest about this, Dick, because I know
+    father would like it so much. He is always looking out for
+    curiosities to send to museums or his collecting friends, and
+    this would be such a rare thing."</p>
+
+    <p>"Would your father stand for a good big bill to get Baby
+    north?"</p>
+
+    <p>"He'd stand for anything! What's in your noddle, Dick?"</p>
+
+    <p>"It can be done, easy. We're not many miles from
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page119"
+       id="page119"></a>[pg 119]</span> the coast, and I've been
+       wrecked on that coast, Neddy, so I remember it. We will
+       paddle down this river, and as many more as are necessary,
+       until we get to the Gulf. Then we'll paddle along the coast
+       to the shack of a fisherman whom I know. He's got a sloop
+       and all you've got to do is to offer him enough, to make him
+       hustle around for lumber and make a water-tight box big
+       enough for Baby to travel in. Then we will help him get the
+       infant aboard, start him for the railroad and go back to our
+       hunt. Has your father an agent in Myers who'd take your word
+       for the bill? Coz if he didn't the account would likely be
+       settled with a shot-gun."</p>
+
+    <p>"Agent? Why, dad will be there himself by that time. And if
+    he isn't, the agent is there all right, all right. So if your
+    pirate settles with me with a shot-gun, I'll settle with that
+    agent, same way."</p>
+
+    <p>As soon as the meat was cured, the boys started for the
+    coast in their canoe. On the way they stopped at the nursery
+    and found Baby almost glad to see them, and when Ned put half a
+    banana in his mouth, the little manatee seemed really grateful.
+    Ned even thought that when he pressed the baby's flipper
+    good-bye, the pressure was returned, at least that is what he
+    told Dick. The canoeists had trouble in avoiding the grass and
+    moss of the big bay, but two hours of paddling carried them to
+    the coast, where a strong on-shore wind was sending long
+    rollers up on the beach. Dick knew where
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page120"
+       id="page120"></a>[pg 120]</span> they were, and said that
+       they had come down Broad River, and that the fisherman's
+       ranch was only six or seven miles up the coast.</p>
+
+    <p>"We can walk up the beach to it and save time. The water is
+    too rough for the canoe," said Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't know about that. I've lived on the water some and
+    I've seen curious things done with canoes. Let's try it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Better try the waves with an empty canoe first. Then I'll
+    be with you."</p>
+
+    <p>The canoe was unloaded on a quiet bit of the beach which lay
+    behind a shoal and the boys by turns got into the canoe and
+    paddled out among the breakers. Then they went out together and
+    through it all the canoe rose to the waves like a duck. Then
+    they reloaded their canoe and started up the beach. At times
+    the wind was stronger and the waves bigger, but always the
+    canoe rode them with a gait like a rocking-chair. They paddled
+    easily, "taking the waves on the bias," as Dick observed,
+    heading a little off-shore to balance the push of the wind and
+    the waves.</p>
+
+    <p>The fisherman was at home, and Ned soon closed a contract
+    with him to carry Baby Manatee to Myers at Ned's cost and risk,
+    payment to be made in Myers by Mr. Barstow or his agent. The
+    man had just got in some lumber to build a skiff. This would
+    serve to build the box, and the charge for it would be five
+    dollars. The fisherman said he would need the help of his son;
+    that the charge for the two
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page121"
+       id="page121"></a>[pg 121]</span> would be four dollars a
+       day, and he "reckoned" it would take eight days, so the
+       contract was closed for thirty-seven dollars. He was ready
+       to start right off and catch the evening tide up Broad
+       River.</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't you want to make the box first?" said Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"Reckon not. 'Druther see the manatee 'fore I spile good
+    lumber. Manatees is mighty scurse in this country."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick flared up, and said to the fisherman:</p>
+
+    <p>"Do you mean that we've been lying about a manatee?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Course not, not lyin'; manatee's all right, only you ain't
+    much ust to 'em and it may be bigger'n you think, 'nd I'd hate
+    to make th' box too little."</p>
+
+    <p>The lumber was taken on board, the canoe unloaded and laid
+    on the deck of the sloop, the sails reefed and with her skiff
+    drawn close up under her stern the craft was soon flying down
+    the coast. When she reached the river the reefs were shaken out
+    and in little more than an hour anchor was dropped beside the
+    manatee cove. It was nearly dark and work was to begin the next
+    morning, but all hands wanted a look at the little manatee. The
+    fisherman and his son went in their own skiff while Ned and
+    Dick led the way in the canoe.</p>
+
+    <p>"Now I'll show you something worth seeing," said Ned, as he
+    took hold of the end of the line and pulled it all easily in.
+    As Ned sat looking at the broken end of the line, half
+    stupefied by the greatness of his surprise, the fisherman
+    laughed and said: <span class="pagenum"><a name="page122"
+       id="page122"></a>[pg 122]</span> "That sure was worth seem',
+       'nd I reckon I've saved you five dollars by not makin' that
+       box till I got here 'nd saw the critter."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'll keep the contract. It isn't your fault that the
+    manatee has got away."</p>
+
+    <p>"No, I reckon 'twan't anybody's fault, much. All I want out
+    o' you is four dollars for one day's work," and the fisherman
+    laughed again, adding a moment afterward:</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm 'most ashamed to take that much, but I reckon the
+    joke's been wuth it ter you."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned paid the four dollars and the boys paddled back to their
+    old camp for the night. On the way back Ned stopped paddling,
+    and turning back, said to Dick:</p>
+
+    <p>"Did that old fellow mean that he didn't believe we had
+    caught a manatee at all?"</p>
+
+    <p>"If I thought he did, I'd go back and punch his head."</p>
+
+    <p>"No, you wouldn't. He isn't to blame. He only thought what
+    everybody who hears of it and don't know us will think. I hope
+    he won't tell about it in Myers, so that it will get to Dad's
+    ears."</p>
+
+    <p>"I shouldn't think you'd care for that," said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, Dad enjoys a joke and I would likely hear of 'Ned's
+    manatee' pretty frequent for some
+    time."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page123"
+       id="page123"></a>[pg 123]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER X</h3>
+
+    <h3>HARPOONING FROM A CANOE</h3>
+
+    <p>Do you want to go for any more manatees?" asked Dick, the
+    next morning.</p>
+
+    <p>"Guess not. We're pretty well acquainted with the critters
+    already and if we tackled another it would likely be a bigger
+    one, and the sample we had was about all we could manage. But
+    the bay here is full of big fish. Suppose we get out the little
+    harpoon and pick up some drum-fish, channel-bass or a
+    whip-ray?"</p>
+
+    <p>When the boys started out for a day of harpooning, Dick sat
+    high up on the stern of the canoe with the paddle, while Ned
+    stood in the bow with the harpoon.</p>
+
+    <p>"Hadn't you better sit down in the bottom of the canoe to
+    paddle? The canoe feels wobbly to me," said Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"What's the matter with your nerves, Neddy? I'm not going to
+    capsize you. S'pose I practiced half a day with that papoose
+    for nothing?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Most of that practice was swimming, wasn't it? I don't want
+    any of that in mine
+    to-day."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page124"
+       id="page124"></a>[pg 124]</span>
+
+    <p>Ned harpooned several large drum-fish, and finally got a
+    channel-bass, after missing several.</p>
+
+    <p>"We've got a lot more fish than we can eat now. Let's go for
+    something big and have some fun. Hit that shark over
+    there."</p>
+
+    <p>"That shark could bite this canoe in two and then swallow
+    the pieces. I wouldn't mind that so much if we were in the
+    Glades, but I don't want to be set afoot so far from fresh
+    water. See that big whip-ray! It's a beaut;&mdash;paddle up to
+    it, Dick."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick paddled toward the fish, which was shaped like a
+    butterfly, with a back six feet broad, covered with beautiful
+    little white rings placed on a jet black background. The
+    graceful creature fluttered along the surface of the bay with a
+    bird-like motion, at a speed that soon took it nearly out of
+    sight of the boys. Dick followed it, as it zigzagged about the
+    bay, sometimes skimming on the very surface and then
+    disappearing in the depths for minutes at a time. Once it was
+    out of sight for five minutes, and Dick had just stopped
+    paddling, saying:</p>
+
+    <p>"Got to give it up. That big butterfly is the other side of
+    the bay by this time," when Ned saw the broad back of the
+    creature gliding beneath his harpoon, beside the canoe and a
+    foot or two under the surface. His quick side-throw was doubly
+    effective, for the harpoon was buried in the back of the
+    quarry, while Ned and Dick were buried in the water of the bay.
+    The center of gravity of the canoe's cargo of boys was at least
+    two feet above the gunwales of the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page125"
+       id="page125"></a>[pg 125]</span> craft, and when Ned's
+       side-thrust threw him out of balance, the canoe popped from
+       under him, and as Dick sat on the stern of the canoe and
+       quite outside of it, he was in the water as soon as his
+       chum. The whip-ray had darted away at high speed as soon as
+       the iron touched him, but before the line which was coiled
+       in the harpoon tub had run out, Ned had seized the tub,
+       which was floating near him when he came to the surface.</p>
+
+    <p>The end of the line was fast to the tub and when it was
+    reached Ned was hauled through the water by the fish. If Ned
+    had been built like a canoe, he would probably have caught the
+    whip-ray, but the drag of the boy in the water was too much for
+    the hold the iron had in the body of the creature, and the
+    harpoon tore out. The boys managed to rock the water out of the
+    canoe, but swamped it several times while trying to get in it
+    without going ashore. After they had succeeded, Dick took the
+    harpoon, while Ned sat in the bottom of the canoe with his
+    paddle.</p>
+
+    <p>"Now go ahead and harpoon your fish and I'll show you how to
+    keep a canoe trimmed. What you really need is a scow," said
+    Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"If I couldn't throw a harpoon over the side of a canoe
+    without going over the other side myself, I'd give up fishing
+    and try farming. Now just paddle softly in the wake of that big
+    fin. Know what it is? I thought not. Well, it's the bayonet fin
+    of the tarpon, my son, and if you'll paddle quietly and stay
+    inside the boat, you shall have the fun of your
+    life."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page126"
+       id="page126"></a>[pg 126]</span>
+
+    <p>The tarpon was tame, and Ned paddled within twenty feet of
+    it without frightening it, but Dick made a poor shot. The back
+    of a tarpon is narrow and a small mark for a harpoon when
+    thrown from behind the fish, and Dick's weapon grazed its side,
+    while the pole fell across the back of the tarpon, causing it
+    to give one wild leap and depart for regions unknown. Dick was
+    now out for tarpon, and paid no attention to smaller fish, many
+    of which came within striking distance. Tarpon were scarce that
+    day, and Dick's next chance was an hour in coming, and then the
+    fish happened to be headed for the canoe. The boy had not
+    learned the difficulty of throwing an iron through the coat of
+    mail of a tarpon excepting from abaft the beam of the fish, and
+    he drew in his harpoon with a beautiful four-inch scale fixed
+    on its point.</p>
+
+    <p>"Take the harpoon, Ned. I couldn't hit a house."</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, you could. You hit that tarpon. Only trouble was, you
+    didn't know where to hit it. Keep on practicing. You said I'd
+    have the fun of my life, and I'm having it."</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/124.jpg"
+             name="fig124"
+             id="fig124"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/124.jpg"
+             alt='"THE STRICKEN TARPON LEAPED SIX FEET IN THE AIR"' />
+             </a>"THE STRICKEN TARPON LEAPED SIX FEET IN THE AIR"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>Half an hour later Dick made a beautiful, long throw of
+    nearly thirty feet, and the stricken tarpon leaped six feet in
+    the air. For two hundred yards the frantic fish towed the canoe
+    in a straight line, at a high rate of speed, and then began a
+    series of leaps in the air. Some of these were long jumps which
+    barely cleared the surface of the water, while others were from
+    eight to ten feet vertically upward. The
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page127"
+       id="page127"></a>[pg 127]</span> tarpon then darted away in
+       a new direction, blistering Dick's hands as the line tore
+       through them. For a quarter of an hour the drag of the canoe
+       made little difference in the speed of the tarpon, but then
+       it began to slacken and Dick was able to pull the canoe up
+       beside the fish, which gave a leap and a sweep of its tail
+       that drenched both of the boys and, if the tarpon had been a
+       foot nearer, would have wrecked their craft. Again the
+       creature dashed away, getting back most of the line that
+       Dick had taken in. Once more the fish weakened, and the
+       canoe was drawn up beside it, and once more it sprang in the
+       air and dashed away. But with each fresh effort the tarpon
+       became weaker, until Dick said to Ned:</p>
+
+    <p>"He's about played out. Better take the gaff next time I get
+    near him and see if you can land him in the canoe."</p>
+
+    <p>"No," replied Ned, "he's your tarpon and you can gaff him
+    yourself. He'll capsize the canoe when he comes aboard and I
+    want to be ready to swim."</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:60%;">
+        <a href="images/126.jpg"
+             name="fig126"
+             id="fig126"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/126.jpg"
+             alt='"THE TARPON BEGAN A SERIES OF LEAPS"' /></a>"THE
+             TARPON BEGAN A SERIES OF LEAPS"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>Dick drew the canoe beside the tarpon and, dropping the
+    harpoon-line, held the handle of the big gaff-hook in both
+    hands, ready to strike. But the fish saw the uplifted weapon
+    and sheered away, swimming with renewed vigor, and Dick had to
+    work for another half hour before his quarry was quiet enough
+    for the blow. This delay was fortunate for the boys, since it
+    left the tarpon too tired to struggle. When Dick sank the steel
+    gaff deep in the throat of the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page128"
+       id="page128"></a>[pg 128]</span> Silver King and dragged it
+       over the side of the frail canoe, Ned sat in the bottom of
+       the craft with a hand on each gunwale, ready to balance the
+       boat or swim, as events might indicate.</p>
+
+    <p>The boys took a lot of the big silver scales as souvenirs
+    and then slid the body of the tarpon into the bay, where it was
+    soon devoured by a couple of wandering
+    sharks.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page129"
+       id="page129"></a>[pg 129]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XI</h3>
+
+    <h3>GHOSTS AND ALLIGATORS</h3>
+
+    <p>The boys spent a day exploring the bay to the east and
+    south, finding but a single creek, which lost itself in the
+    jungle after wandering a few miles.</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't believe we can get through this way," said Dick to
+    his chum, as they were resting, after an hour of hard work,
+    cutting away branches of trees and dragging the canoe. "Mr.
+    Streeter told me that the Indians say there is no creek between
+    the bays at the head of Broad River, where we are, and the
+    rivers south of it. Suppose we work our way to the mouth of
+    this river and then follow the coast down to Harney's, which is
+    the next river south of us and the longest one in South
+    Florida."</p>
+
+    <p>"All right, and we can explore that big creek running west
+    from the foot of this bay, which we saw yesterday."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys found the creek to be deep with swift water, but so
+    crooked that a snake would have had to slow up to get through
+    it. After two miles of paddling, which advanced them about half
+    a mile, they found themselves in a broad smooth-flowing river,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page130"
+       id="page130"></a>[pg 130]</span> the most beautiful stream
+       they had ever seen. The big trees on the banks were clothed
+       with airplants, draped with long, flowing gray moss and
+       garlanded with flowering and sweet-scented vines. Sometimes
+       an opening in the forest showed broad savannahs, or
+       prairies, or disclosed groups of tall palmettos or
+       magnificent royal palms, the grandest tree that grows. The
+       water was mirror-like, and the great trees, capped by a mass
+       of white clouds in the blue of the heavens, were repeated
+       below in a reflection that was perfect. The boys paddled for
+       a long time, silent as if in a dream, when Ned spoke in a
+       voice so low that his companion could scarcely hear what he
+       said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Does it make you think of Heaven, Dick?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Guess it does; only," added Dick, in a louder tone, "it
+    will make you think of the other place, pretty soon."</p>
+
+    <p>"What do you mean?"</p>
+
+    <p>"It's a deserted river. Only ghosts stay here. The
+    plantations are grown over, the houses rotting and little
+    sticks in the ground tell where the old owners are. The climate
+    is so bad that skull and bone notices grow on the trees. Then
+    things happen. People eat something and die, or fall out of
+    their boats and drown, or go out in the woods and stay till the
+    buzzards find them. Oh, but it's the peaceful, lovely Rodgers
+    River!"</p>
+
+    <p>"Why, where did you hear all that, Dick?"</p>
+
+    <p>"From Mr. Streeter. He talked a lot and I didn't
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page131"
+       id="page131"></a>[pg 131]</span> forget much that he said.
+       Then Johnny had heard the talk of convicts, and others who
+       ought to have been, and told me about them almost in a
+       whisper, for fear somebody would hear him."</p>
+
+    <p>"There's a rotting old shack, now, by that date palm. Are
+    you afraid of ghosts?"</p>
+
+    <p>"No, rather like 'em. I wouldn't mind camping with them for
+    a day or two, with you for company."</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:60%;">
+        <a href="images/130.jpg"
+             name="fig130"
+             id="fig130"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/130.jpg"
+             alt='"GROUPS OF TALL PALMETTOS, OR MAGNIFICENT TALL PALMS"' />
+        </a>"GROUPS OF TALL PALMETTOS, OR MAGNIFICENT TALL PALMS"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>The house looked too spooky and snaky to live in, and the
+    boys made their camp in the open, near a tamarind tree and, as
+    they observed later, beside an overgrown grave. An old barrel
+    under the eaves of the house was nearly full of rain water,
+    which they were likely to need, since their only supply of
+    fresh water was contained in a five-gallon can, which would
+    hold about two days' requirements. The rain water was good and
+    would have been better but for Ned's gruesome inquiry:</p>
+
+    <p>"You don't suppose it has been poisoned, do you, Dick?"</p>
+
+    <p>On their first afternoon the boys crossed the swampy jungle
+    in the rear of the old plantation and found themselves on a
+    typical South Florida prairie. On it were oases of
+    fire-blackened palmettos, little ponds, palmetto scrub and bits
+    of soggy meadow, in which they often sank to their knees, as
+    they plodded across them. There were tracks of wild animals in
+    the meadows and regular trails of alligators between the ponds.
+    Billy stopped beside one of the ponds
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page132"
+       id="page132"></a>[pg 132]</span> and grunted, as he had been
+       taught by Johnny, until a little 'gator showed his head.</p>
+
+    <p>"See that alligator, Ned? Let's go in there and fetch him
+    out."</p>
+
+    <p>"Not much do I go in that mud-hole, alligator or no
+    alligator."</p>
+
+    <p>"Then, just you watch me," said Dick, as he took off his
+    shoes and stockings.</p>
+
+    <p>"See here, Dicky boy, come out of there," said Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>But Dick kept on, wading all round the pond before he felt
+    the wiggle he wanted. Perhaps his toes were less tough than
+    Johnny's, or maybe he didn't manage them as well, for one of
+    them got in a baby 'gator's mouth. Dick couldn't suppress a
+    yell as two rows of needle-like teeth sunk into his flesh, and
+    he jerked his foot away so violently that he lost the chance of
+    bagging his game. Then Ned came floundering through the mud and
+    almost dragged him out of the pond.</p>
+
+    <p>"I mean to get that little alligator if it takes all day,
+    only I won't try him barefoot again," said Dick, as he slowly
+    drew his stocking over his aching toe.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick waded out into the pond again and for half an hour
+    explored with his feet for the reptile he was after, but all in
+    vain. Several times he thought he touched the creature with his
+    shoe, but could not be sure. Then he waded ashore and began
+    taking off his
+    shoes.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page133"
+       id="page133"></a>[pg 133]</span>
+
+    <p>"What are you going to do now, Dick?" said Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"Johnny waded barefoot into just such a pond as that and
+    brought out a 'gator. I told him then that what he could do, I
+    could. I'm plumb scared to go in that pond barefoot, but that
+    young Cracker, who's a year younger than I, waded right in
+    without stopping to think whether it was safe or not. If Johnny
+    was here he'd have that 'gator out of that pond, toes or no
+    toes, and that's what I'm going to do," and Dick waded barefoot
+    into the pond again and began feeling around in the mud with
+    his toes.</p>
+
+    <p>"If you feel that way about it, I'm with you, Dick," said
+    Ned, as he began to take off his shoes. But before he reached
+    the water the reptile had been caught, and Dick waded ashore
+    with the wriggling little alligator in his hand.</p>
+
+    <p>"There's a bigger one in there. He whacked me on the shin
+    with his tail, just after I caught the little one. Let's get
+    him."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys waded side by side, the length of the pond, several
+    times without finding another 'gator, although the occasional
+    roiling of the water showed that there were others in the pond.
+    They were about to give up the hunt when something struck Ned's
+    leg and, grabbing suddenly at the thing, he found that he had a
+    five-foot alligator by the head. He held the jaws of the 'gator
+    shut while Dick seized the hind legs of the reptile, and
+    together they carried the creature
+    ashore.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page134"
+       id="page134"></a>[pg 134]</span>
+
+    <p>"I wonder where that fellow was hidden," said Dick, after
+    the alligator had been safely tied. "My toes have felt in every
+    inch of the mud in the bottom of that pond. Maybe there's
+    another one. Let's get him," and Dick started into the
+    pond.</p>
+
+    <p>"Wait till I get some clubs and I'll be with you. There may
+    be a big 'gator in there who wouldn't be satisfied with a
+    toe."</p>
+
+    <p>It was well they had clubs when they went back in the pond,
+    for after a few minutes' searching, Dick struck something, and
+    the tail of a reptile came to the surface beside him. As he
+    grabbed it with both hands, and hung on with all his strength,
+    a long body curved upward from it, a big head was uplifted, and
+    two rows of ivory teeth gleamed from wide-opened jaws before
+    Dick's eyes. Before the boy could move or the beast strike,
+    Ned's club came crashing down on the reptile's head. As the
+    jaws closed and the head fell back, a second and yet more
+    furious blow fell upon it. As they dragged the stunned or dead
+    'gator out of the pond, Ned said:</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm going to round-skin this alligator and save the skull,
+    for mounting. I'll keep it in my den as a reminder of this trip
+    and of you."</p>
+
+    <p>"If it hadn't been for your club, it would have been more of
+    a reminder of me than it is now."</p>
+
+    <p>The alligator came to life a few times, while they were
+    skinning it, and had to be killed over again, and the tail did
+    some wiggling even after the spine had been severed. When the
+    skinning operation was <span class="pagenum"><a name="page135"
+       id="page135"></a>[pg 135]</span> over the boys went back to
+       camp, where they found an old kettle, in which they boiled
+       the skull of the alligator and cleaned it of flesh and
+       brains in preparation for mounting.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/134.jpg"
+             name="fig134"
+             id="fig134"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/134.jpg"
+             alt="HE HELD THE JAWS OF THE 'GATOR SHUT, WHILE DICK SEIZED THE HIND LEGS OF THE REPTILE" />
+        </a>"HE HELD THE JAWS OF THE 'GATOR SHUT, WHILE DICK SEIZED
+        THE HIND LEGS OF THE REPTILE"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"How did you sleep last night, Dick?" asked Ned, the next
+    morning.</p>
+
+    <p>"Didn't sleep at all. This place is sure bad medicine. First
+    the hoots of the owls and the snarls of the wildcats kept me
+    awake, then the booming of the big alligators worried me, and
+    after I did get to sleep, the ghost of that alligator that we
+    killed to-day shook his white teeth in my face, and I could
+    feel the man in the grave under me trying to push me off of it.
+    Let's get out of this river this morning, Ned."</p>
+
+    <p>As they paddled down Rodgers River, in the bright sunshine,
+    Dick's spirits rose and when they were off the mouth of the
+    river, headed down the coast and bound for Harney's River, two
+    miles distant, he took in his paddle and, calling to Ned to
+    hold steady, vaulted lightly from the canoe, without even
+    jarring it, and landed on a sandbank in water that was but
+    little above his waist. Stooping under the water he picked up
+    clams of several pounds weight each, with which the bottom was
+    paved, until clam-roasts for days had been provided for.
+    Getting back into the canoe was a ticklish operation, but was
+    accomplished without disaster, although a pailful or two of
+    water was taken
+    aboard.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page136"
+       id="page136"></a>[pg 136]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XII</h3>
+
+    <h3>HUNTING IN HARNEY'S RIVER</h3>
+
+    <p>The boys had chosen the last of the ebb tide for the trip
+    down Rodgers River, which gave them low water for their work on
+    the clam bar and a flood tide to help them up Harney's River.
+    They made a false start at the mouth of the river by taking a
+    channel that ran too far to the east and led them a mile or two
+    out of their course, before they discovered their mistake and
+    returned. After entering the channel, the course up the river,
+    which averaged east-northeast, was plain, there being but a
+    single branch to mislead them, in the first six miles. At the
+    end of these the lower section of Harney's unites with a branch
+    of Shark River to form Tussock Bay. This bay is a labyrinth of
+    channels and keys and opens into creeks large and small, and
+    water-courses shallow and deep, grass-choked and clear.</p>
+
+    <p>After exploring its mazes for miles, Dick and Ned found,
+    near the northeast end of the bay, a tiny key marked by two
+    tall palmettos, on which were the signs of an old Indian camp.
+    Here they roasted a mess of clams and spent the night. An
+    entire day <span class="pagenum"><a name="page137"
+       id="page137"></a>[pg 137]</span> was wasted in following
+       creeks that led nowhere and blind trails. That night they
+       slept again at the Indian camp and on the following day
+       found a small channel which, through twisting creeks and
+       crooked waterways, led to the broad waters of the upper
+       section of Harney's River, which they followed until they
+       were stopped by the Everglades. They made their camp by a
+       lime tree which was burdened with fruit, and went out from
+       it each day to hunt fish or explore and to study and chart
+       the country about them. The waters of the streams were all
+       flowing clear and fresh from the Everglades. The creeks were
+       alive with fish of many kinds, and their surfaces dotted
+       with the heads of edible turtles.</p>
+
+    <p>Alligators were abundant and otters could often be seen
+    sliding down the banks, or in families, playing together in the
+    water. Ned had seen a pet otter at Myers and wanted one for
+    himself. He had brought with him an otter trap, with smooth
+    jaws instead of the cruel teeth which are customary, and he set
+    it near an otter slide. The next day as the canoe approached
+    the point where the trap had been set the rattling of the chain
+    that held it told of the victim it had made. The hind leg of
+    the otter was held firmly by the trap, but he sprang fiercely
+    at Ned as he came near, and the sharp teeth snapped together
+    within a few inches of the boy's face as the short chain
+    straightened out. The boys went back to their camp, where Ned
+    made a cage out of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page138"
+       id="page138"></a>[pg 138]</span> box in which they kept most
+       of their stores, and then returned to their captive.</p>
+
+    <p>"How are you going to get him into the cage, Ned?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Hold his head down with a forked stick, take him round the
+    neck with my hand so he can't bite, take the trap off of his
+    leg and poke him in the cage."</p>
+
+    <p>"Ned! He'll eat you up. I'd rather tackle a wildcat."</p>
+
+    <p>"Just watch him eat me up. You stand by, when I've got a
+    good hold, and take off that trap quick as you can. Then I'll
+    drop him in the box and&mdash;there you are."</p>
+
+    <p>"No, we won't be there&mdash;not all of us. I wish I was the
+    otter. He'll have all the fun."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned got his forked stick and, after a long struggle, in
+    which Dick had to help with another stick, caught the otter's
+    neck in the fork and held the creature firmly to the ground.
+    Then putting his left hand around its neck he held the head
+    down in the mud, and with his right hand clutched the skin of
+    the animal's back.</p>
+
+    <p>"All right, Dick, take off the trap."</p>
+
+    <p>"Trouble's goin' to begin. Here goes," said Dick, and the
+    trap was removed.</p>
+
+    <p>Like a flash of light, as Ned lifted the little beast, it
+    thrust its head through the loose skin of the neck and turning
+    backward bit Ned's hand to the bone four times in something
+    less than a second. The <span class="pagenum"><a name="page139"
+       id="page139"></a>[pg 139]</span> otter would have been free,
+       but that Dick, who was looking for trouble, had it by the
+       neck with both hands and in spite of its biting, scratching
+       and struggling, it was dumped in the box and the door of its
+       cage closed.</p>
+
+    <p>"Been having fun! Haven't we?" said Dick, ruefully, as the
+    boys, scratched, bitten and bleeding, stood looking at each
+    other, after their victory. Ned's hand was disabled and so
+    painful that Dick paddled the canoe, with its cargo of boys and
+    pet otter, to their camp.</p>
+
+    <p>"Now, Ned," said Dick, "I'm the surgeon and you are to be
+    respectful and call me Dr. Dick. Let me see your left hand
+    first. I've got to decide whether to chop it off, or to try and
+    save some of it."</p>
+
+    <p>"You look as if you needed some fixing up yourself,
+    Dick."</p>
+
+    <p>"That will be all right. You shall have a chance at
+    me&mdash;if you survive the operation."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick got a bottle of carbolated vaseline from their stores,
+    tore up one of Ned's shirts and put the strips in boiling
+    water. He then washed Ned's wounds with warm water and soap and
+    dressed and bandaged them. His own injuries were less serious
+    than Ned's, although more numerous, and although he spoke
+    lightly of them, his companion insisted on their having as
+    careful treatment as his own. When the bandaging was over, Dick
+    said:</p>
+
+    <p>"We ought to have a yellow flag to fly over this hospital. I
+    wish we had a medical book to tell us
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page140"
+       id="page140"></a>[pg 140]</span> what we've probably got.
+       The only things I'm sure of are blood poisoning and
+       hydrophobia. Then there's enlargement of the spleen. I've
+       got all the symptoms of that."</p>
+
+    <p>"Your only danger is from melancholia, Dick. But what are we
+    to do with the otter? That box is too small for his
+    comfort."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm not losing any sleep over his comfort. I thought I'd
+    take him out of his cage every morning and lead him around the
+    camp for exercise until you were ready to begin his
+    education."</p>
+
+    <p>"It does not seem quite as easy to tame him as it looked
+    before we caught him."</p>
+
+    <p>"Guess you mean before he caught us."</p>
+
+    <p>"Shouldn't wonder if I did. Couldn't we build a cage of
+    poles, with some of these big vines woven in basket
+    fashion?"</p>
+
+    <p>"That would be all right. We could watch him day times and
+    you could put him back in the box every night for safe keeping.
+    I don't think he's an otter at all. He just fits the definition
+    of a white elephant."</p>
+
+    <p>On the day after his little difference of opinion with the
+    otter, Ned's left hand and wrist were so sore and stiff that he
+    could neither hold his paddle nor his gun. Dick, too, was
+    partially disabled by the soreness of his arms, but he managed
+    to get about in the canoe and shoot ducks enough for their
+    meals. They could not induce the otter to eat anything,
+    although it seemed much less fearful of them. The
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page141"
+       id="page141"></a>[pg 141]</span> leg which had been in the
+       trap was broken and appeared to trouble the animal, but they
+       could do nothing to help it. Dick did propose to take the
+       otter out of the cage and offered to set its leg if Ned
+       would hold the creature. On the second day their wounds
+       continued to be so troublesome that the boys stayed in their
+       hospital camp. As they sat that afternoon in the shade of a
+       lime tree, drinking limeade, Dick, the philosopher, began to
+       question Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't you pity all these folks about here, Ned? Crackers,
+    alligators, Indians, the whole ignorant lot of 'em. If they had
+    got hurt as we did, they would have gone right on about their
+    business. They'd never have found out that they were probably
+    suffering from appendicitis and microbes and ought to go to a
+    hospital and be carved up."</p>
+
+    <p>At this moment the bow of an Indian canoe glided silently
+    into the tiny cove in front of the camp. The boys recognized
+    one of the two bronzed, bare-legged Seminoles that stood so
+    erect in the canoe, as from Osceola's camp. His response to
+    Ned's greeting was a question.</p>
+
+    <p>"<i>Whyome</i> (whiskey), got him? Want him, <i>ojus</i>
+    (very much)."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned told them he had no <i>whyome</i>, but brought out
+    coffee and sugar and invited them to make a brew for
+    themselves. He also produced grits and venison. The Indians sat
+    down to a feast which lasted as long as any food remained in
+    sight. One of the Indians looked curiously at Ned's bandages
+    and smiled a <span class="pagenum"><a name="page142"
+       id="page142"></a>[pg 142]</span> little as he pointed to the
+       box that held the pet otter. Ned nodded and asked the
+       Indian, by signs, if he had ever been bitten by one of the
+       creatures. The Indian held out his hand and showed the scar
+       of a bite that must have nearly taken off his thumb. After
+       the Indians had gone Dick looked ruefully over the
+       diminished stores and exclaimed:</p>
+
+    <p>"There's going to be a famine in this camp if those Injuns
+    hit us again."</p>
+
+    <p>The next day the boys were very much better and ready for
+    work. Ned could not hold a paddle with his left hand, so they
+    took a trip into the Everglades, where the water was so shoal
+    that they used their paddles as poles and he could push with
+    one hand. They left their stores in camp, for which afterwards
+    they were glad, and pushed out several miles among the keys of
+    the Glades, where Dick got a shot at a deer which was running
+    from one key to another, but made a clean miss. They saw
+    several alligators and in the afternoon chased one with the
+    canoe. The boys could go faster than the 'gator, but the
+    reptile could turn more quickly. At last the canoe was right
+    behind the quarry and within a few feet of it.</p>
+
+    <p>"Give it to her!" yelled Ned, as he seized his paddle in
+    both hands and threw his weight upon it.</p>
+
+    <p>"Here goes!" shouted Dick, as he threw his weight on his
+    paddle, which, unfortunately, slipped from the point of coral
+    rock on which it first struck. Dick landed on his back in the
+    water, capsizing the canoe as he fell. When the young canoemen
+    had <span class="pagenum"><a name="page143"
+       id="page143"></a>[pg 143]</span> picked themselves up,
+       righted the canoe, and found the rifle, it was too late to
+       look for the missing alligator, and they plodded slowly home
+       to camp. They found their captive much tamer. He drank a
+       little water, although he refused to eat. His leg was badly
+       swollen and they were anxious about him, and with good
+       reason, for when they awoke in the morning he was dead.</p>
+
+    <p>Ned's last, reckless thrust with his paddle had broken open
+    his wounds and they became very painful. Dick dressed them
+    again and warned him that he wasn't to use his hand until he
+    had Dr. Dick's permission. They explored the creeks around
+    their camp in the canoe, Dick doing most of the paddling, while
+    Ned helped as well as he could, with his unhurt arm. The clear
+    water of these little streams abounded with baby tarpon and
+    other small fish, while often, in the deeper pools, turtles
+    could be seen scurrying along the bottom. Dick had never told
+    Ned of the turtle-catching that Johnny had taught him, so when
+    he said, very casually, "Ned, I think I'll go overboard and
+    pick up that turtle for supper," Ned replied:</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't be an idiot. You couldn't catch that thing in the
+    water in a thousand years."</p>
+
+    <p>"Just hold the canoe steady and watch me." And Dick, resting
+    his hands on the gunwales, threw himself overboard.</p>
+
+    <p>The splash frightened the turtle, which made off
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page144"
+       id="page144"></a>[pg 144]</span> up the creek, but the boy
+       was on his trail and, after a few futile grabs, had the
+       reptile in his hand.</p>
+
+    <p>"Think that will do for supper, Ned, or shall I pick up a
+    few more?" said Dick, as he put the turtle in the canoe.</p>
+
+    <p>"I'd like to know who taught you that, you rascal, playing
+    roots on your poor old chum, who never had your chance to see
+    the world."</p>
+
+    <p>While they were waiting for Ned's hand to get well, Dick got
+    out the fly-rod and cast-net that came with his canoe and spent
+    all his spare time trying to learn to throw the net. Johnny had
+    given him a few lessons, until he thought he had learned to
+    cast it. It was the kind of net which is used by the Florida
+    Cracker, to the knowledge of which he is born, which he can
+    cast when he leaves his cradle. The net was conical, six feet
+    long with a ten-foot mouth, lined with leaden sinkers. The top
+    of the net was closed, excepting for a small hole in which was
+    fitted a small ring, through which puckering strings led from
+    the mouth of the net to a 25-foot line, which was to be
+    fastened to the fisherman's wrist.</p>
+
+    <p>For casting, about half of the net is thrown over each wrist
+    and one of the sinkers held between the teeth. The net is then
+    swung behind the fisherman, thrown forward with a whirling
+    motion, the sinker in his mouth released at exactly the right
+    instant and the net falls in an almost perfect circle wherever,
+    within thirty feet, the fisherman wishes. That is the way the
+    net behaved when Johnny threw it. And
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page145"
+       id="page145"></a>[pg 145]</span> when Johnny arranged the
+       net on Dick's arms, told him just what to do and watched
+       him, Dick made some respectable throws, and thought he had
+       learned the game; but now, away from his teacher, when he
+       tried to cast it, net and leads went out in a solid mass
+       that never could have caught anything, though it might have
+       killed a fish by knocking it in the head. Dick, however, was
+       bound to learn, and practiced by the hour, without seeming
+       to make any progress, when suddenly the net began to go out
+       in circles and his casts became creditable. He was so
+       fearful of losing his new-found facility that he practiced
+       for the rest of that day, and lay down at night with what he
+       called the toothache in every muscle.</p>
+
+    <p>But from that day fish was on the bill of fare of the young
+    explorers.</p>
+
+    <p>When Ned's hand was well enough to be used a little, he
+    began by fishing, sitting in the bow of the canoe, with the
+    fly-rod, while Dick paddled. He caught several of the
+    big-mouthed black bass, often called in the South fresh-water
+    trout, and other small fish which they saved for the pan. Then
+    the line was carried out with a rush by a fish that twice
+    jumped one or two feet in the air.</p>
+
+    <p>"Got a tarpon, sure," said Ned, who had never taken one, and
+    he became most anxious lest the fish escape.</p>
+
+    <p>For nearly half an hour he carefully played the fish, which
+    never jumped again. When the tired fish was ready to be landed
+    Ned found that his prize,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page146"
+       id="page146"></a>[pg 146]</span> instead of a tarpon, was a
+       ten-pound fish which he did not recognize, but which he
+       afterwards learned was a ravaille.</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, it was mighty good fun, almost as exciting as if it
+    had been a tarpon," said Ned, who didn't know how foolishly he
+    was talking.</p>
+
+    <p>They were down the river bright and early the following
+    morning but, for the first hour, failed to hook any of the fish
+    that struck. Then the hook was snatched and instantly a silver,
+    twisting body shot ten feet up in the air. As it fell back in
+    the water, the reel began to buzz and Ned's fingers were burned
+    where the line touched them. Again and again the great fish
+    leaped high in the air, while the line ran low on the reel.</p>
+
+    <p>"Paddle, Dick, paddle all you know," shouted Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>But Dick was already doing his very best. The tarpon changed
+    his course, came back a little, leaped once more and again
+    started off. But Ned had got a good many yards of line back on
+    his reel, and was getting hopeful of landing his first tarpon.
+    He was beginning to lose line again, when the tarpon turned
+    around and, swimming straight for the canoe, leaped against Ned
+    with such fury that the craft was nearly capsized, and when Ned
+    had recovered from the shock his line was nearly out and the
+    fish headed for a little creek that was almost overgrown with
+    trees and vines. The first jump of the tarpon as he entered the
+    stream carried him up among the bushes
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page147"
+       id="page147"></a>[pg 147]</span> that hung over the water,
+       but fortunately the line did not catch in the branches and,
+       as the fish swam slowly up the little channel, the canoe was
+       close behind him. Ned held the point of his rod low, that it
+       might not catch in the bushes, but his heart was up in his
+       mouth every time the tarpon sprang in the air.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/146.jpg"
+             name="fig146"
+             id="fig146"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/146.jpg"
+             alt='"THE TARPON LEAPED AGAINST NED WITH FURY"' />
+             </a>"THE TARPON LEAPED AGAINST NED WITH FURY"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"It's no use, Dick, we've got to lose him. He isn't a bit
+    tired and the tangle is getting worse. Then if he turns back I
+    won't have room for the rod and you can't turn the canoe."</p>
+
+    <p>"Never say die, Ned. If he gets away from you, I'll go
+    overboard and pick him up."</p>
+
+    <p>"The creek's opening out into a big river, Dick. We may land
+    him yet."</p>
+
+    <p>The tarpon stayed in the big river, swimming a mile or so
+    and then turning back, while Ned put all the strain he dared on
+    rod and line and, excepting when the tarpon made a rush, Dick
+    held his paddle still and let the fish tow the canoe by the
+    line.</p>
+
+    <p>"We've got all the scales we want," said Dick, "and I move
+    we don't gaff another tarpon. When we have tired this one so
+    it's through jumping, let's turn it loose. We don't need it to
+    eat and I hate to feed sharks with such a beautiful
+    creature."</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure!" said Ned. "And if it is as tired as I am it will
+    give in pretty soon or die."</p>
+
+    <p>The tarpon grew weaker, his leaps lower and soon the canoe
+    was held close to him, while Ned even laid his hands on the
+    tired fish.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page148"
+       id="page148"></a>[pg 148]</span>
+
+    <p>"Think we can take him aboard, Dick?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I think you can swamp the canoe and break the rod, all
+    right."</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't mind swamping the canoe and we can take care of the
+    rod. If you'll take the rod now, I'll hang on to his jaw and
+    take out the hook, which I can see in the corner of his mouth.
+    Then, if you will look out for the rod and balance the canoe,
+    I'll slide that tarpon over the gunwale&mdash;"</p>
+
+    <p>"And we will all go overboard together," added Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"No, we won't, but just as soon as we have fairly caught him
+    and got him in the canoe, we'll slide him overboard again."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick took the rod, Ned removed the hook from the mouth of
+    the tarpon and hoisted its head over the gunwale. The canoe
+    canted over until water poured over its side, and the attempt
+    would have failed but for the tarpon which, with a blow of its
+    tail, threw itself up in the air and fell on top of Ned, who
+    had tumbled into the bottom of the canoe. The sight of Ned
+    hugging the big fish, which was spanking his legs with its
+    tail, was too much for Dick, who sat down on the gunwale of the
+    canoe in a spasm of mirth, and of course the craft was
+    capsized. Ned clung to the fish for a few seconds until his
+    captive had bumped him with its head and slapped him with its
+    tail a few times, when he was glad to let it go. He then joined
+    Dick, who was <span class="pagenum"><a name="page149"
+       id="page149"></a>[pg 149]</span> holding the rod with one
+       hand and clinging to the canoe with the other, as he swam to
+       the bank.</p>
+
+    <p>On the way back to camp Dick had several fits of laughter
+    that made him stop paddling for a minute at a time and caused
+    Ned to say:</p>
+
+    <p>"It's all right to laugh now, but that was my tarpon. I had
+    him safe in the canoe and if you hadn't tipped us all into the
+    river I'd have hung on to him."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm awful sorry, Ned, but if only you could have seen
+    yourself, you'd have had to laugh or bust. Besides, you had
+    your fun. You caught your tarpon and you wouldn't have done any
+    more if you had lain in the bottom of the canoe and let it
+    spank you all
+    night."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page150"
+       id="page150"></a>[pg 150]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XIII</h3>
+
+    <h3>EDUCATING AN ALLIGATOR</h3>
+
+    <p>The boys wished to explore the Whitewater Bay country, and
+    spent several days following to their sources streams that led
+    in that direction, until satisfied that no stream connected the
+    two regions. Returning to Tussock Bay, they crossed it and
+    entered a branch of Shark River, which led to Little Whitewater
+    Bay. As they neared the bay a loggerhead turtle rose near them
+    and Dick wanted to hunt it.</p>
+
+    <p>"We need the meat," said he. "We can smoke it and then it is
+    as good as jerked venison."</p>
+
+    <p>"We haven't time to smoke it. We are in a salt-water country
+    with only two or three days' supply of fresh water. We may not
+    find any more for a week. We've just got to keep moving. I wish
+    we had a keg of water. If we were to spill what we've got in
+    that canoe we would have to hike in a hurry, back to the Glades
+    or some other place where we knew there was fresh water."</p>
+
+    <p>On the eastern side of Little Whitewater Bay, the boys found
+    a straight and narrow creek which led to Whitewater Bay.
+    Paddling for six miles, east-southeast,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page151"
+       id="page151"></a>[pg 151]</span> across the bay, they were
+       fortunate enough to strike the narrow mouth of what soon
+       proved to be a broad river. They paddled long and late
+       without Finding the fresh water they looked for, and camped
+       on ground so wet that they had to cut branches to sleep on.
+       As they kept on in the morning, the river they followed
+       forked and they took the deeper branch. This in turn split
+       in two and again they followed the deeper branch. Near the
+       close of a day of hard work the stream they were following
+       opened out on a beautiful park-like prairie, while beside
+       the canoe was an ideal camping site fitted by Nature to that
+       end.</p>
+
+    <p>It was a circular bit of high ground, surrounded by big
+    trees whose spreading branches, draped in moss, shaded it on
+    all sides, while an immense growth of wild grape-vine canopied
+    it overhead. The water that flowed past the camp was pure and
+    sweet, fresh from the Everglades. There was heavy timber about
+    the camp and more than once during the night the boys heard the
+    tread of a wild animal. Once it seemed to be the step of a deer
+    in shallow water near the camp, then it was the soft footfall
+    of some catlike animal and when Ned raised himself on his elbow
+    to listen to a heavier tread, the "<i>wouf</i>" of the startled
+    beast told that Bruin had caught the offensive scent of the
+    white man's camp. As the boys lay awake and talked while they
+    watched the stars peeping through the canopy of vines above
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page152"
+       id="page152"></a>[pg 152]</span> them, they heard the
+       distant bellowing of a Bull alligator.</p>
+
+    <p>"Dick," said Ned, "do you s'pose we could find that 'gator?
+    He must be fifteen feet long, from the noise he makes. I'd like
+    mighty well to rope him. We could stake him out so he'd never,
+    never get away and he would live for weeks if it took us that
+    long to get him carried to Fort Myers. Dad would sure be
+    delighted and pay all the bills like a major."</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't you think he'd throw in new rifles with silver plates
+    and our names on 'em?"</p>
+
+    <p>"He sure would."</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, we haven't got the big alligator yet, but we'll hunt
+    for him to-morrow."</p>
+
+    <p>Just as Dick spoke the distant report of a gun was
+    heard.</p>
+
+    <p>"There goes your fifteen-foot alligator and both of our new
+    rifles with silver plates and our names on them.
+    Good-night."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys started out across the meadow in the morning on the
+    hunt for the big 'gator. They carried a rope for the 'gator and
+    Ned took his rifle to be ready for the bear that spoke to them
+    in the night. There was no more danger of their losing their
+    camp, for Ned had made a chart every night, of their course
+    during the day, until his memory had learned to map every scene
+    his eyes looked upon. As they crossed a bit of wooded swamp,
+    they heard the step of some heavy animal in a jungle near them,
+    but they could get no sight of the creature and the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page153"
+       id="page153"></a>[pg 153]</span> slushy mud through which it
+       had waded left no prints that inexperienced eyes could read.
+       They found little ponds from which small 'gators rose to
+       their calls, but none of a size worth thinking of. They saw
+       one big alligator sunning itself on a dry bank, and spent an
+       hour in creeping near it only to find that it was not over
+       ten feet long. As it grew late and they turned homeward,
+       Dick said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Ever since that otter of yours died I've wanted a pet in
+    camp. We need one for a watchdog. 'Most any night we might be
+    eaten up for want of one. Let's take home a young alligator and
+    I'll train it. These ponds are full of 'em."</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't want you to go wading in any more ponds, Dick."</p>
+
+    <p>"That's all right. Don't have to. There are 'gator caves all
+    round these ponds. You find one of 'em and I'll do the
+    rest."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys hunted around several ponds till Ned found a hole
+    in the bank of one, just under the surface of the water. Dick
+    handed Ned a pole, which he had cut in the last bit of woods
+    they had passed, and then made a noose on the end of the
+    harpoon line which he carried. He arranged the noose around the
+    hole in the bank and stood a little back of it holding the line
+    in his hands.</p>
+
+    <p>"Now, Ned, just poke that pole down in the mud, all around,
+    about fifteen feet back of this hole, and pretty soon you'll
+    punch something. Then, you'll see
+    fun."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page154"
+       id="page154"></a>[pg 154]</span>
+
+    <p>Ned poked around in the soft ground for awhile, then:</p>
+
+    <p>"Look out, Dick! Something is wiggling."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm all here. Let her come!"</p>
+
+    <p>Out came the reptile's head from the cave, straight through
+    the noose which tightened around the alligator's neck, as Dick
+    threw his weight back on the line. At first it tried to back
+    into the cave, but the line held it. Then it plunged into the
+    pond, but Dick soon yanked it out on the prairie. It scuttled
+    over the prairie like a great lizard and when the boy jerked it
+    back it ran toward him, but he side-stepped quickly out of
+    reach of that open mouth. When the reptile became a little
+    quiet, Dick dragged it to the pole which Ned had left sticking
+    in the ground and walking twice around it had the alligator's
+    head fast to the pole. Then stepping quickly up to the creature
+    he seized it by the head, holding its jaws firmly together with
+    both hands.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:60%;">
+        <a href="images/152.jpg"
+             name="fig152"
+             id="fig152"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/152.jpg"
+             alt="OUT CAME THE REPTILE'S HEAD FROM THE CAVE" />
+             </a>"OUT CAME THE REPTILE'S HEAD FROM THE CAVE"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"Now, Ned, if you'll tie these jaws together, he'll be
+    gentle as a lamb and we'll have a real pet that won't get away
+    like a manatee or die like an otter."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'll tie it, and bully for you, Dick, boy! You did that in
+    great shape. I shouldn't wonder if it made a pretty good pet,
+    and I don't care how big its mouth is, it couldn't have a
+    bigger bite than that otter of ours."</p>
+
+    <p>The 'gator was less than five feet long and quite babyish in
+    its ways, but it gave Dick a lot of trouble as he was leading
+    it toward their
+    camp.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page155"
+       id="page155"></a>[pg 155]</span>
+
+    <p>"Just boost him up on my back, Ned. He's only a baby and
+    wants to be toted."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned found it a pretty vigorous baby when he tried to boost
+    it and he got some spanks from its tail that made him think of
+    his tarpon of a few days before. Finally Ned stood in front of
+    his companion, and with his help the reptile was dragged up
+    Dick's back with its forepaws on his shoulder. Dick hung onto
+    the paws, in spite of the sloshing about of his pet's tail for
+    about a quarter of a mile, when he dumped it on the ground and
+    addressing it, said:</p>
+
+    <p>"There! You uneasy little cuss, you've got to walk. I don't
+    mind your wiggling your tail, but you tickle my ribs with your
+    hind claws and you pound my head with your hard old jaws. Now
+    come along straight, or instead of being toted you'll get a
+    lickin'."</p>
+
+    <p>When they reached camp Dick staked the pet out with a line
+    long enough to let it get into the river when it chose. He took
+    the rope from its jaws, leaving them free, and the 'gator never
+    took advantage of it by trying to bite. At first the pet got
+    very much excited when he was dragged out of the water and up
+    on land, but after awhile he got used to it and seemed to
+    almost enjoy it. Dick caught fish for his pet which always
+    refused to eat them. Then Dick cut the fish in pieces and while
+    Ned held the little 'gator, stuffed them in its mouth and then
+    held its jaws together till it swallowed its
+    food.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page156"
+       id="page156"></a>[pg 156]</span>
+
+    <p>"See the baby 'gator sit up, Ned," said Dick one day, after
+    he had been training it for some time. "I'll have him eating
+    with a fork and drinking from a cup in a week."</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/156.jpg"
+             name="fig156"
+             id="fig156"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/156.jpg"
+             alt="SEE THE BABY 'GATOR SIT UP, NED!" /></a>"SEE THE
+             BABY 'GATOR SIT UP, NED!"
+    </div><span class="pagenum"><a name="page157"
+       id="page157"></a>[pg 157]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XIV</h3>
+
+    <h3>ENCOUNTER WITH OUTLAWS</h3>
+
+    <p>One day, just after the boys had returned from an
+    unsuccessful hunt for deer and Dick was at his usual occupation
+    of training his pet, they heard the sound of oars, and a skiff,
+    rowed by a man who looked like a product of the swamp, landed
+    beside the camp.</p>
+
+    <p>"Kin you fellers let me have a little salt to save my hides?
+    'Gators are pretty thick 'nd my salt's gi'n out."</p>
+
+    <p>"We have only about a bushel of salt, but you can have half;
+    yes, we can spare you three-quarters of it. We only use it for
+    specimens and there'll be enough left for us," said Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"That's mighty kind o' you, 'nd I won't fergit it, tho' that
+    won't be any use t' you, bein's ye ain't likely t' see me
+    ag'in."</p>
+
+    <p>"Why not? You go to Myers, I suppose. We might meet you
+    there and we'd be glad to see you."</p>
+
+    <p>"Thar's other folks 'd be glad t' see me thar, perticiler
+    the sheriff. Ain't you fellers skeered, now yer know yer
+    talkin' t' an
+    outlaw?"</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page158"
+       id="page158"></a>[pg 158]</span>
+
+    <p>"Not much," laughed Ned. "If you are an outlaw you have
+    probably had all the trouble you want."</p>
+
+    <p>"You bet I hev."</p>
+
+    <p>"Then you aren't looking for any more. So what is there to
+    scare us?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Not a blame thing. But you boys is plucky. There's men 'd
+    fight shy o' staying 'round here."</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, it doesn't worry us. We didn't suppose there was any
+    one around here, though, and we wondered who it was we heard
+    shooting last night and we are glad to find out. Did you get
+    any big alligators?"</p>
+
+    <p>"'Twasn't me shootin'. I didn't shoot las' night. Say!
+    You've gotter look out! I know them fellers. One on 'em's bad
+    and you boys ain't safe. I'm goin' ter hang 'round, 'n if you
+    smell trouble jest fire two shots 'nd trouble'll cum a-humpin'
+    fur them fellers,"</p>
+
+    <p>"All right and much obliged, and if anything does come that
+    we can't manage we'll remember you, sure."</p>
+
+    <p>Whenever the boys passed a pond on the prairie they stopped
+    and grunted till the young 'gators came to the surface. One day
+    Dick fired a shot near enough to splash one that had come up,
+    but in ten minutes the reptile had forgotten his scare and
+    again answered the call. Dick was disposed to wade in the pond
+    and catch the little 'gator, but Ned coaxed him out of the
+    notion and proposed that they find a cave and rope another
+    'gator to cheer up Dick's pet, which he said was getting
+    lonesome. This pleased <span class="pagenum"><a name="page159"
+       id="page159"></a>[pg 159]</span> Dick and the boys spent
+       half a day finding an inhabited cave, when they secured its
+       occupant with no trouble excepting that, as the alligator
+       came out of his hole, Dick slipped on the muddy turf and was
+       dragged into the pond. The 'gator was soon brought out on
+       the prairie and its jaws tied. It was larger than the one
+       first captured, and Dick didn't try to carry it on his back,
+       but led and dragged it the entire distance.</p>
+
+    <p>As the boys approached their camp they saw a skiff, with two
+    rough-looking men in it, just being pushed from the bank. Ned
+    called to the men, but received no reply, and the skiff was
+    rowed rapidly away.</p>
+
+    <p>"That spells trouble," said Ned. "Those are the fellows that
+    our outlaw warned us against."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys found their stores in some confusion and a lot of
+    them had disappeared, and with them had gone Ned's rifle, which
+    he had left in camp. Ned was quite too angry to speak and
+    walked quickly to the canoe, followed by Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"What are you going to do, Ned?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Going to get that rifle."</p>
+
+    <p>"All right. I'm with you."</p>
+
+    <p>"Dick, I'm going alone. It's a fool's errand and I don't
+    want you mixed up in it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Maybe it is a fool's errand, I guess it is, and that's the
+    very reason I'm going with you, Ned. You know I'm going, that I
+    wouldn't miss going with you for the world and you haven't any
+    right to ask me <span class="pagenum"><a name="page160"
+       id="page160"></a>[pg 160]</span> to be a sneak and crawl out
+       of the trouble, for it is trouble and probably big
+       trouble."</p>
+
+    <p>"Why, Dick, boy, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, and
+    I'm sure glad to have you with me, only you must let me manage
+    when we find those fellows."</p>
+
+    <p>"Of course you'll run the thing and I won't interfere,
+    unless it becomes mighty necessary, which is quite some
+    likely."</p>
+
+    <p>As they got into the canoe Dick said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't you want the shotgun?"</p>
+
+    <p>"No. Got better weapons than that."</p>
+
+    <p>"Glad of it. You'll need 'em."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys paddled rapidly down the narrow river for several
+    miles before they came up to the men they were seeking, who
+    were then just getting out of the little skiff into a larger
+    one which had a canvas cover and was evidently used as a
+    camp.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick guided the canoe beside the larger boat and Ned spoke
+    quietly to one of the men, who was scowling at him.</p>
+
+    <p>"You know what I have come for. I want my rifle."</p>
+
+    <p>"What rifle? I don't know anything about your rifle."</p>
+
+    <p>"I mean the rifle you stole from our camp this afternoon. I
+    want it and I'm going to have it."</p>
+
+    <p>"See here," said the man, who was purple with rage, as he
+    picked up a rifle, "I'll blow the top of your head off if you
+    tell me I lie."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page161"
+       id="page161"></a>[pg 161]</span>
+
+    <p>"You lie," said Ned calmly. "You are a liar, a thief and a
+    coward. Now give me that rifle. I am not going to ask you for
+    it many more times."</p>
+
+    <p>"I won't give it to you and I don't know what keeps me from
+    blowing your head off. I believe I will yet."</p>
+
+    <p>"I can tell you why you don't. Because you know there would
+    be a hundred men on your trail who would never leave it while
+    you were alive. Because you wouldn't dare show your face to
+    man, woman or child, white, black or red, in Lee County or
+    anywhere else. Because your own partner would be the first to
+    give you up."</p>
+
+    <p>"He would, would he?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, he would!" said the man referred to. "Don't be a fool,
+    but give the kid his gun, or I will."</p>
+
+    <p>The rifle was handed to Ned and the boys paddled back to
+    their camp. On the way Dick said:</p>
+
+    <p>"I was scared stiff, Ned, when that fellow took up his rifle
+    and I saw how mad he was. Weren't you a little bit frightened
+    yourself?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Not then. I'm a good deal scared now to think of it."</p>
+
+    <p>As the boys that night sat leaning against a log which they
+    had made soft with masses of long gray moss, watching the dying
+    out of the fire which had cooked their supper, another skiff
+    touched at their bank, bringing the man to whom they had given
+    the salt and also carrying the carcass of a fine
+    buck.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page162"
+       id="page162"></a>[pg 162]</span>
+
+    <p>"There, boys, better smoke what yer can't eat by termorrer.
+    I'll show yer how."</p>
+
+    <p>"We know how and we're very much obliged. But we must pay
+    for it, you know."</p>
+
+    <p>"I can't take a cent and it makes me feel bad t' have yer
+    talk about it. Have yer seen them fellers yit?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, yes. They called on us and we returned the call. We
+    didn't happen to be at home when they called, though," said
+    Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"They come here t' your camp?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes. They certainly came."</p>
+
+    <p>"'nd you not here?"</p>
+
+    <p>"No."</p>
+
+    <p>"What did they take?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Stole a rifle," said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"I'll git it back. Don't yer worry, I'll git it back and
+    I'll start now," and the outlaw rose from the log on which he
+    was sitting.</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't go. We got the rifle back."</p>
+
+    <p>"How did yer do it?"</p>
+
+    <p>Dick told the story of the recovery of the rifle. The outlaw
+    sat for a minute looking down at the ashes of the fire, and
+    then, speaking very slowly and with emphatic little nods
+    between the words, said:</p>
+
+    <p>"And them's th' fellers I thought needed lookin' arter."</p>
+
+    <p>There was silence for some time and then Ned
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page163"
+       id="page163"></a>[pg 163]</span> spoke in a voice that was
+       low from suppressed feeling.</p>
+
+    <p>"My friend, I don't know your name. I don't know what you
+    did. I don't ask it. But I believe you are too good a man to be
+    living the life of an outlaw. Now, can't something be done to
+    help you? If some men of influence worked for your pardon,
+    couldn't it be got?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Reckon not. It's bin tried. I'll tell yer jist how 'twas. I
+    killed a man. He worried me 'nd threatened me 'nd tried ter
+    kill me with a knife, 'f I'd shot him then, nobody'd said
+    nuthin', but I waited 'nd then I got scared, thot he'd kill me,
+    'nd one day I shot him. I was put in th' pen, then I was sent
+    t' the chain gang 'nd set t' boxin' trees f'r turpentine. Saw a
+    man flogged day I got thar. Sed I'd never git whipped if work
+    would save me. I was the strongest man in the gang. Boxed more
+    trees 'n anybody. More I did, more I had t'. I don't say I was
+    whipped. If I was I didn't deserve it. If I was 'nd ever see
+    th' man that did it I'll kill him. Know how turpentine gangs is
+    guarded? Boy sits up on platform with rifle 'nd gives orders.
+    S'pose yer sassy to him or he just wants fun with yer. When
+    Cap&mdash;that's th' man that whips&mdash;comes 'long, boy sez
+    feller's bin shirkin'. Then feller's tied t' tree 'nd Cap beats
+    him till feller begs t' be killed. I don't want t' hurt anybody
+    'cept one feller, but I ain't goin' back t' no chain gang. If
+    the sheriff <span class="pagenum"><a name="page164"
+       id="page164"></a>[pg 164]</span> holds me up, 'nd sez 'Come
+       back or I'll shoot,' I'll say 'Shoot!'"</p>
+
+    <p>The boys were very silent after the outlaw's story and when
+    he left them they shook hands warmly with him and asked what
+    they could do for him; ammunition, food, clothing, money,
+    anything they had was at his service.</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't want nuthin'. You've give me more'n you'll ever
+    know," said the outlaw gruffly.</p>
+
+    <p>But the gruffness was a bit tremulous and there were tears
+    in the man's voice.</p>
+
+    <p>The outlaw got in the way of spending his evenings with the
+    young explorers and Ned pumped him dry of his knowledge of the
+    Everglades, the Big Cypress and the lesser swamps of South
+    Florida. He made charts from lines traced in the dirt to show
+    rivers, bays, prairie land and swamps. Ned learned of hidden
+    creeks that connected waters thought to be completely separated
+    by land and of others that could be connected by a short
+    carry.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page165"
+       id="page165"></a>[pg 165]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XV</h3>
+
+    <h3>DICK AND THE BEAR</h3>
+
+    <p>Dick wanted a bear and the outlaw showed him a near-by swamp
+    where several of the creatures lived. Day after day Dick waded,
+    wandered and watched in that swamp with the rifle, while Ned
+    tramped in another direction carrying the shotgun, making maps
+    of the country, and picking up occasionally a duck or Indian
+    hen for dinner. Sometimes Dick got sight of a bear, but Bruin
+    was shy and kept well out of range. One day, while sitting in
+    some thick woods, hoping that a bear would wander near him,
+    Dick heard a loud tearing sound that seemed to come from the
+    top of a little group of young palmettos. He crept as slowly
+    and silently as possible near the trees and saw a bear sitting
+    in the top of a palmetto, tearing away the outer husk of the
+    bud of the tree which is the cabbage of the Cracker and often
+    serves as his bread. While Dick was creeping nearer to get a
+    surer shot, Bruin tore out the bud and, with the cabbage in his
+    mouth, dropped from the top of the tree to the ground,
+    alighting on its fore shoulder. Dick didn't know that this was
+    the way bears in that country
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page166"
+       id="page166"></a>[pg 166]</span> usually came down a tree
+       when in a hurry, and supposed the bear had met with an
+       accident and was killed. He changed his mind the next
+       instant when the creature came racing toward him. Dick and
+       the bear were about ten feet apart when they saw one
+       another. The bear had to turn quickly to keep from running
+       over Dick, and Dick had trouble to keep from punching the
+       bear in the ribs with his rifle when he fired at it.</p>
+
+    <p>No one was hurt on this first round and the bear thought it
+    had escaped and so did the boy. Dick churned a cartridge from
+    the magazine to the barrel of his rifle and watched closely the
+    undergrowth through which the bear was running, hoping for
+    another shot. Just as the splashing in the marsh grew
+    indistinct and Dick realized that his last chance had gone, he
+    got one glimpse of the bear as it sprang upon a log that lay
+    across its path. Dick threw his rifle to his shoulder with the
+    quick motion of the sportsman who takes a woodcock on the wing,
+    and fired. The bear, which was distant more than a hundred
+    yards, disappeared and it seemed to the boy scarcely worth
+    while to follow it. It was only the notion to look for the mark
+    of his bullet on some tree near the log that induced him to
+    wallow through the swamp to where he had last seen the bear. To
+    his amazement he found a piece of bone and some fresh blood on
+    the log. He had no thought now of abandoning the trail. He
+    followed it through swamp and jungle, sometimes losing it where
+    the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page167"
+       id="page167"></a>[pg 167]</span> ground was hard or where it
+       crossed the path of an alligator. Often when he became
+       fearful that he had lost the trail a smear of blood on root
+       or leaf told him that he was on the track. From former hunts
+       and the study of Ned's maps, he knew the general lay of the
+       land, but he stopped often and noted his course, for he
+       meant to follow that trail and camp on it if necessary until
+       he lost it finally or found the bear. The animal seemed to
+       know all the bad stretches of marsh and thorny bits of
+       jungle and, as the hours passed and night drew near, without
+       his getting a sight of his quarry, he consoled himself with
+       the thought of what Mr. Streeter had told him:</p>
+
+    <p>"A man is never lost in the swamp so long as he knows where
+    he is himself."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick knew he wouldn't starve. There were always birds to be
+    shot, alligators which he could kill with a club, and palmetto
+    cabbage which he could dig out with his knife. He had his
+    matches in a watertight box, a little bag of salt in his
+    pocket, the swamp water was fresh, and what more could a
+    hunter-boy ask for? He felt so cheerful that he began to
+    whistle, which brought him bad luck, for he stumbled over a
+    root which caught both feet and threw him head-down into a deep
+    pool of mud. He was half strangled before he got out and was
+    looking down shudderingly into the morass out of which he had
+    crawled, when he missed his rifle and knew he had got to get
+    back into the mudhole. It was so deep
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page168"
+       id="page168"></a>[pg 168]</span> that he laid a branch
+       across it to cling to, before venturing in. A big moccasin
+       crawled from under a root beside the pool of mud as Dick
+       stepped in it and the boy shut his teeth tight as he forced
+       himself to wallow through the slimy, snaky mass from which
+       his flesh recoiled.</p>
+
+    <p>He was waist-deep in that broth of mud when his feet found
+    the rifle and he stooped down into it and groped around among
+    roots that felt like living, squirming reptiles before he
+    recovered the weapon. When he had scraped the most of the mud
+    off of himself and out of the rifle it was too dark to follow
+    the trail and Dick walked to a near-by thicket where he hoped
+    to find better ground for a camp. He was peering into a dark
+    recess in the thicket when a fierce growl within a few feet
+    startled him terribly, but told him that he had found his
+    bear&mdash;or another one. Dick was about to run, when a
+    picture of Ned facing the outlaw formed itself in his mind and
+    after that the bear couldn't have kicked him out of its path.
+    As the boy's eyes became accustomed to the gloom he saw the
+    bear lying within six feet, with jaws half open, and eyes fixed
+    upon him. Dick believed the bear was dying, since he failed to
+    spring upon him, but he thought a bullet would make things
+    safer and he raised his rifle. He pointed the weapon at the
+    animal's head, but it was too dark to see the sight of the
+    rifle, the brain of the creature was small, and Dick,
+    remembering that a bear with a sore head is likely to be cross,
+    dropped the muzzle of his
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page169"
+       id="page169"></a>[pg 169]</span> weapon to the fore shoulder
+       of the beast, and fired. The bear scarcely moved, but its
+       eyes closed and Dick was prudently waiting before touching
+       it, when he heard the distant report of a gun and knew that
+       Ned was worried about him. He fired an answering shot and
+       then, finding a bit of dry ground beside the body of the
+       bear, decided to eat his supper the next morning and lay
+       down to sleep with his head on his new bear robe.</p>
+
+    <p>At daylight he heard the report of Ned's gun and fired his
+    rifle in reply. The bear was so heavy that Dick had trouble in
+    handling it and before he had finished skinning it the report
+    of a gun within two hundred yards showed that Ned was out
+    hunting for him and had taken the right course.</p>
+
+    <p>"Hope you didn't worry about me," was Dick's greeting as the
+    boys met.</p>
+
+    <p>"Nope, didn't worry after you answered my shot, but I was
+    mighty envious of you, for I knew you had got hold of
+    something. I didn't believe it was a bear. Were you scared,
+    Dick?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, I was, a heap, but I pulled through," and Dick told
+    his chum of the thought that braced him up.</p>
+
+    <p>Ned tried to speak roughly, but his voice trembled and he
+    looked affectionately at his companion as he said:</p>
+
+    <p>"See here, Dick, boy, you can cut out all that outlaw talk.
+    The gun business was all bluff and you know it as well as
+    I."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page170"
+       id="page170"></a>[pg 170]</span>
+
+    <p>"You looked pretty white, Neddy, for a fellow who didn't
+    think he was taking any risk. But if you'll tell me now, honest
+    Injun, that you didn't think there was any danger when you
+    faced that convict and called him a liar, a thief and a coward,
+    why I'll never speak of it again. I noticed that your pet
+    outlaw, who said the fellow was a murderer, three deep, didn't
+    seem to think that you had done anything so very amusing in
+    giving that fellow the lie and all the rest of it."</p>
+
+    <p>"I see you are round-skinning your bear for mounting. I'm
+    glad of that. Some day I'll see it in your house and we'll be
+    talking about last night."</p>
+
+    <p>"That skin is for you. I want you to have it stuffed and put
+    where it can watch your alligator."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm not going to take all the trophies of this trip. You
+    can bet your life on that."</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't get slangy, Neddy. You aren't used to it and it isn't
+    becoming. Besides, we may never get these little souvenirs out
+    of the wilderness."</p>
+
+    <p>By which remark Dick proved himself to be a prophet.</p>
+
+    <p>The trail of the bear had been roundabout and had brought
+    Dick within less than a mile of the camp. The buzzards were
+    gathering and Dick remained to guard the meat while he finished
+    removing the skin and cleaning the skull. Ned made two trips
+    with good loads and then, taking all they could carry, the boys
+    returned to camp, leaving a big feast for the bird
+    scavengers.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page171"
+       id="page171"></a>[pg 171]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XVI</h3>
+
+    <h3>IN THE CROCODILE COUNTRY</h3>
+
+    <p>One evening while Dick had one of his alligator pets sitting
+    up on his tail, teaching him to sing, as he told his chum, Ned
+    said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Crocodiles are a lot more interesting than alligators and
+    the Florida crocodile is nearly extinct. All that are left are
+    in a little strip of land near Madeira Hammock, which is only a
+    mile or two wide and eight or ten long. Let's go down to
+    Madeira Hammock and catch some to look at. We can turn them
+    loose after we are through with them."</p>
+
+    <p>"Mr. Streeter says there is no way to get through to Florida
+    Bay, where Madeira Hammock is, by water from Whitewater
+    Bay."</p>
+
+    <p>"Your outlaw says there is, only you have to tote your canoe
+    some."</p>
+
+    <p>"He isn't my outlaw. I don't sit up nights making maps with
+    him, and anyhow we can't tote the canoe through a mangrove
+    swamp, and that's what we're up against if we go that way."</p>
+
+    <p>"But our outlaw&mdash;the outlaw, if you like&mdash;says we
+    can find little creeks up toward the Glades that will take us
+    almost through."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page172"
+       id="page172"></a>[pg 172]</span>
+
+    <p>"All right. We'll start in the morning. I wish we'd cured
+    about a ton or two less of that meat. We'll have to make a lot
+    of trips across the carries. You don't see any way to take my
+    alligators along, do you?"</p>
+
+    <p>Two days were spent in following creeks that led to nothing
+    and then one was found with a deeper channel which led them for
+    miles, after which it broke up into several little waterways,
+    which were almost without current and so shallow that the boys
+    had to wade and drag their canoe. Their progress was slow, and
+    they slept on a bed of brush which had lumps and knots to
+    bruise every soft spot on their bodies. Their next trouble was
+    a strip of mangrove swamp which a cat couldn't have crawled
+    through. After following along the mangroves for an hour they
+    found a creek which entered it. As they followed this creek it
+    grew wider and deepened. There was a slight current that flowed
+    with them; the water was brackish, and they knew it led to the
+    Bay of Florida and that the Madeira Hammock was near.</p>
+
+    <p>The mangrove gave place to a better growth, the soil became
+    richer and vegetation more luxuriant. Soon they had to cut away
+    vines and branches to clear the way for the canoe, but they
+    counted their troubles over. They were paddling gaily ahead
+    when they saw in front of them a branch that stretched across
+    the creek about a foot above the water. They had met plenty of
+    similar obstructions, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page173"
+       id="page173"></a>[pg 173]</span> but this was different.
+       There was a big wasps' nest on the branch and the air was
+       filled with flying little pests. It was impossible to get
+       around the nest and it was doubtful if there was another
+       creek that would take them through.</p>
+
+    <p>"Let's get some dry palmetto fans and make torches. Then we
+    can burn and smoke the wasps out," said Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"Dunno as I want to wade up to that nest and set it afire.
+    Ouch!" said Dick, who had sat down on what he thought was a
+    stump, but had turned out to be an ants' nest. "Holy smoke!
+    Don't these things bite? I don't believe wasps are in it with
+    them. Anyhow, I'm going to find out."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick took the oar that was used to pole the canoe and wading
+    straight toward the nest struck it a blow that most fortunately
+    knocked it to the water, while a second blow sent it under the
+    surface. A few of the outlying insects stung the boy and he had
+    a dozen little lumps to show for a day or two, but he had
+    captured the fort and drowned the garrison and the canoe passed
+    in peace.</p>
+
+    <p>The creek emptied into a wide bay on the high bank of which
+    the boys camped. It was part of the Madeira Hammock, the most
+    beautiful native forest they had seen. At daylight a large
+    crocodile was floating on the bay near the camp, but sank out
+    of sight as the campers showed themselves. From the bay the
+    canoeists entered a deep river with high banks on which were
+    growing madeira, wild sapadillo,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page174"
+       id="page174"></a>[pg 174]</span> palms of several kinds and
+       other varieties of trees. In the sides of the high banks at
+       the water line the boys saw holes which they believed to be
+       the caves of crocodiles. In the mouth of one the water was
+       muddied and Dick cut a long pole which he poked into the
+       hole. At first he felt something seize the pole, but could
+       not afterward find the creature. He then took the pole on
+       the bank and thrust it into the ground where he thought the
+       reptile was most likely to be. When he had worked thirty
+       feet back from the bank he felt something move and the next
+       instant Ned, who had stayed in the canoe at the mouth of the
+       cave, was nearly capsized by the rush of a great beast
+       nearly the size of the canoe.</p>
+
+    <p>"Why didn't you grab it, Ned? What is the use of my driving
+    game to you, if you let it slip through your fingers?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Perhaps you think that was one of the alligator babies
+    you've been nursing. You didn't see the big head with the tusks
+    running out of the top of it."</p>
+
+    <p>"No, but I mean to see the next one. It'll be your turn to
+    do the punching while I rope the critter."</p>
+
+    <p>"If you had got your rope on that one and held on, you'd be
+    in his cave now, inside the owner's tummy."</p>
+
+    <p>The next crocodile was not far away and the hunters saw it
+    crawl into its cave. Dick stood on the bank over the cave and
+    arranged the noose on the end of the harpoon line around the
+    mouth of <span class="pagenum"><a name="page175"
+       id="page175"></a>[pg 175]</span> the cave, while Ned paddled
+       the canoe a few rods down the stream. Dick had the line fast
+       to his wrist, but Ned wouldn't punch it until it had been
+       made fast to a chunk of wood instead.</p>
+
+    <p>"What difference does it make?" grumbled Dick. "If the chunk
+    goes overboard I follow it. See?"</p>
+
+    <p>Ned hit the crocodile on his first poke and Dick had his
+    hands full from the start. He would have been dragged into the
+    river within a dozen seconds, but for Ned's coming to his aid.
+    The crocodile was as quick as the alligators had been slow.</p>
+
+    <p>"If he digs round as fast on land as he does in the water
+    there's goin' to be a circus when we get him out on the bank,"
+    said the panting Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"And you wanted to be tied to his mammy by the wrist. This
+    is only an infant. It isn't nine feet long."</p>
+
+    <p>But it was, and a foot over that, yet when they got the
+    reptile on the bank and drew its head close to a sapling, they
+    tied a piece of the line around its knobby head without any
+    trouble. From that moment the crocodile was tame, and soon Dick
+    was handling him fearlessly, although Ned warned him that if he
+    didn't keep out of the way of that tail he'd be knocked
+    endways. But Dick sat on his back, pulled his tail and tried to
+    lift him on his own back without the crocodile showing
+    displeasure in any way.</p>
+
+    <p>"Ned, this thing is a peach. Why not send him to your
+    father? He could be taken to New York
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page176"
+       id="page176"></a>[pg 176]</span> in a baby carriage or led
+       like a puppy dog. There would be no such trouble as there
+       would be with a manatee. He's a curiosity, too."</p>
+
+    <p>"If it was the big one I believe it would be worth trying.
+    That fellow must be as big as they come. I wish we had fixed
+    for him."</p>
+
+    <p>"It isn't too late. Let's lay for him to-morrow."</p>
+
+    <p>The crocodile hunters camped beside their captive and Dick
+    spent the afternoon trying to educate it. He talked of taking
+    the string off of its jaws, but Ned stopped that.</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm afraid he might eat the wrong thing, by mistake, and
+    then I'd have to go home alone. I suppose I could take the
+    crocodile along in your place. Your mother might like him as a
+    kind of souvenir."</p>
+
+    <p>"But see how gentle he is and how mild his eye. He doesn't
+    whack around with his tail like an alligator and I think he
+    likes to have me sit on his back."</p>
+
+    <p>"That's only his slyness. Look at him now." For the
+    crocodile, thinking itself unobserved, was crawling slowly
+    toward the bank of the river. When it reached the end of its
+    tether and could go no farther, it lay down and, lifting its
+    head, looked all around as innocently as if it never dreamed of
+    escaping, but had just moved a little way to get a better view
+    of the scenery.</p>
+
+    <p>Every hour or two of the next day the boys called
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page177"
+       id="page177"></a>[pg 177]</span> at the cave of the big
+       crocodile, but never found him in.</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, we'll go at it again to-morrow," said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"We will be doing something else to-morrow. We've got to
+    hike out of here, and keep moving, too. Last drop of water has
+    just gone into the coffee pot," and Ned turned the empty water
+    can upside down.</p>
+
+    <p>"Hope you can find the creek that leads to the fresh-water
+    country. I don't believe I could. We came through too many
+    twisty, narrow places. We sure don't want to be three or four
+    days finding it. I'm awful thirsty now."</p>
+
+    <p>"You must stop thinking about it. I believe I won't try for
+    that creek. It's a regular Chinese puzzle up among the
+    mangroves, and I'm not a bit sure I could follow our trail back
+    to fresh water. I'd rather take chances of that river that
+    leads more to the east. I know it can't go through to our bay,
+    but it must lead up to the Everglade country where the
+    mangroves won't be so bad. We may have to do some toting, but
+    we will be sure to find water by to-morrow night or the next
+    day at the worst. But I won't go that way unless you think
+    best. It's too serious a thing for me to decide alone."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, I'm with you Ned. I might live till day after to-morrow
+    without water, but I wouldn't have a ghost of a chance beyond
+    that, and we might be <span class="pagenum"><a name="page178"
+       id="page178"></a>[pg 178]</span> three days in your Chinese
+       puzzle country. Wow! but I'm thirsty."</p>
+
+    <p>"Say that again, Dick, and I'll confiscate your coffee. I'm
+    going to save half of it for breakfast, anyhow. So go slow.
+    You're on allowance now. We will have breakfast before
+    daylight. I want to start as soon as we can see. It's a lot
+    cooler before sun-up."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'll wake easy. I'll be so thirsty&mdash;Oh! excuse me, I
+    forgot. But Ned, would you mind if I took my crocodile along in
+    the canoe? He wouldn't take up much room and I could sit on his
+    back. I could lead him across any carry and I've grown quite
+    fond of him."</p>
+
+    <p>"You had better stop talking nonsense and get some sleep.
+    You may need it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, I know. 'Most anything may happen. You'd feel bad to
+    think you had refused a poor boy's dying request&mdash;and he
+    your chum, too. Can't I have my little pet crocodile?"</p>
+
+    <p>When the sun rose the young explorers had already paddled
+    several miles and were in a labyrinth of little bays from which
+    they followed channel after channel until each one shoaled down
+    to a few inches in depth. Finally they found one that deepened
+    as they advanced, although its banks came nearer together and
+    the branches of big trees closed over it.</p>
+
+    <p>"This is all right. Fresh water soon," said Dick
+    joyfully.</p>
+
+    <p>But he was soon to be disappointed. For the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page179"
+       id="page179"></a>[pg 179]</span> little creek ended in a
+       round shallow pond, a hundred yards across and entirely shut
+       in by thick bushes. Dick became very blue and even Ned was
+       discouraged.</p>
+
+    <p>"I hate to go back for miles and begin all over again, just
+    when we are so far along in the right direction. We can get
+    through these bushes and walk a mile or two, and perhaps climb
+    a tree and see what the country looks like," said Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"I'd rather do anything than go back," replied Dick. "Let's
+    paddle round the edge of this pond and see where the bushes are
+    thinnest."</p>
+
+    <p>They paddled along the shore of the little lake, finding the
+    water so shallow that it barely floated the canoe, until just
+    where the bushes seemed thickest it deepened to several feet,
+    and parting the bushes disclosed a deep but very narrow creek
+    through which the water slowly flowed. There was no room to
+    paddle and for more than a mile the boys dragged the canoe by
+    taking hold of overhanging branches. Sometimes they could lift
+    branches that crossed the creek over the canoe as they passed.
+    Sometimes they had to lie down in the canoe to get under the
+    obstructions and often they had to stop to cut away limbs of
+    small trees. They were finally stopped by the trunk of a large
+    tree which had fallen across and completely blocked up the
+    creek. Just beyond it two palmettos had fallen in the stream,
+    one of which lay lengthwise in the channel. It would have taken
+    days to <span class="pagenum"><a name="page180"
+       id="page180"></a>[pg 180]</span> remove the obstructions and
+       the young explorers explored the swamp near them to find a
+       possible carry. They found that a hundred feet behind them
+       the woods were thinner and they could cut a path through
+       which they could carry the canoe and stores.</p>
+
+    <p>"This is going to take all the rest of the day," said Ned,
+    "and it will be a dry camp after a heap of hot work. What do
+    you say to leaving this till to-morrow, and putting in this
+    afternoon hunting for the best route and looking for fresh
+    water?"</p>
+
+    <p>"That's me," replied Dick. "Let's hike in a hurry. Only
+    don't you lose your way. We have got to get back to the canoe
+    and you're the guide."</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't you worry about that. You may have to go slow, but I
+    won't lose myself and I will bring you back to the canoe," said
+    Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>Instead of following the creek, Ned bore off to the north
+    where the woods seemed more open and soon reached a stretch of
+    dry, open prairie. On the border of it stood a tall mastic tree
+    with a lightning-blasted top and many branches which made it
+    easy to climb. Ned was soon in the top of the tree making a
+    mental map of the country round about.</p>
+
+    <p>"It is all right now," said he as he climbed down. "I can
+    see the open Everglades within four or five miles, and there is
+    something that looks like a slough that is only half as far
+    away. We'll leave the creek in the morning and cut our path
+    this way, instead of around those trees. It won't be
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page181"
+       id="page181"></a>[pg 181]</span> as much work, either. We
+       can do some of that work to-night and camp right here. Then
+       in the morning, at daylight, we will start out with the
+       canoe on our shoulders and tramp till we find water to float
+       it."</p>
+
+    <p>"But how about water to drink? I need it worse than the
+    canoe."</p>
+
+    <p>"Where there's water for the canoe, there will be water for
+    you. It's Everglade water from now on."</p>
+
+    <p>"I wish it would begin this minute. There's a little
+    mud-hole that looks pretty wet. Do you think that might be
+    fresh?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Only way to find out is to try it." A minute later Dick
+    called out.</p>
+
+    <p>"Come here, Ned, it's muddy, but it's fresh. Oh, isn't it
+    good!"</p>
+
+    <p>As Ned approached the pool Dick, who was lying on the
+    prairie beside it, lifted his face from the water of which he
+    had been drinking, and was turning to speak to his companion
+    when the head of a great alligator, with wide open jaws, was
+    thrust violently out of the pool, just touching the boy's face.
+    Dick fell back on the prairie and scrambled away from the pool.
+    It was a minute before he spoke and then he said to Ned:</p>
+
+    <p>"Let's get back to work. I don't want another drink for a
+    month. It makes me sick to think of it."</p>
+
+    <p>The slough was farther away than Ned thought and the road to
+    it lay through a marsh. Often they
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page182"
+       id="page182"></a>[pg 182]</span> sank to the waist and
+       wallowed for rods, carrying the canoe which seemed to weigh
+       a ton, or dragging it beside them. Moccasins were plentiful,
+       but the boys were too tired to be worried by them. They had
+       to make two more trips to carry their cargo, and on the last
+       one, as Dick was staggering under a load of smoked meat and
+       a heavy, salted skin, he was heard to say:</p>
+
+    <p>"I wonder why I killed that bear. I will never kill another
+    one."</p>
+
+    <p>There was dry ground beside the slough, under some willow
+    trees, and the explorers were glad to rest there for the night.
+    A duck flew down by the willows as if seeking to camp with them
+    and he succeeded, for they had him for
+    supper.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page183"
+       id="page183"></a>[pg 183]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XVII</h3>
+
+    <h3>AMONG THE SEMINOLES</h3>
+
+    <p>The young explorers had found an uncharted route from the
+    Bay of Florida to the Everglades and the work before them was
+    now easy.</p>
+
+    <p>The water was deeper than was needed to float their canoe,
+    and the grass too light to trouble them. They sheered off and
+    avoided all bands of saw-grass unless they found trails across
+    them. The Glades were dotted with little keys of bay, myrtle
+    and cocoa plum. These were small and usually submerged. A few
+    larger keys were covered with heavier timber, pine, oak,
+    mastic, palmetto and other woods. In these, deer were plentiful
+    and bear and panther sometimes found.</p>
+
+    <p>The boys went to several keys before they found one with dry
+    land enough for a camp. It had been used for camping by the
+    Seminoles for many years and was the only bit of land above the
+    surface of the water for miles. On it were piles of turtle
+    shells, while scattered about were bones of deer and alligator
+    and skulls of bear and smaller animals. A cultivated papaw
+    which some Indian had planted
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page184"
+       id="page184"></a>[pg 184]</span> within a few years, stood
+       twelve feet high and was filled with great melon-like
+       papaws, each one of which weighed from five to ten
+       pounds.</p>
+
+    <p>"Better than cantaloupe," said Dick as he finished half of a
+    big one as a preliminary to his supper, "but what's this you
+    are giving us for coffee?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Coffee's out," replied Ned. "The fellows that took the
+    rifle cleaned out most of the coffee."</p>
+
+    <p>"Why didn't you make 'em give it back when you had 'em on
+    the run?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Reckon I was glad to get out of it as easy as I did. Then I
+    had said enough unkind things to them for one time."</p>
+
+    <p>"Sorry you think you were unkind. Your feelings must be a
+    good deal torn up. But you haven't told me what I'm drinking.
+    Tastes something like the sassafras tea I used to get dosed
+    with when I was a kid. It's pretty good, though."</p>
+
+    <p>"It's something like it. It's made from the leaves of the
+    sweet bay tree, which grows on all these islands and all over
+    this country. Sweet-bay tea is all you're going to get to
+    drink, excepting water, from now on."</p>
+
+    <p>"What is that fruit that looks like a big stubby pear on
+    that curious-looking tree there?" inquired Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Custard apple."</p>
+
+    <p>"Does it taste like custard?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, if the custard has been mixed with
+    turpentine."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page185"
+       id="page185"></a>[pg 185]</span>
+
+    <p>The explorers made little progress the following day.
+    Bunches of thick saw-grass turned them back. They found shallow
+    water where for long distances they had to paddle slowly to
+    avoid little pillars of coral rock that came close to the
+    surface and endangered their fragile canoe. Most of the
+    afternoon was vainly spent in searching for a camping site.
+    They found a key where the water was shoal and made a bed of
+    poles and branches. Both of them chose to sleep on the bed they
+    had made. Whether this was simply politeness or because both
+    were afraid of rolling out of the canoe nobody else knows. The
+    poles and branches sagged under their weight until both were
+    wet. Then such a deluge of rain as is seldom seen outside of
+    the tropics fell on them. They got out in the dark and tied
+    their canvas sheet over the canoe. They didn't need it for
+    themselves. They were already as wet as they could be.</p>
+
+    <p>In the morning they dried themselves&mdash;so Dick
+    said&mdash;by rolling into the water and sloshing around. They
+    made a cold lunch of smoked bear, cold hominy, or grits as it
+    is called in Florida, and water, choosing to wait for breakfast
+    until they should find land enough for a fire. During the day
+    they saw high trees to the eastward and made for them. Here
+    they found a Seminole camp of several families.</p>
+
+    <p>As they landed from their canoe they saw several
+    pickaninnies, for Seminole children are not
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page186"
+       id="page186"></a>[pg 186]</span> called papooses like
+       children in other tribes of Indians, watching them from
+       behind trees and boats. The squaws whom they met were
+       equally shy and kept their faces hidden. Ned spoke to
+       several of them, but they gave no sign that they even heard
+       him.</p>
+
+    <p>"They don't like your looks," said Dick. "Let me speak to
+    the next one."</p>
+
+    <p>The next one was a young girl and Dick was very confident,
+    as he addressed her, with his very best smile. But he was
+    turned down as badly as his chum, for the girl didn't see him
+    at all. At the camp they found one old Indian and several
+    squaws. The Indian welcomed them with a grunt and the
+    question,</p>
+
+    <p>"<i>Whyome</i> (whiskey), you got um?"</p>
+
+    <p>"<i>Whyome holowaugus</i> (bad), no got um," replied Ned.
+    The Indian grunted again and conversation ceased. Dick was
+    sitting on the edge of the table which serves also as floor in
+    a Seminole camp, when he heard a low growl just over his head.
+    He looked up and saw, crouched on a shelf within four feet of
+    him, a full-grown wild-cat, or bay lynx, which seemed disposed
+    to spring at him. Dick tried to keep from showing how much he
+    was scared, but he asked Ned to find out if the wild-cat would
+    bite. To Ned's question, the Indian nodded emphatically and
+    replied,</p>
+
+    <p>"Um, um, <i>unca, ojus</i> (yes, heap)." Dick moved away,
+    but the creature fascinated him and he came
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page187"
+       id="page187"></a>[pg 187]</span> back. Dick never could
+       resist the temptation to play with wild animals and he put
+       out his hand to the wild-cat, saying:</p>
+
+    <p>"If that Injun can tame that beast, I can."</p>
+
+    <p>"That Injun understands you, just as well as I do. He only
+    pretends he doesn't so as to make us try to talk his confounded
+    lingo."</p>
+
+    <p>A half smile stole over the stolid face of the Indian,
+    either on account of what Ned was saying or because Dick's hand
+    was slowly approaching the wild-cat. The paw of the lynx
+    flashed out and back so quickly that it could scarcely be seen,
+    but the blood began to flow from several deep, parallel cuts on
+    the back of the boy's hand. Dick still held out his hand,
+    scarcely moving a muscle, while Ned called out:</p>
+
+    <p>"Come away, Dick, that beast'll scratch out your eyes."</p>
+
+    <p>"Wonder what it would do if I cuffed it?"</p>
+
+    <p>The Indian appeared to understand this, for he spoke sharply
+    to the lynx, and going up to it patted its head and stroked its
+    body lightly. He then motioned to Dick to do the same. To
+    Dick's great delight the wild-cat not only allowed him to
+    stroke it, but even purred as well as a wild-cat can.</p>
+
+    <p>"Ned, I've got to have that cat. I've given up all my other
+    pets because you didn't want them in the canoe, or there wasn't
+    room. Now Tom will take care of himself and won't need any
+    toting. Shouldn't wonder if he'd feed himself,
+    too."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page188"
+       id="page188"></a>[pg 188]</span>
+
+    <p>"That's what I'm most afraid of.</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't worry. I won't let him eat you. Ask old
+    Stick-in-the-mud there what he wants for his beastie."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned talked with the Indian and reported to Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"He says he will sell for one otter skin like that one in
+    the canoe."</p>
+
+    <p>"How could he see that skin from here? Tell him it's a
+    whack. Only he must make Tom go with me if there is any trouble
+    about it."</p>
+
+    <p>"He says wild-cat go with you, you brave boy, not afraid of
+    him. Says somebody get scared, he eat 'em up."</p>
+
+    <p>"Ned, you old hypocrite, you made that up."</p>
+
+    <p>"Honest Injun, I didn't. I told it straight, just as I got
+    it. That Indian likes you."</p>
+
+    <p>"Why don't he talk white man lingo to me, then, instead of
+    his old gibberish that he can't possibly understand himself?
+    Ask the old snoozer what's cooking in that pot. It smells bully
+    and I'm hungry."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned turned to the Indian and pointing to the steaming pot,
+    said:</p>
+
+    <p>"<i>Nar-kee?</i> (What is it?)"</p>
+
+    <p>"<i>Lock-a-wa.</i> (Turtle.)"</p>
+
+    <p>"<i>Esoka bonus che.</i> (I want some.)"</p>
+
+    <p>"<i>Humbuggus cha.</i> (Come eat.)"</p>
+
+    <p>The boys took turns with the big, wooden, family spoon and
+    found the mess very good. There was another kettle of which the
+    Indians ate freely into <span class="pagenum"><a name="page189"
+       id="page189"></a>[pg 189]</span> which Dick dipped his
+       spoon. He made a wry face as he swallowed the portion he had
+       scooped up and said to Ned:</p>
+
+    <p>"Tell your copper-faced friend that he had better give that
+    swill back to the pigs he stole it from."</p>
+
+    <p>"Be careful, Dick, he understands."</p>
+
+    <p>"Then let him say so in a decent language and I'll apologize
+    for hurting his feelings, but I won't say that stuff is fit to
+    eat, not if I am tied to the stake."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick spent one afternoon getting acquainted with the Indian
+    children, in which he succeeded so well that when he came back
+    to the camp streaming with water, the whole bunch, although
+    they were quite as well soaked as he, followed him screaming
+    with laughter, quite like white children.</p>
+
+    <p>"What is the trouble?" inquired Ned as soon as the
+    youngsters gave him a chance to be heard.</p>
+
+    <p>"Only the usual thing. These Indians don't know how to
+    manage their roly-poly canoes and I'm afraid I'll be drowned
+    before I get 'em taught."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick had found a big family canoe that looked as if it
+    couldn't capsize and had made signs to an Indian boy to go out
+    in it with him. Before they were fairly afloat all the
+    pickaninnies belonging to the camp had piled into the craft.
+    From the smallest squab to the biggest boy, the Indian children
+    danced about in the canoe without disturbing its equilibrium.
+    The boy in the stern, standing on the extreme point of the
+    craft, set his pole on the coral
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page190"
+       id="page190"></a>[pg 190]</span> bottom and threw his weight
+       back upon it until his whole body stood out almost parallel
+       with the water behind the canoe. Dick stood on the tiny deck
+       on the bow of the boat, but with every thrust of his pole
+       the canoe wabbled till the pickaninnies balanced it. But
+       Dick improved with practice and as he grew confident, threw
+       his weight on the pole in true Seminole fashion. He would
+       have pulled through with credit, but for the slipping of his
+       pole on a point of coral rock, when he fell heavily in the
+       water, capsizing the craft as he went overboard. At first
+       the boy was alarmed for the safety of his cargo of children,
+       but soon saw that they were as much at home in the water as
+       on land and were quite capable of caring for themselves.
+       After Ned had heard what had happened he called the
+       attention of the squaws to the ducking of their babies
+       without causing the faintest gleam of interest to cross
+       their stolid faces.</p>
+
+    <p>After another day of eating with the Seminoles and sleeping
+    on their tables, Dick announced that Tom and he were tired of
+    Injuns and wanted to light out. The whole Indian family saw
+    them off, even the squaws coming half way to the canoe from
+    their camp. Dick carried Tom on his shoulder and the lynx
+    stepped into the canoe as if it had always owned it and curled
+    up on the canvas of the tent.</p>
+
+    <p>"Where do you want to go, Dick?"</p>
+
+    <p>"What's the use of asking me? You have been talking
+    Everglades and Big Cypress in a steady
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page191"
+       id="page191"></a>[pg 191]</span> streak, for two days to
+       that old Injun. You must have a map of his brain by this
+       time."</p>
+
+    <p>"We can go through the Everglades to Lake Okeechobee, out
+    through the canal and down the Caloosahatchee, but the
+    Everglades will be much the same as we have seen, only more and
+    worse saw-grass and so harder work. If we go to the east we
+    will pretty soon come out at the coast which we want to avoid.
+    I think we had better strike across to the prairies and the
+    border land between the Everglades and the Big Cypress Swamp.
+    Bear, deer, panther and wild turkey are to be found in that
+    country, and we won't have to hurry so much to get through in
+    the time we talked of for the trip. What do you say?"</p>
+
+    <p>"The woods for me, every time. Then I think it would be
+    better for Tom's health. I am afraid he would get melancholy if
+    we kept him on the water too much. Let's put in a big day's
+    work and get somewhere. I can stand sleeping in the water once
+    in a while, but don't like it as a regular thing."</p>
+
+    <p>They put in their big day's work without getting very far.
+    They struck shoal water in the morning where little pillars of
+    coral, rising almost to the surface, threatened to tear a hole
+    in their canoe. When they got overboard and waded, the same
+    sharp points of coral hurt their feet and bruised their shins.
+    During the afternoon they held their course, as best they
+    could, for a tall palmetto, which, lifting its head above a
+    waste of water and grass, gave promise
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page192"
+       id="page192"></a>[pg 192]</span> of land enough for a camp
+       beneath it. They dragged the canoe through a narrow strand
+       of saw-grass, but were turned westward by a heavier band of
+       the same obstacle, and finally made their camp for the night
+       on a bushy little submerged key, where Ned lay on top of the
+       canoe and was kept from sleeping by the fear of rolling over
+       into the water, and Dick lay on a bed of brush that soon
+       settled into the water with him. At first Tom climbed a
+       little tree, but didn't seem pleased with his quarters. He
+       looked at Dick's bed for a moment and turned in for the
+       night with Ned in the canoe. Good progress was made on the
+       following day, for the boys were tired of trying to sleep on
+       the water and meant to find land enough for a camp before
+       another night. They found much open water, most of the grass
+       was light and the few strands of saw-grass they encountered
+       were easily avoided. They saw few keys and all of those were
+       submerged. So again when night came there was no dry land
+       for a camp and the bed of branches was built up in the
+       shallow water. About midnight Ned, noticing that his
+       companion was restless, said to him:</p>
+
+    <p>"Dick, can you sleep any more?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Sleep any more?" said the indignant Dick. "I haven't slept
+    any, yet."</p>
+
+    <p>"Then let's get out of this and paddle the rest of the
+    night. It's full moon, paddling isn't half as hard as trying to
+    sleep on that bed and we may get
+    somewhere."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page193"
+       id="page193"></a>[pg 193]</span>
+
+    <p>"Good thing, and I move that we keep paddling till we get to
+    those woods you talked about, if it takes a week. Tom votes
+    with me. Motion carried."</p>
+
+    <p>About the middle of the forenoon they saw a clump of
+    palmettos on a key, for which they headed at once, where they
+    found ground which had been often camped upon. Dick climbed a
+    tree and could make out a forest near the horizon, in the west.
+    A few more hours' work would see them out of the Glades, but
+    they chose to rest for the remainder of the day.</p>
+
+    <p>"There goes your pet. That's the last of him," said Ned,
+    pointing to the lynx in the top of the tree, which Dick had
+    climbed.</p>
+
+    <p>"He'll come back all right. If he doesn't I'll go up and
+    fetch him by the scruff of his neck."</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:60%;">
+        <a href="images/193.jpg"
+             name="fig193"
+             id="fig193"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/193.jpg"
+             alt='"THERE GOES YOUR PET."' /></a>"THERE GOES YOUR
+             PET. THAT'S THE LAST OF HIM"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>Dick was right, for when the wild-cat saw the stores broken
+    into for dinner he came down for his portion of meat and then
+    curled up for a nap on his canvas in the canoe. Tom tolerated
+    Ned, but never permitted any familiarities from him, while Dick
+    could handle him as he chose and the lynx only smiled, in his
+    own fashion.</p>
+
+    <p>To reach the woods they were aiming for the boys left the
+    Indian trail they were on and, after forcing their way through
+    a strand of saw-grass, found themselves on a prairie, bounded
+    on the west <span class="pagenum"><a name="page194"
+       id="page194"></a>[pg 194]</span> by a heavy growth of
+       cypress, oak and other heavy timber, while the prairie
+       itself was made beautiful by picturesque little groups of
+       palmettos which were scattered through
+       it.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page195"
+       id="page195"></a>[pg 195]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XVIII</h3>
+
+    <h3>DICK'S WILDCAT AND OTHER WILD THINGS</h3>
+
+    <p>The Everglades had been crossed and that great region of
+    romance was no longer a mystery to our explorers, who found a
+    dry, shaded site for their camp on the border of the swamp
+    which they planned to explore and there fitted up for a long
+    stay. They stretched their canvas, tent fashion, and gathered
+    grass and moss for their beds. A round, deep pool of clear
+    fresh water was just beside the camp, and after one rattlesnake
+    and a few moccasins that claimed squatter's title had been
+    killed they felt that nothing was lacking. In the evening the
+    distant gobbling of a turkey told the hunters what would be the
+    first duty of the next day. When they started out on the hunt
+    prepared to be gone for one or more days Dick was troubled for
+    fear Tom might not understand his long absence and skip out. He
+    had a long talk with the lynx and told Ned that he thought Tom
+    would be good. Then he got out two days' rations for the
+    animal, which it ate up at once. There was more dry land in
+    this swamp than in those farther south to which they had become
+    accustomed, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page196"
+       id="page196"></a>[pg 196]</span> traveling was better, or
+       rather, less bad. Yet to persons with less experience than
+       the young explorers it would have seemed to be as bad as it
+       was possible for it to be. For half a day the boys tramped
+       and waded in the swamp without finding the game they were
+       looking for. They had found other birds, some of which they
+       would have shot for their dinner had they not been afraid of
+       frightening the wary turkeys, which they believed were not
+       far from them. Alligators were plentiful, large and small,
+       but the boys were not hunting for hides and Dick said that
+       Tom was all the pet he cared to have charge of for the
+       present. Early in the afternoon they sat down to rest under
+       a big tree and were eating their lunch of smoked meat and
+       cold hoe-cake when a turkey gobbler lit on a branch of the
+       tree under which they were sitting. The turkey was in plain
+       sight and less than twenty feet from them, but Dick's
+       shot-gun was resting against a tree fifteen feet from its
+       owner, while Ned's rifle lay on the ground five feet from
+       his hand. Both kept as quiet as graven images, for they knew
+       that at the motion of a hand the big bird would take flight.
+       If Dick's gun had been within five feet he would have jumped
+       for it, trusting to be ready with it to cut down the turkey
+       before it could get out of sight among the trees. But a run
+       of fifteen feet made his chances too small and he waited to
+       see what Ned would do. Ned's rifle lay just out of his
+       reach, and before he could lay his hand on it the
+       <span class="pagenum"><a name="page197"
+       id="page197"></a>[pg 197]</span> bird would be on the wing
+       and quite safe from anything he could do with a rifle. At
+       last Ned began to push himself inch by inch toward the
+       rifle, while Dick sat silent and breathless with excitement.
+       Very slowly Ned progressed until his hand touched the rifle.
+       Before he could move it the fraction of an inch, the turkey
+       saw the trouble in store for him and was off. Ned grabbed
+       the rifle and took a harmless snapshot at the bird, while
+       Dick rushed for his gun and sent after the turkey, which was
+       then a hundred yards distant, a shower of shot which could
+       never have overtaken it.</p>
+
+    <p>"Next time I eat I'm going to feed myself with one hand and
+    hold my gun in the other," said Dick. "I think I'll stay home
+    to-morrow and keep camp. Tom will go hunting with you. He's got
+    sense and he always keeps his weapons handy."</p>
+
+    <p>"Keeps 'em too handy for me. I don't like the way he looks
+    at me sometimes. He acts as if he wanted to feel of my ribs to
+    see if I am fat enough for his purposes. I reckon I'm the one
+    to keep camp. My rifle was right at my elbow, but I didn't seem
+    to know enough to use it. Dick! Look at that hole in that tree
+    and all those insects around it. It's a bee-tree. There's a
+    barrel of honey there that belongs to us!"</p>
+
+    <p>"Do you s'pose the bees know that it belongs to us, or will
+    they make trouble for us?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Of course they'll make trouble. You can't rob a hive
+    without being
+    stung."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page198"
+       id="page198"></a>[pg 198]</span>
+
+    <p>"I'm going to keep camp to-morrow, just as I told you, and
+    let Tom go with you. Wonder how he'd like to climb that
+    tree."</p>
+
+    <p>"We will chop down that tree to-morrow and likely get stung
+    a lot, but you know, Dick, you wouldn't stay away for a
+    farm."</p>
+
+    <p>"Better not try me. I wish I had a sheet-iron jacket and
+    stove-pipe pants. Let's go home. I want to see Tom and tell him
+    about it. I'm afraid he's lonesome."</p>
+
+    <p>But Dick didn't tell Tom anything, for when they got back to
+    camp Tom had gone. Dick scarcely tasted his supper and his
+    sleep was restless and troubled. He woke with a scream, from a
+    terrible nightmare in which a wild beast had him by the throat
+    and was crushing him to death under his tremendous weight. He
+    was happy when he woke to find that his dream was true. For Tom
+    had come home and showed his joy at the sight of Dick by
+    leaping on the boy's chest and licking his face and neck. Even
+    Ned rejoiced that Tom had returned and stroked his back, which
+    for once the lynx graciously permitted.</p>
+
+    <p>"You are glad that Tom has come back, aren't you, Ned?" said
+    Dick as he laid his face against the soft fur of the wild-cat
+    whose purring sounded so like a low growl.</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, yes. I'm glad. 'Course I am. Only wish all of 'em would
+    come back, the two alligators, the crocodile and the dead
+    otter. Then we'd start a
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page199"
+       id="page199"></a>[pg 199]</span> menagerie and I'd tell
+       fearful stories of man-eaters while you went into their
+       cages with a big whip in one hand and a small cannon in the
+       other."</p>
+
+    <p>When the boys started for the bee-tree they carried a bundle
+    of dry palmetto fans, an axe, and a bucket for the honey.</p>
+
+    <p>"Shall we tote the guns?" asked Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"What's the use? Don't either of us know how to use 'em.
+    Better leave 'em with Tom."</p>
+
+    <p>But the guns did not stay with Tom, or rather Tom did not
+    stay with the guns, but quietly followed the boys as a pet dog
+    might have done. He stepped daintily from root to root and
+    walked along fallen logs and the branches of trees which he
+    climbed, easily keeping up with the bee hunters, without
+    muddying his paws, while they wallowed in mud which was usually
+    knee-deep and occasionally a foot more. Before tackling the
+    tree they built a fire some fifty yards away, which they made
+    smoke by putting on rotten wood and wet moss. They intended to
+    hide in this smoke if the bees attacked them while they were
+    chopping down the tree. The palmetto leaves were to be kept
+    until the tree had fallen and were then to be made into smoky
+    torches, under cover of which the boys hoped to secure the
+    honey. They took turns in slinging the axe and resting, yet the
+    exercise and the bees together kept them pretty well warmed up.
+    For, after a while the bees began to take notice of the
+    knocking at their door and occasionally a few of them dropped
+    down <span class="pagenum"><a name="page200"
+       id="page200"></a>[pg 200]</span> and stung the chopper and
+       the looker on, quite impartially. The art of wood-chopping
+       has to be learned before one is born. The children of
+       back-woodsmen can sling an axe as soon as they can stand.
+       Boys born as near New York City as Dick and Ned were, never
+       can learn. They think when they go up in the Adirondacks and
+       chew down some trees with an axe, that they are chopping
+       wood, but their guides who lie around smoking their pipes
+       while the sportsmen sweat over the task, know better and
+       slyly wink at each other while they praise aloud the skill
+       of their employers.</p>
+
+    <p>When the boys stopped work and went back to their smudge to
+    give the bees a chance to rest, and to find out if mud really
+    drew the poison out of the little lumps that covered them, the
+    tree had been cut nearly half through. Any Nature-lover would
+    have known that a beaver had been at work, while everyday folks
+    would have suspected a saw-mill.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick missed Tom and at first was troubled, but finally
+    discovered him sitting on a branch behind a tree around which
+    he could look without making himself conspicuous.</p>
+
+    <p>"Shall we wait till to-morrow to finish the job?" asked
+    Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"Not much. By to-morrow my face will be so swollen that I
+    can't see and the rest of me so sore that I can't move. Let's
+    make a big smudge at the foot of the tree. I'd rather be
+    smothered by <span class="pagenum"><a name="page201"
+       id="page201"></a>[pg 201]</span> smoke than stung and
+       poisoned to death by those little beasts."</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/200.jpg"
+             name="fig200"
+             id="fig200"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/200.jpg"
+             alt='"A FEW OF THE HOMELESS BEES LIT ON THE COMB"' />
+             </a>"A FEW OF THE HOMELESS BEES LIT ON THE COMB"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>The smudge worked and the bee hunters had no more trouble
+    until the tree fell, when they got into the thickest of the
+    smoke they had made. This did not save them altogether, for the
+    bees were very numerous and very mad and a few dozen of them
+    got far enough in the smoke to leave their marks on their
+    enemies. When the insects had quieted down and were gathered in
+    bunches on logs and stumps, looking stupidly at the wreck of
+    their home, the boys made another smudge near the hole in the
+    fallen tree which led to the home of the bees. They sounded the
+    hollow tree and found it only a shell where the honey was
+    stored and a little work with the hatchet laid open the
+    storehouse of the insects. A few of the homeless bees lit on
+    the comb they had made, other bees gathered on the cypress
+    knees which abounded in the swamp and through which the great
+    cypress trees breathed, but their spirit was gone and they made
+    no attack on the destroyers of their home. Of the comb and
+    honey which the boys found in the tree they were able to carry
+    away less than half and they wondered if the bees would have
+    the sense to save what was left or if some wandering bear would
+    scoop it in for his supper.</p>
+
+    <p>As the young bee hunters started for camp laden with their
+    spoils, Tom stepped softly out of a nearby thicket, licking his
+    chops and apparently thinking
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page202"
+       id="page202"></a>[pg 202]</span> of the delicate lunch of
+       fat tree-rat he had just eaten.</p>
+
+    <p>"Dick," said Ned, as they were lazily resting against a log,
+    after a supper that was mostly dessert, having consisted of a
+    little smoked bear and a lot of honey, "something has got to be
+    done for the larder. We go for honey when we need meat. We let
+    Indian hens which we can get, escape on the chance of turkeys
+    which we can never bag. We are looking for deer that are miles
+    away and overlooking ducks that are trying to fly into the
+    pot."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm not overlooking much, Neddy, since that turkey biz.
+    I've got my gun in my hand this minute and here's a chance to
+    use it."</p>
+
+    <p>As Dick spoke he raised the gun to his shoulder and fired. A
+    little black creature, thirty yards away in the grass, sprang
+    into the air and fell to the ground. Both of the boys started
+    for it, but Tom was ahead and looked back upon them, growling
+    fiercely, with his fangs fixed in the throat of the dying
+    creature. Dick tried to coax the lynx to give up the creature
+    he had seized, but the animal was filled with the fierceness of
+    his race and even Dick dared not touch him. The creature which
+    the cat held in its claws was clearly a rabbit, little and jet
+    black, unlike anything which either of the boys had ever seen
+    before.</p>
+
+    <p>"I've heard of these little Everglade rabbits," said Ned.
+    "Tommy told me of a key in the Everglades
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page203"
+       id="page203"></a>[pg 203]</span> where there were plenty of
+       them. If we had time we might look it up."</p>
+
+    <p>"How much time have you got, Neddy?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Another month will use up the time I said I would be gone.
+    I left that word for Dad in Myers. Guess he's there now and
+    maybe my sister with him. He won't worry a minute till the time
+    I set is up, after that there'll be trouble."</p>
+
+    <p>"What kind of trouble?"</p>
+
+    <p>"'Most anything," laughed Ned. "Might be a lot of nurses out
+    looking for a lost baby."</p>
+
+    <p>"He won't be frightened about you if you're not quite up to
+    time, will he?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Not exactly frightened, but he will want to see me, and
+    I'll be glad enough to see him, and sis, too."</p>
+
+    <p>"I knew you had a sister, but you never talked about her
+    much."</p>
+
+    <p>"She's a nice child, alle samee. I think you're going to
+    like her. She's a little your style of foolishness."</p>
+
+    <p>"What's that?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, it isn't very bad. But you haven't had much to say
+    about your own self, lately. You never told me exactly what
+    took you around by Key West. Why didn't you come straight to
+    Fort Myers instead of taking the tiny little chance of finding
+    me in the big Everglades?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, I'll tell you. You see, mother knew how much I wanted
+    to go with you on this hunt and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page204"
+       id="page204"></a>[pg 204]</span> she begged me to let her
+       foot the bills. Of course I couldn't stand for that, you
+       know, and&mdash;"</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, Of course not, you stuck-up little donkey," interrupted
+    Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"So I started as a stowaway on the Key West
+    steamer&mdash;"</p>
+
+    <p>"You cheeky little imp! Did they put you in command of the
+    ship when they found you?"</p>
+
+    <p>"No, only put me in the fireroom, shoveling coal in the
+    furnace."</p>
+
+    <p>"But that's not boy's work. What business&mdash;"</p>
+
+    <p>"Hold on, Ned, wait till I get through. The captain was
+    bully. So was everybody else. I went to him soon as we were
+    outside Sandy Hook and asked for a job. I was independent about
+    it. I believe I offered to swim ashore if he didn't happen to
+    have a job for me. He gave me an easy one, for a boy, but I
+    struck and asked for a man's work, and got it&mdash;in the
+    fireroom. But I pulled through, Neddy, and made good, though
+    once or twice I did have to call myself hard names and think
+    how you'd have hung on, if you'd been in my place. Yes,
+    everybody was good to me. One passenger wanted to pay for a
+    first-class passage for me and I had hard work to beg off,
+    and&mdash;but that's all."</p>
+
+    <p>"Dick, you mustn't talk that way about me. You make me
+    ashamed. I wouldn't have stuck it out in that fireroom for one
+    day. Now how about your time for the trip? Will a month suit
+    you?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, that's all right. I wrote mother from Key
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page205"
+       id="page205"></a>[pg 205]</span> West and told her the hunt
+       would be a long one without any chance to mail a letter and
+       that she was not to worry because there wasn't a show of
+       danger in the whole business. Of course mothers do worry a
+       little when there isn't any reason."</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, mothers do worry, foolishly. Pity yours couldn't know
+    how faithfully Tom looks after you. She'd be so relieved."</p>
+
+    <p>On the day after cutting down the bee tree the boys were
+    glad to stay quietly in camp. Ned's neck and arms were badly
+    swollen and Dick's eyes could scarcely be seen. Both of them
+    lay awake nearly all night, but it was uncertain whether this
+    was due to the pain of the stings or the quantity of honey they
+    had eaten.</p>
+
+    <p>Tom shed his fierceness soon after he had disposed of the
+    rabbit and again became friendly to Dick, who, even while he
+    petted him, explained that he could never quite trust him
+    again.</p>
+
+    <p>Every evening turkeys could be heard in the swamp near the
+    camp. Every morning they had departed. One morning Ned said to
+    Dick:</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm turkey hungry and I'm tired of shilly-shallying. The
+    way to get anything is to get it. Let us get a turkey. We'll
+    start out for it now and come back after we have got it, and
+    not before."</p>
+
+    <p>"All right, Neddy, we goes for it, we gits it and we comes
+    back when we gits it and not afore."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys started out with their usual equipment of weapons,
+    salt, matches and axe. They crossed
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page206"
+       id="page206"></a>[pg 206]</span> the swamp without finding
+       the bird they sought and then, as they were hungry and
+       tired, Dick shot a fat young ibis and broiled it for their
+       dinner. After dinner they crossed the meadow to a narrow
+       strip of woods, beyond which, on a wide stretch of prairie,
+       they saw three bunches of turkeys. The bunch nearest them
+       appeared to be a hen turkey with her family, each member of
+       which was about as large as its mother. They were a long
+       rifle-shot away, and a shot, if it missed, would send every
+       turkey to cover for the day. The same thing would happen if
+       either of them set foot on the prairie.</p>
+
+    <p>"Our best chance," said Ned, "is to wait for them at the
+    edge of the prairie. It's getting late and pretty soon they'll
+    be looking for places to roost among these trees. They may come
+    right here. Anyhow, by spreading out we will cover quite a
+    stretch of woods. It may be too late for the rifle but the
+    shotgun ought to do something."</p>
+
+    <p>"That means that you're tired of my society, Neddy. So I'll
+    go and hide myself on the edge of the prairie, a little further
+    off than you can hit anything, in case of you mistaking me for
+    a turkey."</p>
+
+    <p>Soon after Dick had reached his station, the turkeys began
+    to feed toward the woods. Two of the bunches went to the
+    opposite side of the prairie. The hen turkey with her grown-up
+    family fed slowly toward Dick's hiding place, but, when just
+    out of range, appeared to become suspicious and turned toward
+    Ned. Slowly she walked, darting her
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page207"
+       id="page207"></a>[pg 207]</span> quick-moving head in every
+       direction as she searched trees and bushes for hidden
+       enemies. The younger turkeys put much faith in the wariness
+       of the old lady and stalked fearlessly behind her. Ned
+       waited for a chance which he thought couldn't be missed and,
+       avoiding the mother turkey, shot down one of her brood.
+       Instantly the flock was in the air, following its leader
+       down along the edge of the forest. This brought them
+       directly over Dick, who neatly cut down another member of
+       the family. While Ned was dressing the turkeys and building
+       the fire for the broiling of one of them, Dick was climbing
+       a young cabbage palm and cutting the bud from its top.</p>
+
+    <p>"Couldn't tell this palmetto cabbage from big fresh
+    chestnuts, by the taste," said Dick. "I'm going to roast that
+    other turkey at the camp to-morrow with his whole inside
+    crammed full of chestnut stuffing."</p>
+
+    <p>While the turkey hunters were eating their breakfast of cold
+    turkey a doe, followed by a fawn which was still in the spotted
+    coat, walked out on the open prairie within fifty yards of them
+    and gazed at them without a sign of fear.</p>
+
+    <p>"They know we wouldn't shoot a doe or a fawn," said Ned.
+    "That's what makes them feel so safe."</p>
+
+    <p>"Wonder if they would have felt as safe last night, before
+    we got those turkeys?"</p>
+
+    <p>On their return Tom, met the turkey hunters a quarter of a
+    mile from their camp and they
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page208"
+       id="page208"></a>[pg 208]</span> wondered whether he had
+       heard them coming, or happened to be strolling that way. He
+       looked so earnestly at the turkey which Dick was carrying
+       that the boy said to him:</p>
+
+    <p>"See here, Tom, that's my turkey and I won't stand for your
+    laying a paw on him. So you had better be good unless you are
+    looking for a mix-up with me." Tom looked cowed, but showed his
+    friendly feelings by walking beside Dick, rubbing against his
+    legs and purring in his half-growling
+    fashion.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page209"
+       id="page209"></a>[pg 209]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XIX</h3>
+
+    <h3>A PRAIRIE ON FIRE</h3>
+
+    <p>"Dick," said Ned as they rested against a log, having their
+    regular after-dinner, heart-to heart talk, "we had better
+    <i>hiepus</i> (light out), if we mean to get to the coast and
+    bring up at Myers on time, besides taking in all we want to on
+    the way. We know the Harney's River route like a book and we've
+    been over the Indian trail to Lawson's River, so we've got to
+    find some new way out. There is a chain of salt-water lakes
+    between the Everglades and the rivers of the west coast and we
+    must get into them. I have made a pretty fair chart of the
+    country and can tell how far across the swamps and prairies it
+    is to almost any point, but how much of that distance is easy
+    water and how much tough swamp or boggy prairie is what I don't
+    know, but what we have got to find out. We have explored the
+    country right around here pretty well and now let's put in a
+    day working the canoe through the grass to the south, then leg
+    it westward till we strike salt water."</p>
+
+    <p>"That sounds well," replied Dick, "and then, you know, if
+    your charts don't pan out straight, you can
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page210"
+       id="page210"></a>[pg 210]</span> always ask Tom or me.
+       Wonder if you half appreciate your privileges, having us
+       along to take care of you."</p>
+
+    <p>The young explorers "lit out" as proposed and, after a day
+    of hard work and easy work, of open water and thick saw-grass
+    and of clear channels and half dry meadows, camped beside a
+    little slough on the border of a swamp, in the jungle of which
+    it soon lost itself.</p>
+
+    <p>The first excitement of the new camp came in the night when
+    Tom, who was sleeping, as usual, beside Dick, sprang up with a
+    fierce cry, which they had never before heard from him, and
+    dashed into the woods near the camp. There came from the woods
+    the battle cries of warring animals, but soon all became quiet
+    and the cat came back, but he growled at intervals throughout
+    the night.</p>
+
+    <p>"What got into you, Tom?" said Dick to the lynx the next
+    morning, after he had looked him over in vain for marks of a
+    fight. "Was it jimjams, or only a bad nightmare?"</p>
+
+    <p>Tom listened gravely and looked as if he could have
+    explained a good deal if only Dick had understood his
+    language.</p>
+
+    <p>Tom followed the boys through the swamp on the morning of
+    their first tramp, but when they struck a marshy meadow where
+    the water was knee deep and the mud as much more, with no trees
+    to make it pleasant for a poor cat, he looked reproachfully at
+    Dick and turned back toward the camp. At
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page211"
+       id="page211"></a>[pg 211]</span> the end of the meadow was a
+       dense thicket which Ned entered first. He had only advanced
+       a few steps when he turned back and held up his hand in
+       warning to Dick. The thicket in which they stood was on the
+       border of a big prairie of rich grass in which more than a
+       dozen deer, nearly all bucks, could be seen feeding, with
+       only their backs and antlers showing above the tall grass,
+       excepting when some buck of a suspicious mind lifted his
+       head high and gazed warily about him.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/210.jpg"
+             name="fig210"
+             id="fig210"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/210.jpg"
+             alt='"ALL BEYOND THE DARK MEADOW WAS A LIVING MASS"' />
+             </a>"ALL BEYOND THE DARK MEADOW WAS A LIVING MASS"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"Isn't it us for the big luck, Neddy?" whispered Dick. "When
+    I ate that very last bit of turk this morning I wondered when
+    I'd get another meal and Tom asked me in confidence if we meant
+    to let him starve. And now, just look. There's venison enough
+    for the rest of the trip."</p>
+
+    <p>"It don't belong to us yet. You want to be mighty cautious.
+    You can sneak up to that tree with the rifle and wait till that
+    nearest buck shows up in good shape and then drop a bullet
+    somewhere around his fore-shoulder. Don't fire at his head
+    unless you have to. The brain is a mighty small mark, and
+    you're not playing to the gallery down here."</p>
+
+    <p>"Ned Barstow, what are you talking about? Take your own
+    rifle and shoot your own buck. If you don't I'll let out a yell
+    that will scare the whole bunch to Kingdom Come. I don't run to
+    you with my gun, whenever I find game, and ask you to shoot it.
+    You mean well, Neddy boy, but sometimes you get
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page212"
+       id="page212"></a>[pg 212]</span> mistaken. I'm afraid I
+       didn't begin this trip right. I ought to have given you a
+       lickin' every day, just to keep you in your place."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned crawled out to the tree with his rifle and watched for
+    his chance. The nearest buck was within easy range, but the
+    grass hid his body and when the creature, scenting his enemy,
+    threw his head high in the air Ned sent a bullet through his
+    brain. As the boys were dragging the carcass to the woods where
+    they proposed to skin and cut it in two for carrying to camp,
+    Dick said to Ned:</p>
+
+    <p>"Do you know what hypocrite means?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I s'pose so, but what are you trying to get at?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Hypocrite means a fellow who tells his friend that the only
+    way to shoot a buck is through the body, coz the head is too
+    small to be hit, and then goes out himself and sends a bullet
+    plumb through the center of the brain of the beast."</p>
+
+    <p>"But Dick, I couldn't see the shoulder."</p>
+
+    <p>"Neither could I. You can't sneak out that way."</p>
+
+    <p>A strong wind from the northwest sprang up while the boys
+    were finishing their supper of broiled buck's liver and they
+    built a wind-break to protect them while they slept. The wind
+    became a gale, but they slept soundly, soothed by its roaring.
+    They were rudely wakened by the crashing of some wild animal
+    through the brush of their wind-break and, sitting up, saw that
+    the whole western sky was lit up and all beyond the dark meadow
+    was a lurid mass <span class="pagenum"><a name="page213"
+       id="page213"></a>[pg 213]</span> of flame. The roar of the
+       fire mingled with that of the gale, while, as the swirling
+       columns of flame bent to the earth and swept the meadow, the
+       crackling of the grass was like the rattling of musketry or
+       the spitting fire of a hundred Catlings. Soon the air became
+       filled with sparks and cinders, and thick with smoke.</p>
+
+    <p>"We've got to mosey, Ned. Reckon there isn't any time to
+    waste, either. Shall we take the meat?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Got enough to do to take care of our own."</p>
+
+    <p>There was plenty of light, but the flickering shadows of the
+    trees caused by the wavering flames made the steps of the boys
+    uncertain as they fled from the flames that were following so
+    fast. Ned fell headforemost into a thicket of the terrible
+    Spanish bayonet and it was only the excitement of the hour that
+    made the pain bearable. They floundered across the narrow swamp
+    and into the marshy meadow often waist deep in the mud and more
+    than once both of them fell flat in the water of the marsh. The
+    narrow belt of timber which they first crossed checked the fire
+    and although tongues of flame crossed it and a few trees took
+    fire, while live coals were scattered broadcast over the marshy
+    meadow, the fire died out without crossing the belt of woods
+    that first stopped it. The boys crossed the marshy meadow to
+    the swamp which they first entered when they left their camp
+    the previous morning. As Ned's Spanish bayonet wounds kept him
+    from sleeping, the boys sat up and talked till
+    daylight.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page214"
+       id="page214"></a>[pg 214]</span>
+
+    <p>In the morning the wind had gone down and a few burning
+    trees and little columns of smoke were all that was left of the
+    great fire of the night.</p>
+
+    <p>"If you will go on to camp, Ned, I'll go back and get that
+    venison. It must be well smoked. Hope it didn't burn up. Give
+    my regards to Tom. If he isn't good tie him up."</p>
+
+    <p>"Guess I'll go with you, Dick. These stickers hurt worse
+    when I keep still. Then you will need help to carry the
+    venison. I hope the buzzards haven't got at it. We can leave
+    our guns here."</p>
+
+    <p>"No, thank you. My gun goes with me. I have had trouble
+    enough from not having it handy."</p>
+
+    <p>They found the hide of their buck had been destroyed by the
+    fire, but the venison had only been roasted and partly smoked
+    and they made their breakfast on it. The outsides of the
+    palmettos, on the prairie where Ned shot the buck, were still
+    burning and the trees looked like big sticks of charcoal, but
+    palmetto trees get used to that and are seldom harmed by it,
+    though it does spoil their beauty. The boys walked out in the
+    ashes of the grass of the meadow and were sorry they did, for
+    it made them look like the burnt ends of matches. When they got
+    back to camp Tom came out and sniffed at Dick and then, instead
+    of rubbing against his legs, went back and lay down. Dick spent
+    the rest of the day working over Ned's face and body with
+    tweezers, pulling out bits of thorns. When he got through the
+    boys were about equally
+    tired.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page215"
+       id="page215"></a>[pg 215]</span>
+
+    <p>Ned's wounds were so painful that for several days the
+    explorers stayed around the camp and Dick amused himself and
+    his chum by worrying a family of young alligators that lived in
+    a pond near the camp. He grunted the little ones to the surface
+    until they were tired of being fooled and refused to respond
+    and he drove the largest one out of its cave in the bank until
+    the reptile refused to play any more and would not come beyond
+    the mouth of his cave. Then Dick cut a pole leaving a bit of a
+    branch sticking out like a barb at the end and poked that in
+    the hole till the alligator grabbed the end of it. Dick now
+    pulled good and hard, the barb caught in the reptile's lower
+    jaw and the boy soon had him out of his cave and up on the
+    prairie. The 'gator was lively and Dick had to chase around the
+    prairie a lot after him and finally get Ned to help before he
+    could tie it. Tom didn't approve of the new member of the
+    family, but he made no trouble while the camp was awake. The
+    alligator became very restless at night and got in the habit of
+    thrashing around almost constantly. In the morning his tail was
+    seen to be raw and bleeding and day by day it grew worse. Tom
+    was suspected, but always denied having had anything to do with
+    it, with an expression of such injured innocence when accused
+    that Dick had to believe him. One night, however, a heavy blow
+    was heard, accompanied by a yowl from Tom and followed by some
+    sort of scrimmage. In the morning Tom had a mussed-up look and
+    the reptile <span class="pagenum"><a name="page216"
+       id="page216"></a>[pg 216]</span> had a number of fresh
+       wounds. As the camp was moved that day and Ned continued to
+       object to taking an alligator in the canoe the reptile was
+       turned loose. He walked with dignity out on the prairie
+       until he was near the slough, when he scuttled hastily to
+       the water and plunged in.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/216.jpg"
+             name="fig216"
+             id="fig216"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/216.jpg"
+             alt="THE BARB CAUGHT IN THE REPTILE'S LOWER JAW" />
+             </a>"THE BARB CAUGHT IN THE REPTILE'S LOWER JAW"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>The new camp was in a little glade on a creek which the
+    explorers had followed for about three miles west from the
+    Everglades. They paddled through the creek till it melted in
+    the meadows; they poled their canoe along the channel which the
+    grass concealed; they dragged it by hand under bushes which
+    covered it, until the little glade opened to them and showed
+    enough dry ground for a camp and several shallow streams
+    winding around clumps of bushes, but always stretching out
+    toward the west. At daylight the young explorers were again on
+    the move, dragging the canoe along twisting streams not deep
+    enough to float it, until they struck a larger stream in a
+    heavier growth. The little streams disappeared, the water grew
+    deeper, but the jungle became worse, and every yard of their
+    path had to be carved out with their knives.</p>
+
+    <p>"This doesn't look very hopeful," said Dick as they stopped
+    the heavy work for a few minutes' rest. "Hadn't we better go
+    back a ways and hunt up a more open trail?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Not on your life," replied Ned. "We are on the right track
+    and we've got to fight it through. The only thing I'll stop for
+    is a mangrove swamp, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page217"
+       id="page217"></a>[pg 217]</span> and I'll try mighty hard to
+       get around that. But we won't find any mangrove swamp to
+       trouble us."</p>
+
+    <p>"You seem to know just what we're going to find on this
+    trail, if you call it a trail."</p>
+
+    <p>"I know what we ought to find, and that's better."</p>
+
+    <p>"Why is it better?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Because then we'll know if we're on the right track."</p>
+
+    <p>"All right, Neddy, I quite agree with you. I only wanted to
+    know that you were sure of your ground."</p>
+
+    <p>The trees became heavier in a narrow belt along the stream,
+    but open sky could be seen beyond them.</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't you want to walk across to that open place, Ned, to
+    find out what kind of country it is?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I know now. It's open prairie or swamp and the next big
+    water we strike will be the salt-water lakes. We will probably
+    come to a fresh-water river first and that pretty soon."</p>
+
+    <p>"Conceit's good for the consumption, Neddy. What do you want
+    to bet on finding that river in an hour?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I'll eat my hat if we don't find it in a quarter of a mile.
+    I won't bet on the time, because at the rate you're working it
+    may take three weeks to get there."</p>
+
+    <p>"Ned, you're a wizard, for there is the river."</p>
+
+    <p>The river flowed gently between high banks, densely wooded.
+    The waters were alive with fish, and long-legged wading birds
+    of the heron family <span class="pagenum"><a name="page218"
+       id="page218"></a>[pg 218]</span> stalked over the shallows
+       in the stream. An hour's paddling brought the canoe to the
+       mouth of the river, where camp was made. The water beside
+       the camp was fresh, but the salt-water bays spread out for
+       miles before them.</p>
+
+    <p>"Everything is easy now," said Ned. "These bays are in the
+    Ten Thousand Islands and lead to the head waters of the rivers
+    of the coast. We may get tangled up in these keys, aground on
+    the flats or cornered up in some of the bays and perhaps lose a
+    few days, but we're safe to get out without hard work or
+    trouble of any
+    kind."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page219"
+       id="page219"></a>[pg 219]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XX</h3>
+
+    <h3>DICK'S FIGHT WITH A PANTHER</h3>
+
+    <p>"I've always noticed, Ned, that when everything looks simple
+    and easy, it is a good time to expect trouble."</p>
+
+    <p>"Not this time, Dick."</p>
+
+    <p>But it was this time, and that night Ned had his last
+    care-free sleep for weeks.</p>
+
+    <p>"How long shall we camp here?" asked Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Better stay here for a week or two. We can hunt in the
+    woods back of us and explore all these bays. This may be the
+    last fresh water we will find on the trip, so we don't want to
+    leave it till we are ready to pull straight through to
+    Myers."</p>
+
+    <p>In the morning the boys started across the woods on the bank
+    of the stream, hoping to find a buck on the prairie beyond
+    them. When they reached the prairie they saw three deer near
+    its farther end, about half a mile away. They went back in the
+    woods and started to work their way around the prairie to its
+    farther end where the deer were. It took them some hours to get
+    where the deer had been, only to find that they had gone. They
+    saw them again on a smaller prairie and once more tried to
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page220"
+       id="page220"></a>[pg 220]</span> get near the creatures by
+       creeping through the woods. When the hunters were as near
+       the game as they could go without getting out of cover the
+       animals were yet a hundred and fifty yards distant. One of
+       them was a fine buck and Ned watched it, rifle in hand, for
+       many minutes, hoping it would come nearer. As the deer fed
+       they sometimes came nearer and his hopes rose, only to sink
+       into his boots when they turned away. At last he gave up
+       waiting for a better chance and fired. The buck threw up his
+       head, looked around for a moment and trotted quietly away,
+       entirely unharmed, followed by the other deer.</p>
+
+    <p>"It isn't our day, Dick," said Ned, ruefully, as he watched
+    the disappearing animals.</p>
+
+    <p>"Here goes for something to eat, anyhow," replied Dick, as
+    he dropped a curlew that was flying over them. After broiling
+    and eating the bird, together with some hoe-cake which they had
+    in their pockets, the boys resumed their hunt for deer. They
+    saw several more during the afternoon, but ill luck followed
+    them and they finally set out for camp empty-handed.</p>
+
+    <p>As the boys were passing through a thick clump of trees on
+    the bank of the river, about two hundred yards from their camp,
+    Ned was suddenly held back by a clutch on his shoulder, and
+    turning his head, saw Dick's face upturned and his eyes fixed
+    on the large branch of a big tree just before them. As Ned
+    looked upward he saw the form of a huge
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page221"
+       id="page221"></a>[pg 221]</span> panther, or mountain lion,
+       crouching upon the limb and apparently about to spring upon
+       him. The animal was within ten feet, every muscle was tense,
+       his long tail was waving slowly and Ned stood motionless,
+       charmed by the living beauty of the beast, until he heard
+       Dick's whisper in his ear:</p>
+
+    <p>"Shoot, Ned!"</p>
+
+    <p>The hypnotic spell was broken and Ned slowly raised his
+    rifle to his shoulder, while the panther crouched lower and
+    waved his tail more quickly. In another second it might be too
+    late, and once more Dick whispered:</p>
+
+    <p>"Shoot, Ned! Quick!"</p>
+
+    <p>The bullet struck the beast and the next instant Ned was
+    knocked down by the body of the brute. He was unharmed,
+    however, for Dick had jumped between them and it was in Dick's
+    arm that the panther's teeth were set and Dick's shoulder and
+    side that were being raked by its cruel claws. In an instant
+    Ned's clasp knife was being driven into the body of the beast
+    whose throat Dick's hand was clutching in a feeble effort to
+    keep from his face those long, sharp fangs.</p>
+
+    <p>Bullet and knife had done their work and the panther was
+    dead. But Dick was unconscious and covered with blood which was
+    flowing from deep gashes in his arm and a side that was torn
+    from shoulder to waist. Ned half carried and half dragged the
+    unconscious Dick a few yards to a level piece of dry ground and
+    examined his wounds. <span class="pagenum"><a name="page222"
+       id="page222"></a>[pg 222]</span> Bad as they looked, there
+       was no spouting of blood from an artery, or heavy flow from
+       a large vein. With simple bandaging and care the boy would
+       get well, and Ned's relief was so great that he was almost
+       happy. He removed what the panther had left of Dick's shirt,
+       which was sodden with blood, and tearing off his own,
+       bandaged the wounds from which blood was still flowing. He
+       then filled his cap with water from the river and sprinkled
+       Dick's face, but failed to bring him to consciousness. He
+       was wondering what next to try when Dick opened his eyes and
+       smiled weakly.</p>
+
+    <p>"Did he hurt you, Neddy?"</p>
+
+    <p>"No, he didn't hurt me, thanks to you, Dicky boy. Now I'm
+    going to bring the camp here, in the canoe. Can you get along
+    without me for half an hour?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure. Don't forget Tom."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned didn't forget Tom. He thought so much of him that he
+    took his rifle with him when he went to move the camp. For he
+    was without a shirt and was stained with Dick's blood and
+    therefore very doubtful how the lynx would behave. But Tom
+    merely sniffed at him and when the canoe was loaded stepped
+    aboard as coolly as if his passage had been paid for. When the
+    canoe landed at the new camping ground Tom took a few steps
+    toward Dick and then suddenly sprang into the woods and away,
+    as if witches were after him. Ned was surprised at first, but
+    remembered that Tommy, the Seminole, had once said to
+    him:</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page223"
+       id="page223"></a>[pg 223]</span>
+
+    <p>"Wildcat eat 'coon, panther eat wildcat," and he ceased to
+    wonder why Tom had run away.</p>
+
+    <p>Ned stretched the canvas over Dick, built a camp fire, got
+    out a clean shirt for himself and tore up another for bandages.
+    He washed Dick's wounds, which had ceased to bleed, with warm
+    water and soap and put fresh bandages on them. After he had
+    gathered a lot of moss and made a soft bed for the invalid, he
+    picked up Dick's gun and walking a few steps down the river
+    bank, shot a curlew that sat on a branch by the stream and was
+    young enough to make a broil or stew for the invalid.</p>
+
+    <p>"Been breaking the law, have you, Neddy?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I'd break anything, to get you some nice chicken broth such
+    as I am going to make now."</p>
+
+    <p>At daylight Ned saw that Dick was sleeping quietly and
+    taking the shotgun started out in search of a breakfast suited
+    to a sick boy. When he returned, an hour later, he had a brace
+    of ducks, a little brown Florida rabbit and a 'possum. Dick was
+    awake when he returned and when offered his choice of the game
+    for his breakfast chose all of them. Ned stewed the rabbit and
+    broiled a duck, giving Dick a little of each, but the 'possum
+    looked fat and greasy and he kept it for himself.</p>
+
+    <p>"Dick," said Ned after breakfast, "shall I roll that beast
+    into the river, or do you want his skin?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Want it, of course. I've got no hard feelings against
+    him."</p>
+
+    <p>"Want him skinned for mounting or a
+    rug?"</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page224"
+       id="page224"></a>[pg 224]</span>
+
+    <p>"Rug, I guess. Think I'll enjoy walking on him."</p>
+
+    <p>The big cat was nearly eight feet long, including his tail,
+    and was so heavy that Ned found skinning him a hard job. After
+    he had finished he had to cut a stout stick for a lever, before
+    he could get the carcass into the river. The bad luck of the
+    hunters seemed to have run out, and game began to come to them.
+    Ducks flew over the river beside the camp and plovers often lit
+    on a bank near them. Ned went out for deer and came back in an
+    hour with half a buck on his shoulders. When he approached the
+    camp he saw Dick sitting up and tossing bits of hoe-cake to a
+    'coon that was watching him with some suspicion from a distance
+    of three or four yards.</p>
+
+    <p>"You ought to have seen him, Ned. I had him half tamed. He
+    took little bits of wet hoe-cake that I threw him and rolled
+    them up into balls with his funny little hands before he ate
+    them. In an hour more I'd have had him eating out of my
+    hand."</p>
+
+    <p>"He'll come back to-morrow, Dick. You've got a way with you
+    that wild things understand."</p>
+
+    <p>"It's only that I really love them and they know it."</p>
+
+    <p>The 'coon did come back the next day while Ned was out
+    exploring the bay in the canoe and, although he did not eat out
+    of Dick's hand, he came within a few feet of him and showed
+    very little fear. When Ned returned, the 'coon scrambled to the
+    top of a little tree and looked down on the boys in a friendly
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page225"
+       id="page225"></a>[pg 225]</span> way. Day by day the 'coon
+       became more intimate with Dick, even to eating out of his
+       hand, but always scampered away when Ned came back. On the
+       third day, as Ned came in from an exploring trip, instead of
+       the 'coon he found his old friend Tom, the lynx, sitting
+       beside Dick with the air of a trained nurse.</p>
+
+    <p>"Bully for you, Tom; I'm glad to see you back," said
+    Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm not glad he's come back, the murderer. He has killed my
+    'coon."</p>
+
+    <p>"You remember what my Indian said. 'Panther eat wildcat,
+    wildcat eat 'coon.' Shall I shoot him, Dick?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Shoot Tom? Well I guess not. He didn't know any better. I'm
+    awful sorry the 'coon has gone, but I'd hate worse to lose
+    Tom."</p>
+
+    <p>"How did it happen?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I was feeding the 'coon, and had just put out my hand to
+    rub his head when he jumped in the air and started for that
+    tree like a streak of lightning. He never got there, though.
+    Something was after him like two streaks of lightning. I didn't
+    know it was Tom till it was all over. That wasn't very long,
+    either. If there had been any time I'd have had Tom by the ears
+    or tail and taught him a thing or two."</p>
+
+    <p>"Glad you didn't have time, Dick. I'm afraid Tom might have
+    taught you a few things. Don't
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page226"
+       id="page226"></a>[pg 226]</span> you think you had better
+       get over what one cat has done to you before you tackle
+       another?"</p>
+
+    <p>"But Tom isn't that kind of a cat, Ned. I'm not afraid of
+    his hurting me much. He might scratch me a little at first, but
+    he'd be sorry for it, soon as he had time to think it over.
+    Wouldn't you, Tom?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Cats are cats, Dick, and I don't think it's safe to leave
+    you alone with that wildcat. You are too weak to help yourself
+    if he really tackled you."</p>
+
+    <p>"But he won't attack me. So what's the use of talking about
+    things that aren't going to happen? You are a good boy, Neddy,
+    but you've got your limitations and you can't appreciate
+    Tom."</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:60%;">
+        <a href="images/226.jpg"
+             name="fig226"
+             id="fig226"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/226.jpg"
+             alt='"THE COON SCRAMBLED TO THE TOP OF A LITTLE TREE"' />
+             </a>"THE COON SCRAMBLED TO THE TOP OF A LITTLE TREE"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>Ned spent much of his time coddling the invalid. He paddled
+    out in the lakes and among its keys. He explored the waters and
+    the woods and brought Dick wild grapes with much character and
+    cocoa plums with little; sea-grapes with juice that had the
+    taste of claret and the color of blood; figs, of which Dick
+    said: "De breed am small, but de flavor am delicious"; wild
+    sapadillos that were sweet as honey, but chewed up into a solid
+    ball of soft india rubber; and mastic berries that were
+    delicious to the taste, but stuck like a porous plaster to the
+    roof of the mouth. He got out the rod and caught mangrove
+    snappers from under the banks and sheephead from their hiding
+    places among sunken logs and snags. He dove for turtle that he
+    never got and hacked at young palmettos for buds that he did
+    get.</p>
+
+    <p>Days followed days and though Dick grew better
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page227"
+       id="page227"></a>[pg 227]</span> he didn't grow strong. Ned
+       got anxious and told his chum that he was going to take him
+       to a doctor. Dick laughed and said:</p>
+
+    <p>"You are my doctor. I've great confidence in you and don't
+    care to make a change."</p>
+
+    <p>"Glad to hear it. Your doctor, in whom you have such
+    confidence, desires to consult with his brother physicians in
+    Fort Myers regarding your case, and you will light out with him
+    to-morrow."</p>
+
+    <p>The next morning a little canoe with a cat couchant in the
+    bow, a young invalid comfortably reclining amidships and a
+    husky youth in the stern started down the river and into the
+    salt-water lakes. The first day's run was a short one and the
+    camp was made on a bit of high ground covered with thin grass
+    and shaded by a group of palmettos. It was bordered about with
+    cocoa plums and sweet-smelling myrtle, on one of which
+    flourished an orchid, the vanilla bean, which made heavy with
+    its fragrance the whole camping site.</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"But there lurked a taint in the clime so blest,</p>
+
+            <p>Like a serpent coiled in a ring-dove's
+            nest"&mdash;</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>and as Ned stood dazed by the enchantment of his
+    environment, he was brought to earth with a jar by the whirring
+    of rattles almost under his feet. Every muscle of the boy was
+    tense with excitement as he stood motionless, knowing that
+    death, in a horrible form, was within striking distance of him.
+    The strange, paralyzing music of the dreaded
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page228"
+       id="page228"></a>[pg 228]</span> "King Snake" of the Indians
+       seems to come from all sides and until the threatened victim
+       can see the reptile the motion of a hand may be fatal. The
+       seconds seemed minutes to Ned as he waited and watched,
+       waited and watched, before he saw the fascinating, dreadful,
+       gently swaying head and the lightning play of the forked
+       tongue within easy striking distance.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/232.jpg"
+             name="fig232"
+             id="fig232"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/232.jpg"
+             alt='"HE SAW THE GENTLY SWAYING HEAD AND THE LIGHTNING FLAY OF THE FORKED TONGUE"' />
+        </a>"HE SAW THE GENTLY SWAYING HEAD AND THE LIGHTNING FLAY
+        OF THE FORKED TONGUE"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>He felt that if he jumped, the snake, so much quicker than
+    he, would sink the glistening white fangs of that wide-open
+    mouth deep in his flesh before he could get out of reach. He
+    compelled his quivering nerves to hold steady while he slowly,
+    inch by inch, moved away from the coils of the angry reptile.
+    When Ned was six feet from the rattlesnake he sprang back and
+    stood, almost fainting, quite out of reach of the reptile,
+    which continued to wave its head and jar its rattles, but with
+    less passion. The boy had often been told never to leave a
+    rattlesnake alive and he looked around until he found a stick
+    about five feet long, with which he returned to the field of
+    his fright. The rattler had uncoiled and was creeping away when
+    Ned rushed up and struck at him. The snake coiled like a flash
+    and striking back, sunk his fangs in the stick within a foot of
+    the hand of the boy. Again Ned struck, and the snake returned
+    the blow, both of them missing their marks. Then the stick fell
+    on the coils of the reptile and the back of the rattlesnake was
+    broken. After a few finishing blows Ned dragged
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page229"
+       id="page229"></a>[pg 229]</span> the six-foot creature by
+       the tail to the bank and was thrusting it into the water
+       when Dick called out:</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't you want to save the skin?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't want to save anything to remind me of it. I never
+    expect to get the frightful sight of the open jaws and white
+    fangs of that beast out of my dreams."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick rested in camp the next day with the lynx, while Ned
+    explored with the canoe, looking for the head of some river of
+    the west coast that led to the Gulf, or for enough dry land to
+    serve for a camp. Every water course that he followed, sooner
+    or later closed up on him. He paddled four miles to the west
+    through a long bay, only to find that there was no outlet on
+    the western end, excepting a narrow creek which he followed
+    until he could drag his canoe no farther. He followed floating
+    wisps of manatee grass, freshly torn up by the roots, hoping to
+    find the manatee which had spilled them, that he might follow
+    him to a channel which would lead out of the wilderness. He
+    discovered the manatee and was nearly swamped by the first dash
+    of the frightened creature. Then he lost track of the animal
+    after a long chase among the innumerable keys of the so-called
+    Ten Thousand Islands, and found that he was himself lost. He
+    paddled until it was dark and for an hour after that, when he
+    gave up hope of finding his camp that night.</p>
+
+    <p>He had a map of the country in his brain, but that was for
+    daylight use only. He was hungry, and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page230"
+       id="page230"></a>[pg 230]</span> that was nothing; but he
+       was parched with thirst from his long labor, and that was
+       everything. He had seen no dry land during the day, and it
+       was hopeless to look for it at night. It was never easy to
+       keep the canoe balanced; if he dozed for an instant he would
+       certainly roll it over. He had made up his mind to sentry
+       duty for the night when through the darkness there came to
+       him a gleam of light from a far-distant fire. As he
+       approached, it brightened and sent up a crackling flame, in
+       the blaze of which Ned saw the tall palmettos of his
+       camp.</p>
+
+    <p>"Were you worried, Dick?" he asked after the first warm
+    greetings were over.</p>
+
+    <p>"I sure was. I thought you couldn't get lost and wondered
+    what had happened to you. Tom was uneasy, too, and I reckon he
+    is out looking for you now. He went away in a good deal of a
+    hurry. I made a lighthouse out of those palmetto fans that you
+    cut for my bed, just on the chance of your having lost your
+    way."</p>
+
+    <p>Tom came home about daylight and lay down beside Dick, where
+    he grumbled and growled as if he were a man with a next-morning
+    headache.</p>
+
+    <p>When daylight came and Ned began to bestir himself, he
+    missed the cheery "Good-morning" of his companion, who was not
+    able to lift his head from his pillow of palmetto. His wan
+    smile went to Ned's heart, and the boy had to busy himself with
+    the fire to hide his emotion. Every hour of
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page231"
+       id="page231"></a>[pg 231]</span> that day he watched over
+       the invalid, and from time to time tempted him with bits of
+       broiled bird, heron soup and sips of hot tea made from
+       leaves of the sweet bay. Ned's acquaintance with sickness
+       was slight and his apprehension great, so that the night was
+       a sleepless one and the day that followed brought no relief
+       to his mind. Another day brought new anxieties. Dick was no
+       better, and Ned couldn't bear to leave him, for the
+       invalid's thirst was continuous, but now the supply of fresh
+       water was running low, and a trip back to the river was
+       imperative. He put the bucket, with what water was left,
+       beside Dick's bed and said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Dick, boy, I've got to go for some water. I'll have to be
+    away a few hours, but I'll get back the first minute it is
+    possible."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick put out his hand, and his smile was cheery, though his
+    voice was weak as he said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't you worry, Neddy. I'm all right for all day. I don't
+    need anything but amusement, and Tom will 'tend to that."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm afraid to leave a big wildcat with you when you are so
+    weak. I am going to take Tom with me."</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't do it, Neddy. He'd only be in your way, and I do want
+    him for company. You don't understand Tom; he likes me and I
+    like him. Please don't take him away."</p>
+
+    <p>"Of course I won't take him away, Dick, boy, but you will
+    have to be very good and keep cheerful
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page232"
+       id="page232"></a>[pg 232]</span> and get strong and well to
+       pay me for leaving him."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned's apprehensions made the day a hard one for him. He was
+    afraid of capsizing the canoe and being unable to get back in
+    it. He imagined a tarpon jumping into it, a shark swimming
+    against it, or a porpoise smashing it. When he reached the
+    river of fresh water he carried the canoe up on the bank and
+    tied it to a tree while he walked along the river bank and shot
+    a few tender young birds for the nourishment of the invalid.
+    His nerves were so unstrung that he feared to go far lest he
+    lose his way, and was even apprehensive of failing to find on
+    his return the camp where his companion was awaiting him,
+    although the path to it was plain as a pikestaff. Ned's meeting
+    with Dick was a joyful one, for the boy was clearly better and
+    his voice stronger, although his first words were:</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't go away again, Neddy. You've been gone a year, and I
+    thought you were never coming back."</p>
+
+    <p>By careful economy the five gallons of water which their can
+    contained was made to last as many days for the three of them,
+    for Dick insisted that Tom must share the rations of food and
+    drink of the other members of the family. Each day Ned made a
+    little trip around the keys nearest the camp by way of doing
+    the marketing for his family, and returned when he had shot
+    enough birds for its daily needs. He was happy in the thought
+    of the invalid's increasing strength, but dreaded the necessary
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page233"
+       id="page233"></a>[pg 233]</span> trip for fresh water. Dick
+       surprised him by bearing the separation with cheerfulness,
+       and his voice was so much firmer and his strength so
+       obviously on the mend that Ned began again to plan for his
+       return to civilization.</p>
+
+    <p>On one of his marketing excursions Ned saw a skiff
+    containing two men about a quarter of a mile distant. He waved
+    his hat to the men and paddled toward them, but they rowed
+    away. He followed, but was unable to find them, and concluded
+    that they were outlaws, who did not care to extend their
+    acquaintance. After this he paddled about on the lookout for
+    some one who might help him to carry Dick to the outside world,
+    for he had given up the idea of attempting it by
+    himself.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page234"
+       id="page234"></a>[pg 234]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XXI</h3>
+
+    <h3>CONVALESCENCE AND CATASTROPHE</h3>
+
+    <p>Ned's hopes and plans were suddenly changed, and he no
+    longer hoped for help, but planned to take Dick to the coast
+    himself. For Dick was getting well. There was no doubt about
+    it. His appetite came back, until, instead of urging him to
+    eat, Ned waited for him to ask twice for food before giving it
+    to him. He was still thin and weak, but his spirits bubbled
+    over, and his laughter was on tap, ready to be turned on any
+    minute. He began to clamor for a move toward the coast, but Ned
+    was obdurate and refused to stir for a week. Then one day Ned
+    started out and paddled some miles toward the coast, examining
+    the shores of the keys and the mangrove-lined banks of the
+    salt-water rivers for a camping-ground. He could have made his
+    own camp on the overflowed meadows almost anywhere, but Dick
+    was still an invalid and Ned was always anxious about him. Six
+    miles from the camp, where he had left Dick with Tom, Ned found
+    a good camping site, marked by a freak palmetto with a trunk
+    that branched into two stems about midway up. The
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page235"
+       id="page235"></a>[pg 235]</span> ground was covered with
+       palmetto scrub, which Ned examined carefully for
+       rattlesnakes, after which he got out his fly-rod and caught
+       a mess of fish for supper. On his return to camp the lynx
+       sprang into the canoe, seized one of the fish and growled so
+       fiercely that Ned thought best to let him keep it.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:60%;">
+        <a href="images/234.jpg"
+             name="fig234"
+             id="fig234"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/234.jpg"
+             alt="NED FOUND A GOOD CAMPING SITE MARKED BY A FREAK PALMETTO" />
+        </a>"NED FOUND A GOOD CAMPING SITE MARKED BY A FREAK
+        PALMETTO"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"Fresh water is all out, Dick," said Ned that night, "so
+    I'll start at daylight and go back to the river and fill up.
+    I'll take it slowly and be here about noon. Then we can start
+    out and make easy work of being in the new camp long before
+    sun-down."</p>
+
+    <p>"Ned, I can paddle all right, and I'm going to help. I am
+    sick of being a baby."</p>
+
+    <p>"Go 'way, chile, you make me tired. Don't forget that I'm
+    your doctor," replied Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"Do you see any chance of getting to the coast?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes; pretty sure thing. I found a deep channel near the
+    camp with some porpoises playing in it, and I think it's near
+    the head of one of the big coast rivers. I am almost certain
+    it's Rodgers River."</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/236.jpg"
+             name="fig236"
+             id="fig236"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/236.jpg"
+             alt="THE LYNX SPRANG INTO THE CANOE AND SEIZED ONE OF THE FISH" />
+        </a>"THE LYNX SPRANG INTO THE CANOE AND SEIZED ONE OF THE
+        FISH"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>Ned was a tired boy when the day's work was done and the
+    young explorers were settled in the new camp, but a night's
+    sleep braced him up so that he agreed to his chum's plan to
+    make a dash for the coast, for Dick had said:</p>
+
+    <p>"What is the use of losing a lot of time in prospecting for
+    a soft spot for me to sleep? We can
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page236"
+       id="page236"></a>[pg 236]</span> be on the coast to-night
+       within sight of houses and help if we need it, which we
+       don't, for I'm going to do my share of the paddling. I know
+       that coast and you don't, so I'll naturally be boss."</p>
+
+    <p>When the little canoe had been loaded with all their stores
+    and trophies, and the boys were ready for their final trip, Tom
+    stepped gravely aboard, and seating himself in the bow, turned
+    to Ned with an expression which Dick translated as:</p>
+
+    <p>"I am here, you may start the engine."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned dipped his paddle deeply in the water, that with his
+    every stroke flowed more swiftly. The banks became well
+    defined, and although the stream was so crooked that it flowed
+    by turns to every point of the compass, its general trend was
+    to the west. The river broadened and the channel deepened, the
+    forest on the banks became more heavily timbered, and the boys
+    recognized the beautiful Rodgers River. Curlews and
+    water-turkeys watched them from the trees; herons flew lazily
+    up from the shoals as the canoe approached; porpoises, going
+    out with the tide, rolled their backs out of water and gave
+    sniffs of affright as they saw the canoe beside them. The fin
+    of a great shark, longer than their canoe, cut the water as its
+    owner swiftly pursued a six-foot tarpon, which escaped by
+    leaping in the air within thirty feet of the canoe, toward
+    which it was headed. Another clash of the shark brought its
+    huge body within its length of the boys, while the great mouth,
+    with its rows of serrated
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page237"
+       id="page237"></a>[pg 237]</span> teeth, razor-sharp, opened
+       wide to take in the tarpon, which leaped wildly ten feet in
+       the air, and turning, plunged head-down straight for Ned as
+       he sat in the canoe, paddle in hand. Dick started up from
+       his seat, while Ned tried to fend off with the paddle, but
+       the hard, pointed head of the big tarpon tore through the
+       bottom of the fragile canoe as if it had been paper. A
+       minute later the shattered canoe was floating down the
+       river, while everything sinkable had gone to the bottom.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/238.jpg"
+             name="fig238"
+             id="fig238"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/238.jpg"
+             alt="PORPOISES ROLLED THEIR BACKS OUT OF THE WATER" />
+             </a>"PORPOISES ROLLED THEIR BACKS OUT OF THE WATER"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>Tom, who had been asleep in the bottom of the canoe, was
+    swimming for shore, and Ned, who had not for a second lost his
+    presence of mind, was treading water and supporting the
+    unconscious Dick, who had been struck by the tail of the tarpon
+    as the big fish crushed the canoe. Even as the tarpon struck
+    the canoe Ned was reaching out for Dick, and the boys went down
+    together.</p>
+
+    <p>Then to Ned came the struggle for life&mdash;for two lives.
+    His only thought was of Dick. Dick mustn't drown; Dick's face
+    must be kept out of the water; he must get Dick ashore. He swam
+    high, wasting his efforts to keep Dick's head above the
+    surface. Strength goes fast when one struggles in the water,
+    and Ned was soon gasping for breath. As he struck out more and
+    more feebly for the bank, while the current swept him down the
+    stream, he sank lower and lower, until only his eyes were above
+    the surface and his lungs seemed bursting for want of air. A
+    great shark swept past him, and the wave
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page238"
+       id="page238"></a>[pg 238]</span> from the big fish rolled
+       over him. He felt his senses going, his muscles refused to
+       respond to the call of his brain. His grasp on Dick was
+       loosening, and the thought of this roused him to renew the
+       struggle. To save Dick he must save himself; he must
+       breathe; he must not exhaust himself, and above all his mind
+       must not wander. He was <i>so</i> tired; for himself he
+       would have given up the struggle and dropped into rest, but
+       for Dick&mdash;never! A great calmness came to him. He
+       rolled over with his head thrown back until all but his face
+       was under water. This floated clear of the surface as he lay
+       back and drew air into his smothered lungs in great gulps.
+       He began to kick out with his feet and was soon swimming on
+       his back toward the bank, making fair progress with little
+       effort. Some of his strength came back, and he found that he
+       was easily dragging Dick along, happily with his face
+       upward. Hope took the place of despair, and Ned felt that
+       now he could swim for hours. He saw the overhanging branches
+       of trees above him and knew he was nearing the bank. Then
+       suddenly he found himself aground on a shoal with water less
+       than knee-deep. He dragged the unconscious form of his
+       companion into the jungle on the bank, and a great wave of
+       thankfulness rolled over him as he felt the weak beating of
+       Dick's heart, which was followed by the familiar smile as
+       the boy opened his eyes.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/242.jpg"
+             name="fig242"
+             id="fig242"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/242.jpg"
+             alt="THE HARD, POINTED HEAD OF THE BIG TARPON TORE THROUGH THE BOTTOM OF THE FRAGILE CANOE" />
+        </a>"THE HARD, POINTED HEAD OF THE BIG TARPON TORE THROUGH
+        THE BOTTOM OF THE FRAGILE CANOE"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"Well, Neddy, what have you been doing now,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page239"
+       id="page239"></a>[pg 239]</span> and what are you going to
+       do? Last time I saw you a thousand-pound fish was dropping
+       on your head. Seems as if he hit me, too."</p>
+
+    <p>"Going to make a camp for the two of us, feed us, and get us
+    out of the wilderness. That's what I am going to do," replied
+    Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"You'll do it, all right; but what have you got to work
+    with?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Pocket-knife and some matches. First thing I'll make a fire
+    to dry you. Then I'll forage. You see, Dick, we've got to stay
+    right here until you get strong enough to travel. I can make a
+    palmetto shack big enough to keep the rain off in half a day.
+    The worst trouble will be fresh water, but I think I can fix
+    that. I know how to get things to eat. I have picked up a
+    couple of old cocoanuts, and I'll bring them to you in an hour
+    full of water. Then to-morrow I will start early and find that
+    old shack where we camped in the graveyard. You remember that
+    old kettle there? Well, I'll bring it here full of fresh water.
+    Then if you don't get well pretty quick I'll leave you plenty
+    to eat and drink and find my way to the coast. I can do it in a
+    day, and have your old friend, who don't believe we know a
+    manatee from a tarpon, up here with his boat the next day
+    sure."</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't do it, Neddy. I'd be thinking of a hundred things
+    happening to you, and the night would be pretty lonesome
+    without even Tom."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned started away from the river through a wooded
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page240"
+       id="page240"></a>[pg 240]</span> swamp, and before he had
+       gone a quarter of a mile struck a prairie on which several
+       deer were feeding. The animals seemed to know that he had no
+       weapon, for they showed no alarm until he had walked some
+       distance toward them. There were a number of small ponds
+       near him, and as Ned approached the nearest one a small
+       alligator slipped from the bank into the water. The boy had
+       provided himself with a short, heavy pole, and he waded
+       fearlessly in after the 'gator; but although the pond was
+       not thirty feet across and he explored every foot of it, he
+       could not find the reptile. He finally came across an
+       opening in the bank, in which he thrust his pole, when it
+       was promptly seized by the alligator. Ned tried to pull the
+       reptile within reach, but when the head came out of the cave
+       it was larger than he had looked for, and before he had made
+       up his mind to tackle it the creature had let go of the pole
+       and gone back in his cave. Then the boy got earnest and
+       determined to have that alligator if he had to crawl into
+       the cave after him. He sharpened a bit of branch that stuck
+       out beside the big end of his pole like the barb of a
+       harpoon, and again thrust it in the cave. Soon he had the
+       reptile fighting mad with his head out of the cave, when he
+       pushed the pole into his open mouth, and catching the barb
+       in the soft skin under the alligator's jaw, just as Dick had
+       done weeks before, hauled him out of the cave and dragged
+       him out on the bank. When a few yards from the pond the
+       reptile broke loose <span class="pagenum"><a name="page241"
+       id="page241"></a>[pg 241]</span> from the barb and started
+       back for the pond. Ned was after him like a tiger and struck
+       two or three smashing blows on the creature's head with his
+       pole, and then, as the reptile neared the water, threw
+       himself on its back and seizing its jaws held them together
+       while he turned the brute on its back. At first the
+       alligator lashed out with its tail, but soon became quiet;
+       and then Ned got out his knife and severed the spine of the
+       reptile.</p>
+
+    <p>The water of the pond was so nearly fresh that its taste was
+    only slightly sweetish, and after Ned had drank all he could
+    hold he filled his two cocoanuts for Dick. On his way to camp
+    he hunted up a young palmetto for the bud or cabbage which grew
+    in the top of the tree. The sharp edges of the great, tough
+    leaves tore his flesh as he climbed through them, and it was
+    only after more than an hour of hard work with his knife that
+    he secured the cabbage he was working for. By this time the
+    water he had drunk had oozed out through his pores. He was so
+    parched with thirst that he took a long walk back to the pond
+    and filled up again.</p>
+
+    <p>That night Dick and Ned had broiled alligator steak and
+    palmetto cabbage for supper. Both suffered so much for want of
+    water that Ned started out at daylight to find the old
+    abandoned plantation. Dick was pale and his smile so wan that
+    Ned's heart was sore at leaving him. He was too earnest to
+    think of trivial things, and he sloshed through the swamp
+    without thought of the swaying heads
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page242"
+       id="page242"></a>[pg 242]</span> of little speckle-bellies
+       in his path, or the great, ugly cotton-mouth moccasins that
+       moved slowly aside as he wallowed through their lairs. He
+       stopped long enough on the border of the prairie to find a
+       club, with which he fiercely pounded to death a rattlesnake,
+       upon whose coils he had nearly stepped when the locust-like
+       warning found its way to his consciousness.</p>
+
+    <p>After about three miles of tramping, during which he waded
+    waist-deep across two sloughs, the prairie opened upon familiar
+    ground, and Ned knew that he was opposite the plantation he
+    sought. In the decaying building he found an old bucket that
+    would hold three or four gallons, and a couple of quart cans in
+    which water could be boiled. From a tamarind tree he gathered
+    the half-dried fruit with its sweet acidity, and in the old
+    garden he discovered a few stalks of sugar-cane. He picked up a
+    rusty fish-hook and from an old net got a quantity of string.
+    Then filling his bucket with rain water, he started back to
+    Dick and the camp. The journey was a hard one, and though he
+    refused to drink a drop of the water, half of it was lost on
+    the way. The weight of it pressed him down in the mire of the
+    sloughs until he sank to the armpits as he held the heavy
+    bucket on his head. Dick laughed aloud with joy, even if it was
+    a bit hysterical, when Ned got home to camp.</p>
+
+    <p>"Been lonesome?" asked Ned after Dick had
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page243"
+       id="page243"></a>[pg 243]</span> drank a quart of water and
+       looked as if he wanted a gallon more.</p>
+
+    <p>"Not very. Tom has amused me," replied Dick, as he pointed
+    to a branch over his head. Ned looked up, and there was Tom
+    gazing benignly down upon him.</p>
+
+    <p>"Wonder if Tom is hungry?" said Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"Guess not. I tried him with a piece of alligator steak, and
+    he turned his nose up at that."</p>
+
+    <p>"What do you think he would say to a mess of fish?" and Ned
+    produced his fish-hook and line. Dick's eyes glistened.</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh! I am so hungry for some broiled fish."</p>
+
+    <p>Most Florida streams are alive with fish that are not fussy
+    about the tackle with which they are taken. Ned baited his hook
+    with a piece of alligator, which was promptly seized by a
+    salt-water cat. The cat-fish was given to the wildcat, which
+    grabbed it fiercely. Two mangrove snappers were the result of a
+    few minutes' fishing. Ned put some tamarinds in one of the
+    quart tins, which he filled with water and then stirred with a
+    stick of sugar-cane which had been peeled and split.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick perked up a good deal during his supper of broiled
+    fish, palmetto cabbage and tamarind water, after which Ned made
+    him a tin of tea from the leaves of the sweet bay. In the days
+    that followed Ned gathered oysters, which he found some
+    distance down the river, caught fish and killed several heron
+    and a young curlew with sticks. The
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page244"
+       id="page244"></a>[pg 244]</span> broils, roasts and stews
+       which he made would have done credit to a professional cook.
+       He wanted to set snares for rabbits and birds, but had to
+       give it up owing to the difficulty of making a snare which
+       would distinguish between Tom, whom he didn't wish to catch,
+       and the rabbits which he wanted.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick was improving, but so very slowly that Ned determined
+    to find his way to the coast and get help. He put it off, at
+    Dick's request, for several days, until they had been in camp a
+    week, when one afternoon it was agreed that Ned should start
+    early the next morning. Dick, who was feeling very blue at the
+    prospect of Ned's leaving him, was lying on his bed of moss
+    when suddenly he sat
+    up.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page245"
+       id="page245"></a>[pg 245]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XXII</h3>
+
+    <h3>THE RESCUE</h3>
+
+    <p>"Listen, Ned, listen! There is a motor-boat in the river.
+    Don't you hear it?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't hear it, Dick."</p>
+
+    <p>"But you must hear it. It's growing plainer every minute.
+    It's a four-cycle engine, and a fast boat, too. I can tell you
+    that. Who can it be? Do you suppose it is your father looking
+    for you?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I hear it now. No, it isn't Dad. My time isn't up for
+    several days yet. After that anything might happen, but until
+    then Dad won't lift a finger toward looking me up."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, Ned! It's coming nearer, nearer, nearer! There! It's
+    'round the bend. Of course, you see it now. How it is
+    coming!"</p>
+
+    <p>"You bet it's coming. You ought to see the water pile up
+    against the bow. It's a glass-cabin launch. There's a man
+    standing on top of the cabin. I think he sees us, for he is
+    pointing this way, and&mdash;the boat's headed straight for
+    us&mdash;hear that whistle, and&mdash;Dick, Dick,
+    boy!&mdash;there's a tall man and a girl standing in front of
+    the pilot-house, and&mdash;oh,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page246"
+       id="page246"></a>[pg 246]</span> Dick! it's too good to be
+       true, but it's Dad and Molly!"</p>
+
+    <p>"Molly?" said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, my sister, you know. Sometimes we call her Mary."</p>
+
+    <p>"I didn't know your sister's name was Molly. What does she
+    look like?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Just watch that girl who is waving her hat as if she was
+    crazy. That's Molly."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned was in the launch before it touched the bank, and Mr.
+    Barstow was holding his son by the hand, although neither
+    spoke, while Molly had her arms around Ned's neck and was
+    laughing, crying and talking by turns.</p>
+
+    <p>"You blessed, blessed Neddy! What did happen to you? We were
+    frightened, oh! so frightened."</p>
+
+    <p>"Ned," said Mr. Barstow, "your friend, young Williams, was
+    with you. I never saw him, but I hope no harm came to him."</p>
+
+    <p>"No, daddy; Dick will be all right, now you are here, but he
+    has been very, very sick, and I was dreadfully afraid he
+    wouldn't get well, and all his trouble came because he saved my
+    life without thinking of his own. Come right ashore and see
+    him."</p>
+
+    <p>"Shall I come, too?" asked Molly.</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure," replied Ned. "He wants to see you especially."</p>
+
+    <p>A moment later Mr. Barstow had one of Dick's hands in both
+    of his own.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page247"
+       id="page247"></a>[pg 247]</span>
+
+    <p>"My boy, my boy, what made you run away? The hue and cry is
+    out for you in Key West. Why did you never tell me that you
+    were Ned's nearest friend? Why didn't you tell Molly who you
+    were? Ned has talked to her for years about you. Come here,
+    Molly, and tell your friend Dick Williams what you think of him
+    for hiding his name from you."</p>
+
+    <p>But Molly didn't tell him just then. For Dick's strength had
+    been overtaxed, and when his eyes met Molly's he promptly
+    fainted.</p>
+
+    <p>When Dick had recovered, Ned invited his father and sister
+    to dine before going aboard the motor-boat, and as he was busy
+    preparing the meal and his father had much to hear from him,
+    the care of the invalid fell upon Molly, a duty which she
+    performed to the apparent satisfaction of her patient.</p>
+
+    <p>"Those oysters are lovely," said the girl as she speared
+    with a chop-stick a small one which had been roasted in the
+    shell.</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes. Ned waded through half a mile of mud to get them."</p>
+
+    <p>"I wondered how Neddy got so muddy. I was so glad to see him
+    that I just hugged him, and now I ought to be in a wash-tub.
+    Just look at me."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick obeyed her so literally that she added a moment
+    later:</p>
+
+    <p>"I mean look at the mud on my dress."</p>
+
+    <p>The broiled snappers were pronounced the finest fish ever
+    served, the palmetto cabbage better than cauliflower, and then
+    the girl asked:</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page248"
+       id="page248"></a>[pg 248]</span>
+
+    <p>"This white meat is pretty good. What is it?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Alligator."</p>
+
+    <p>"Really?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Really and truly. You said you liked it."</p>
+
+    <p>"I didn't know it was a reptile. Why didn't you tell me? I
+    wouldn't have eaten it if I had known."</p>
+
+    <p>"Ned wouldn't have liked it if I had told. He is my doctor,
+    you know, and I have to mind him."</p>
+
+    <p>"You don't need a doctor any more. What you want is a
+    nurse."</p>
+
+    <p>"That's so. I could mind her easy," said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, I meant a man nurse," said the girl.</p>
+
+    <p>Ned produced some joints of sugar-cane for dessert, and made
+    a can of after-dinner sweet-bay tea, and then began to ask
+    questions.</p>
+
+    <p>"Daddy, I want to find out whether you and Molly are crazy
+    or whether I am. You never saw Dick before. You said so half an
+    hour ago. Dick never saw you or Molly. He said so half an hour
+    ago&mdash;"</p>
+
+    <p>"But Ned&mdash;" interrupted Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"You keep still. I've got the floor. Now, Dad, you and Molly
+    rush up to this chap, whom you never saw before, and fall into
+    his arms&mdash;"</p>
+
+    <p>"Neddy Barstow, I didn't do anything of the kind. But I had
+    seen him and I did know him," said the girl.</p>
+
+    <p>"Now, there you go. How ever did you know this chum of mine,
+    who never saw you?"</p>
+
+    <p>"How did Dick save your life, Ned?" asked Mr.
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page249"
+       id="page249"></a>[pg 249]</span> Barstow in a voice that
+       wasn't quite as steady as usual.</p>
+
+    <p>"I can tell you," broke in Dick. "He didn't do it at all.
+    That's how."</p>
+
+    <p>"Dad, when our canoe was wrecked, we lost the beautifullest
+    skin of the biggest kind of a panther&mdash;eight feet from tip
+    to tip. Dick saw the panther first, when he was ten feet from
+    us, ready to jump. I fired at the beast, and he sprang for me,
+    but Dick jumped at the same time and got between us, so the
+    panther landed on him and I was saved. That's why he is sick
+    now. I s'pose that is what knocked his memory endwise, so he
+    don't remember anything about it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Mr. Barstow," said Dick, "I wish you would ask Ned who it
+    was that swam ashore with me when the big tarpon smashed the
+    canoe and knocked me out. Yes, and he almost lost his own life
+    in saving mine. Please ask him. I want to see if he has lost
+    his memory."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned tried to speak, but Molly had her arms around his neck,
+    saying nice things to him.</p>
+
+    <p>"See here, sis, doesn't part of this belong to Dick?" said
+    Ned, and got his ears boxed very promptly.</p>
+
+    <p>"Did not Dick tell you, Ned, that he came from New York to
+    Key West on the steamer with us, and that Molly and I got
+    acquainted with him, and that he then slipped away at Key West
+    so that we could not find him?" asked Mr.
+    Barstow.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page250"
+       id="page250"></a>[pg 250]</span>
+
+    <p>"Never told me a word. Dick, you gay deceiver, you pretended
+    to tell me everything, and you left out the most interesting
+    part. You probably thought I wasn't interested in Dad or
+    Molly."</p>
+
+    <p>"But, Ned, I never knew they were your father and sister
+    until just now. I told you everything that seemed worth
+    speaking of."</p>
+
+    <p>"Hear that, Molly? This young man says you didn't seem worth
+    speaking of. Can't you get even with him for that? Now, tell me
+    how you happen to be here, you and Dad. I told Dick that he
+    wouldn't move a finger for us till the time of my vacation was
+    up."</p>
+
+    <p>"You were all right about that, Neddy. He wouldn't budge an
+    inch, for I tried to make him start out and hunt you up, and he
+    refused until&mdash;Well, one day the boat that carries the
+    mail between Key West and Chokoloskee picked up, out in the
+    Gulf of Mexico, a broken canoe that everybody seemed to know
+    was the one you and Mr. Williams were out in. Then Mr. Streeter
+    made a night run to Myers, got Dad out of bed, and things began
+    to happen. Of course, I was coming, so I got into a few
+    clothes, skipped my breakfast and was aboard this boat barely
+    in time not to be left, for Dad was just plain crazy. But
+    before he came away he chartered everything in sight and told
+    the men not to leave an unexplored channel in the whole Ten
+    Thousand Islands."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned held out his hand to his father without speaking,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page251"
+       id="page251"></a>[pg 251]</span> but Dick looked at the girl
+       with more gratitude in his eyes than she could possibly have
+       deserved, although she seemed willing to accept a good deal
+       of it.</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, boys," said Mr. Barstow, "if you are ready we will go
+    aboard. I don't see much that you will care to take with
+    you."</p>
+
+    <p>"Nothing but Tom," said Dick. "Can't he go? He'll be
+    good."</p>
+
+    <p>"Of course he can. But who is Tom?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, he's nothing but a savage old wildcat," replied Ned.
+    "He'll probably eat us all up but Dick. He has eaten some of
+    him already."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, what a beauty!" cried Molly, when Tom, who had been
+    sitting in a tree over their heads, was pointed out to her.
+    Dick soon coaxed the lynx, which sat there looking suspiciously
+    at the strangers, down to his shoulder.</p>
+
+    <p>"Can't I pet him?" asked Molly.</p>
+
+    <p>"No!" said Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes," said Dick, and Molly stepped forward and laid her
+    hand fearlessly on the soft fur of the beautiful creature. Tom
+    began a low growl, but Dick talked soothingly to him, and in a
+    few minutes he became quite friendly with the girl.</p>
+
+    <p>"There!" said Molly. "Now we're friends, and I can play with
+    him all I want to."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, no, not yet. You must promise that you won't touch him
+    unless I am with you," said
+    Dick.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page252"
+       id="page252"></a>[pg 252]</span>
+
+    <p>"Of course, I won't promise. I'll pet him when I
+    please."</p>
+
+    <p>"Then poor Tom will have to stay here."</p>
+
+    <p>"Do you mean to say that if I don't make that ridiculous
+    promise I can't have Tom?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Tom belongs to you the minute you make that promise, but
+    not before."</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, Mr. Williams, I make the promise rather than lose
+    Tom, but as for you&mdash;" And the blank which Molly left was
+    filled with feminine possibilities.</p>
+
+    <p>A bunk was fixed up in the cabin of the launch for Dick, and
+    the throb of the heavy engines became a steady hum as the boat
+    turned down the stream, with water and spray curling up from
+    its bow and heavy waves from its propeller breaking with a
+    sullen roar on the banks of the river. Dick's bunk must have
+    been uncomfortable, for very soon he crawled up on deck and,
+    going forward to where he could lean back against the cabin,
+    sat down, looking pale, but not unhappy. Molly, who happened to
+    be on the bow of the boat, was so indignant with him that she
+    told him he ought to have a guardian, and then went below and
+    brought back an armful of pillows and cushions, with which she
+    proceeded to make life a burden to Dick. Then, as she seemed
+    about to go away, Dick began to talk to her about the old
+    plantations on the river and tell her the ghost stories that
+    belonged to them, until she sat down near him. "I hope you
+    don't think I was rude <span class="pagenum"><a name="page253"
+       id="page253"></a>[pg 253]</span> about Tom? I was
+       only&mdash;" But Molly interrupted him.</p>
+
+    <p>"You need to be good and strong before I tell you what I
+    think of that." And the girl walked away from him so indignant
+    that she didn't return for nearly two minutes.</p>
+
+    <p>As the launch neared the mouth of the river a yawl-rigged
+    craft with an auxiliary engine had just entered it. Her captain
+    was sitting on deck with his right hand grasping the wheel, his
+    body leaning forward, rigid as bronze, while his roving eye
+    scanned water and sky, reefs, banks and keys. A roll of the
+    wheel, and the launch darted toward him. When within a hundred
+    yards the whir of the big engine and the chugging of the
+    two-cycle motor of the yawl stopped, and as the boats were
+    passing each other, Mr. Barstow hailed the skipper of the
+    yawl.</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, Captain Hull! All's well. The boys have been found.
+    Spread the news. Hunt up the other boats and all hands report
+    to me at Myers."</p>
+
+    <p>"Aye, aye, sir!" came from the bronze statue, and the
+    chugging and the whirring began again as the yawl resumed its
+    course, while the launch wove in and out among the oyster
+    reefs, that guard the mouth of the river, at a speed that would
+    have torn the propeller out of her had she struck one of
+    them.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick's eyes sparkled as the Gulf opened out, and the launch
+    turned down the coast to clear the bar before making her
+    course. Before him were the waters where the waterspout
+    destroyed the <i>Etta</i>;
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page254"
+       id="page254"></a>[pg 254]</span> the Shark River bight was
+       near, and in the distance the cocoa-palms of the Northwest
+       Cape could be made out. He turned eagerly to the girl beside
+       him, and was telling her the story of the waterspout when
+       Mr. Barstow came to them and said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Run away, little girl, I want to talk to Dick."</p>
+
+    <p>"So do I," said Molly as she made a little face at her
+    father, who laughed at her.</p>
+
+    <p>"You mustn't think you own Dick. Go play with Tom, there. He
+    looks pretty amiable just now."</p>
+
+    <p>"But he won't let me play with Tom. He's mean about
+    that."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick began to explain, but the girl had gone.</p>
+
+    <p>"What are your plans for your future, Dick?" asked Mr.
+    Barstow.</p>
+
+    <p>"I am going home and going to work at anything I can find to
+    do."</p>
+
+    <p>"How would you like to work for me?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't know of anything else in the world I would like so
+    well." And Dick fairly beamed.</p>
+
+    <p>"Then, if the work suits you, your engagement will date from
+    to-day."</p>
+
+    <p>"What will be my duties, sir?"</p>
+
+    <p>"First a vacation to get well in and visit your mother. Then
+    you and Ned will go to my timber property in Canada,
+    familiarize yourselves with the present methods of working it,
+    and suggest any improvements that occur to you, and make the
+    best estimate you can of the amount and kind of lumber
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page255"
+       id="page255"></a>[pg 255]</span> I have. I don't care for
+       present returns, but I wish the property administered in
+       accordance with the most advanced knowledge of the science
+       of forestry."</p>
+
+    <p>"Mr. Barstow, you are good to me, too good, and I am as
+    grateful as I can be, but I can't take money for amusing
+    myself. You would be paying me for taking the most delightful
+    excursion in the world, and there wouldn't be any other side to
+    it. I couldn't make good to you in any way. I don't know
+    anything about lumbering, forestry or practical surveying."</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't begin by criticizing your employer, Dick. Just make
+    believe that he knows what he is about. I am not paying you for
+    what you know now, but for what you will know in a few months.
+    I am expecting great things of you. The science of forestry and
+    economic methods of lumbering are fairly well understood in
+    Canada. You will find yourselves with young men of education
+    and enterprise, enthusiasts who think nothing of starting out
+    alone on snowshoes for a week or a month in the woods, where
+    the mercury in the thermometer often freezes. You will find
+    your work cut out for you if you only keep up with them, and I
+    am hoping that you will get near the head of your class. I want
+    you to learn the business from the beginning to the end from
+    the planting to the cutting of the tree, and from forest to
+    freight car. So don't fear that you will not have a chance to
+    earn your salary. Your <span class="pagenum"><a name="page256"
+       id="page256"></a>[pg 256]</span> pay and Ned's will be the
+       same. It will take good care of you, but you will not find
+       much over to waste. Here, Molly, come back and hear the rest
+       of that romance that I interrupted. And don't look so cross
+       at me next time I speak to Dick."</p>
+
+    <p>"Isn't he the nice old daddy?" said the girl to Dick, as she
+    sat down near him. Dick looked as if he thought so too, but was
+    troubled to find words to express all he felt. The launch,
+    which was now flying up the coast, was just opposite the shack
+    of the fisherman whom the boys had hired to help with the
+    manatee which couldn't be found. Dick was telling the girl the
+    story of the manatee when Ned put in an appearance.</p>
+
+    <p>"Run away, Molly. I want to talk to Dick."</p>
+
+    <p>"Neddy Barstow, when daddy says 'Run away, Molly,' I have to
+    go, but when you say it, I stay right where I am. See?"</p>
+
+    <p>"But this is important, Molly. It's business."</p>
+
+    <p>"So am I important, even if I'm not business. If business is
+    in a hurry, it can go ahead; if it isn't it can wait."</p>
+
+    <p>"Dick," said Ned, "Dad thinks we need a little vacation
+    before going to work, and he offers to take us on a cruise in
+    the <i>Gypsey</i> to the Bahamas and to Cuba, or to charter a
+    light-draft boat that could go through the Bay of Florida and
+    let us finish our cruise in the crocodile country, beginning
+    where we turned back when the fresh water gave out. Maybe he
+    will let Molly go."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page257"
+       id="page257"></a>[pg 257]</span>
+
+    <p>"Let Molly go!" repeated the girl mockingly. "Only question
+    is whether she will let you go. But I thought you said it was
+    business. That isn't business; it's fun. We choose the small
+    boat and the crocodiles. That will be new. I know all about the
+    <i>Gypsey</i> now."</p>
+
+    <p>"Shall we let it go at that, Dick?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure. Wonder if we can find my crocodile
+    again."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page258"
+       id="page258"></a>[pg 258]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XXIII</h3>
+
+    <h3>MOLLY AND THE MANATEE</h3>
+
+    <p>A week later the party of five (for both Molly and Dick
+    insisted that Tom belonged) was sailing down the coast in the
+    <i>Irene</i>, a half houseboat with auxiliary engine, which was
+    sailed by Captain Hull. An engineer and a darky cook had been
+    engaged, but the three young folks held a meeting and then
+    announced that Dick had been elected engineer and Molly chief
+    cook, with Ned as assistant. They added that the man engineer
+    and the darky could "go bounce." When they notified Mr. Barstow
+    of the result of the meeting he told them to see Captain Hull
+    and that if they could stand their own cooking and engineering
+    he thought the captain and himself might manage to live through
+    it.</p>
+
+    <p>The captain grimly assented; said that he had been wondering
+    where he could sleep his cook when it rained; that Dick
+    couldn't be a worse engineer than the one he had engaged, and
+    that he hoped he would keep sober more of the time than the
+    other one was in the habit of doing.</p>
+
+    <p>The <i>Irene</i> was of less than three feet draft, and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page259"
+       id="page259"></a>[pg 259]</span> towed or carried on her
+       davits a small launch and a skiff. Excepting when the wind
+       was especially favorable, the sails were kept furled, and an
+       awning stretched above the cabin-top made of it a pleasant
+       lounging place. When the <i>Irene</i> was opposite the mouth
+       of Broad and Rodgers rivers, the whole party, including Tom,
+       who kept beside Dick, were sitting on the cabin roof, and
+       Mr. Barstow said to his son, as he pointed to Broad
+       River:</p>
+
+    <p>"Is that the river where you caught your phantom manatee,
+    that wasn't there when you brought a fisherman to get it? You
+    know the story is all over Myers that you saw a porpoise and
+    imagined the rest. How was it, Ned?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yon've made a lot of fun of me, Dad, and Molly has bothered
+    the life out of Dick about that manatee ghost. Now, if you will
+    let Dick and me boss this boat for three days, no questions to
+    be asked, we'll show you a sure-enough manatee and give some
+    folks a chance to think up real handsome apologies."</p>
+
+    <p>"But supposing you don't make good?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Then Dick and I will do a whole lot of kow-towing
+    ourselves."</p>
+
+    <p>"What do you say to that, Molly?"</p>
+
+    <p>"See here, sis," interrupted Ned, "it's up to you to put up
+    or shut up. If you don't give us this chance to make good you
+    are not to say 'manatee' again on this trip."</p>
+
+    <p>"Give 'em what they want, Daddy. They can't
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page260"
+       id="page260"></a>[pg 260]</span> do much harm in three days,
+       and just think of the fun I'll have with them
+       afterwards."</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, hoys, you shall have your chance. It may prove a good
+    lesson to you."</p>
+
+    <p>"You heard that, Captain? Dick and I are boss for three
+    days, and we want this boat to start up Broad River
+    immejit!"</p>
+
+    <p>"Tide's jist a-bilin' out of the river. It'll take all day
+    to get anywhere. Hadn't you better anchor at the mouth of the
+    river till it turns? We can run up the river in the night, so
+    you won't lose any time."</p>
+
+    <p>The <i>Irene's</i> anchor was dropped behind the bar that
+    lies opposite the mouth of the river, and Molly and the boys
+    went out in the skiff to call on a family of pelicans which
+    were keeping house on a little coral key, surrounded by oyster
+    reefs, between Rodgers and Broad rivers. As the skiff neared
+    the key the old birds flew lazily away and lit on a mud-flat a
+    hundred yards distant, but the pelican children waddled around
+    on the oyster reef without showing much alarm until Dick caught
+    one, when the indignant bird struck him with its big bill and
+    punched holes in his hat. As the tide fell the oyster bars were
+    uncovered, the water shoaled on the mud-flats, and the boys
+    gathered oysters from one, and clams weighing from half a pound
+    to four pounds each from the other.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/260.jpg"
+             name="fig260"
+             id="fig260"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/260.jpg"
+             alt='"THE INDIGNANT BIRD PUNCHED HOLES THROUGH HIS HAT"' />
+             </a>"THE INDIGNANT BIRD PUNCHED HOLES THROUGH HIS HAT"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>A fire was built on the reef, bread and coffee brought from
+    the <i>Irene</i>, and Mr. Barstow and Captain
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page261"
+       id="page261"></a>[pg 261]</span> Hull invited to a picnic
+       supper which they were polite enough to say they enjoyed
+       greatly. After supper Molly and the boys took a walk on the
+       beach on the north side of Rodgers River and amused
+       themselves by chasing the crabs that were skurrying along
+       close to the shore to keep out of the way of their enemies.
+       They had a lot of fun, but caught no crabs, until Dick went
+       back to the <i>Irene</i> for a scoop-net and a bucket, which
+       he soon filled with the crustaceans. Molly had never before
+       seen shell-fish growing on trees, so Dick cut a few
+       oyster-bearing branches from a mangrove tree and roasted
+       bunches of the bivalves on the beach. When the sputtering of
+       the oysters on the branch told Dick they were cooked, he
+       hauled the limb from the coals, sat down with his companion
+       on the beach, and with sharpened sticks the young people
+       picked the roasted oysters from their shells, while Dick
+       told the girl of that other picnic on the coast near-by
+       after the waterspout had wrecked the <i>Etta</i>. They
+       talked after the oysters were eaten and the fire had gone
+       out, until Ned's voice came to them:</p>
+
+    <p>"Do you kids expect to settle here and grow up with the
+    country? Don't you know it's 'most night, the tide's been right
+    for the river for an hour, and everybody is waiting for
+    you?"</p>
+
+    <p>When they reached the <i>Irene</i>, Mr. Barstow proposed
+    putting off their start until morning to give Molly and him a
+    chance to see the river as they
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page262"
+       id="page262"></a>[pg 262]</span> sailed up it. Mr. Barstow
+       replied to a quizzical look from his son:</p>
+
+    <p>"Of course, this doesn't come out of your time, Ned. You are
+    to have your full three days."</p>
+
+    <p>"Maybe you'd like to see some fire-hunting," said the
+    captain. "There are 'gators in these rivers, and there's time
+    before the moon rises to find one or two. If you don't want one
+    killed I'll fire a blank cartridge at him, unless you'd like to
+    shine the eyes of one yourself."</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't think I'll try any fire-hunting, but I should like
+    to see it done," said Mr. Barstow.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick was proud of his sculling, and at his request it was
+    arranged that he should scull the skiff for the captain, while
+    Ned was to pole the little motor-boat, in which his father and
+    sister would go with him. Before they had gone far Dick found
+    that he had overestimated his strength, and that handling the
+    heavy sculling oar was too much for him. Mr. Barstow offered to
+    pole the motor-boat, and Ned took Dick's place at the oar in
+    the skiff, where Dick remained as a passenger. They entered
+    Broad River and Ned sculled slowly along the bank, while the
+    beam of light from the lantern, which was bound to the
+    captain's forehead, played along the surface of the water under
+    the mangroves that overhung the banks and sometimes swept the
+    banks above the water. In the shallow places mullet leaped
+    wildly as the rays of the bull's-eye lantern fell on them,
+    while porpoises sniffed and tarpon splashed
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page263"
+       id="page263"></a>[pg 263]</span> in their light. Sculling
+       was hard work for Ned, who had none of the easy and graceful
+       swing with which Dick threw his weight on a sculling oar, a
+       skill which he had acquired during his life on the sponger.
+       Several times the oar jumped out of the scull hole in the
+       skiff, and once Ned nearly went overboard. But a little
+       extra noise didn't much disturb wild creatures that were
+       fascinated by the light; and on the land 'coons sat
+       motionless, two dots of greenish light told of a hypnotized
+       wildcat, and when all on the skiff saw the light reflected
+       from two big, round eyes, while the captain held the beam
+       from the lantern steadily upon them, Dick whispered:</p>
+
+    <p>"What is it?"</p>
+
+    <p>"A big buck. Wish I didn't have a blank cartridge in the
+    rifle," replied the captain.</p>
+
+    <p>They cruised for half a mile up Broad River, then back to
+    its mouth against a tide that made the captain take the oars of
+    the skiff, to which the painter of the motor-boat was then
+    fastened. Then Ned sculled to the mouth of Rodgers River,
+    where, upon a little beach, the captain first saw the gleam for
+    which he had been looking. Then for a few minutes Dick took the
+    oar and slowly and more slowly sculled toward those little
+    round stars. Soon the light from the bull's-eye on the
+    captain's forehead showed the head and body of the reptile,
+    which remained as motionless as if cast in bronze, while Dick
+    held the skiff in place that the launch might
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page264"
+       id="page264"></a>[pg 264]</span> come near. With the roar of
+       the blank cartridge came the scream of a girl and the quick
+       scrambling of the alligator into the water. Every one wanted
+       to continue the hunt, but the rising of the moon put a stop
+       to the sport.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/264.jpg"
+             name="fig264"
+             id="fig264"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/264.jpg"
+             alt="THE LIGHT FROM THE BULL'S EYE SHOWED THE HEAD AND BODY OF THE REPTILE" />
+        </a>"THE LIGHT FROM THE BULL'S EYE SHOWED THE HEAD AND BODY
+        OF THE REPTILE"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>In the morning the tide was rushing up the river, and with
+    it came rolling porpoises and schools of leaping tarpon.</p>
+
+    <p>"Couldn't you catch one of those tarpon?" asked Molly.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick said nothing, but Ned shook his head slowly, and Molly
+    understood that he couldn't so quickly forget that desperate
+    struggle in the water, during which two lives hung by a thread
+    after a tarpon had wrecked their canoe.</p>
+
+    <p>As the <i>Irene</i> sailed up the river birds flew from the
+    trees on her approach, alligators slid from their beds on the
+    banks, and otters lifted their round heads above the surface of
+    the stream. Six miles from its mouth the river spreads out into
+    a bay, and as the boat was entering it Mr. Barstow called
+    out:</p>
+
+    <p>"There is your manatee, sure enough, boys!"</p>
+
+    <p>A big, ugly head appeared beside the <i>Irene</i> for an
+    instant, followed by a column of water thrown in the air by the
+    huge porpoise-like tail of the frightened animal. The anchor
+    was quickly dropped and the little motor-boat, with Dick at the
+    wheel and Mr. Barstow and Molly as passengers, started in
+    pursuit of the sea-cow. Captain Hull and Ned were in the skiff,
+    which was towed by the motor-boat.
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page265"
+       id="page265"></a>[pg 265]</span> Every few minutes the long
+       eel-grass of the shallow bay choked the propeller of the
+       motor-boat. Then the motor was stopped, the skiff pulled
+       under the stern of the power-boat, and Ned, with half his
+       head and shoulders under water, tore the grass from the
+       wheel. For two miles all eyes scanned the surface of the
+       water without sight of the quarry; then came a shout from
+       Molly:</p>
+
+    <p>"There it is!"</p>
+
+    <p>"Take the wheel, Molly; it's your manatee," replied
+    Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>And the girl, without a hat and with her loosened hair
+    streaming down her back, headed the power-boat straight for the
+    creature, which was distant about the eighth of a mile. Twice
+    the grass choked the wheel and twice with desperate haste it
+    was cleared by Ned. The boat had gone many yards beyond the
+    place where Molly had seen the animal when there was a great
+    swirl in the water beside the craft, followed by other swirls,
+    which grew less and less as they led in a straight line up a
+    broad tideway that opened into the upper end of the bay. A
+    moment later another series of swirls was seen and followed,
+    after which, for a time, nothing was seen, although four pairs
+    of eyes were scanning every inch of the stream ahead of the
+    boat. Then came a cry from the captain, who had been cannily
+    watching the water behind the craft. The sea-cow had turned
+    around, and, swimming silently beneath the boat, would have
+    escaped but for the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page266"
+       id="page266"></a>[pg 266]</span> glimpse the captain got of
+       him as he rose to breathe just before reaching a bend in the
+       stream, which would have hidden him from his pursuers. Soon
+       the motor-boat was again on his trail, never to leave it
+       till the creature was a captive. For the manatee was tired
+       and had to come to the surface for breath at shorter and
+       shorter intervals, until the power-boat almost ran over him
+       at every turn.</p>
+
+    <p>"Turn us loose!" shouted Ned, and in a moment the skiff was
+    free and being sculled by the captain toward the quarry, while
+    Ned stood in the bow with a noosed rope in his hand. Soon the
+    manatee rose beside the skiff, so near that Ned laid the noose
+    over the creature's nose. But it didn't stay there, for a
+    column of water rose in the air, and when it subsided Ned was
+    swimming two yards from the skiff.</p>
+
+    <p>There was a cry from Molly in the motor-boat which no one
+    noticed, for in half a minute Ned was back in the skiff and the
+    pursuit was on keener than ever. Every ten seconds the manatee
+    came up to breathe, every time he rose he was driven back under
+    water by the blow of the rope across his nose. Finally the
+    half-strangled creature lifted his whole head out of the water
+    and held it there long enough for Ned to slip the noose over
+    it. The next instant the blow of the manatee's tail deluged the
+    boy with water and jarred the skiff from bow to stern, which
+    was then dragged through the water at a rate which for minutes
+    left the motor-boat behind. The sea-cow carried the skiff
+    around keys, through deep
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page267"
+       id="page267"></a>[pg 267]</span> channels, over shallow
+       banks and under bushes that projected from the shore, until
+       the animal was fairly tired out. As the speed of the
+       creature slackened, Ned drew the skiff close beside him, and
+       plunging overboard, threw his left arm over the neck and
+       with his right hand grasped the right flipper of the
+       manatee. Then Captain Hull took a hand, and pulling the
+       skiff up to the manatee was soon swimming beside him and
+       clinging to his left flipper.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick slowed down the motor, while Molly kept the boat
+    circling around the swimmers until the manatee surrendered and
+    became quiet as a cow. The motor was stopped, and the sea-cow
+    was brought beside the boat, where Molly patted the head and
+    laid her hand on the soft lips of the gentle creature.</p>
+
+    <p>"Now, Daddy," said Ned, "Dick and I want a certificate that
+    this isn't a phantom manatee or a porpoise."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'll certify to that, Ned. You boys have made good,
+    although nobody ever doubted it, anyway, for the fisherman was
+    only having a little fun with you."</p>
+
+    <p>The manatee was so tractable that Captain Hull swam back for
+    the skiff, while Ned loosened his hold on the flipper of the
+    creature. Suddenly a cascade of water half-filled the
+    power-boat, drenched every one in it, and the manatee
+    disappeared. Ned was chagrined, but Mr. Barstow cheered
+    him:</p>
+
+    <p>"It is all for the best, Ned. He had done all he could do
+    for us. We hadn't time to arrange for his
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page268"
+       id="page268"></a>[pg 268]</span> shipment, and so had to set
+       him free. The only thing I am sorry for is that I didn't go
+       overboard, too, and have some of the fun. I am just as wet
+       as you are, without having anything-to show for it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Me, too," said Molly, whose red cheeks and sparkling eyes
+    shone from among streaming mermaid tresses, and whose pretty
+    frock had been deluged.</p>
+
+    <p>"Dad," said Ned, after they were back on the <i>Irene</i>,
+    "you know Dick and I are in command for two days more."</p>
+
+    <p>"I thought you were to have charge for three days, or until
+    you found a manatee."</p>
+
+    <p>"No, sir; three days&mdash;seventy-two hours, and not a
+    minute less."</p>
+
+    <p>"What are you going to do with all that time?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I have elected myself senior boss and Dick junior boss, and
+    we are going to show you and Molly the Everglades. The
+    <i>Irene</i> will start down Broad River at once. But Molly is
+    to take the power-boat through the cut-off to Rodgers River,
+    and down that river to its mouth, where she will find us. Oh,
+    by the way, Dick will go with her as engineer, but subject to
+    her orders."</p>
+
+    <p>When the <i>Irene</i> was opposite the cut-off, the
+    power-boat, with Molly and Dick on board, was set adrift and
+    was soon twisting and turning at half speed as it followed the
+    channel of the crooked creek. Swimming through the creek would
+    have made a snake dizzy, and the girl at the wheel had to keep
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page269"
+       id="page269"></a>[pg 269]</span> it spinning. There were
+       logs to be dodged and sharp-ended stumps to be avoided.
+       Trees lay nearly across the stream, leaving barely the width
+       of the boat to spare, and others under which the boat had to
+       be driven between flexible branches, while the steerswoman
+       crouched low down in the craft. There were birds and beasts
+       on the bank, fish and reptiles in the water, but the girl
+       could spare them scarcely a glance. Great spiders hung in
+       midair on nets that stretched from bank to bank, and Molly's
+       face was matted with webs that she could not avoid, while
+       her teeth were tightly clenched lest she scream when the
+       hairy legs of a spider with a spread of five inches traveled
+       across her face. Dick saw her trouble and came forward to
+       where he could lean ahead of her and take the brunt of the
+       spider's work. Molly spared him a grateful glance, but got
+       in trouble for it the next instant. For just then a quick
+       turn of the craft happened to be necessary, and although
+       Dick helped to roll the wheel, it was too late, and because
+       of the inattention of a moment the motor-boat crashed into
+       the bank. The pilot and engineer were thrown violently
+       against the wheel, but nothing was injured excepting the
+       temper of the girl, who said to her companion:</p>
+
+    <p>"That was all your fault, Dick Williams, and I wish you
+    would go back to your engine. I will try to manage the wheel by
+    myself."</p>
+
+    <p>After two miles of squirmy navigation the boat came out into
+    the broad, beautiful Rodgers River,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page270"
+       id="page270"></a>[pg 270]</span> down which they turned; and
+       when Dick pointed out where the tarpon had wrecked their
+       canoe and stunned him, and told of Ned's struggles to save
+       his life, the girl's voice trembled and there were tears in
+       her eyes as she listened and asked questions. The tide was
+       low when they arrived at the mouth of the river, and Molly
+       ran the boat on one of the oyster bars that form a network
+       across the entrance to Broad and Rodgers rivers. Almost the
+       instant the boat touched, Dick was overboard heaving on the
+       bow, and soon had the craft afloat. Then turning to Molly,
+       he said, while mischief sparkled in his eyes:</p>
+
+    <p>"I am sorry I ran you on that bar, Miss Barstow."</p>
+
+    <p>"You shouldn't bear malice, Dick," replied the
+    girl.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page271"
+       id="page271"></a>[pg 271]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XXIV</h3>
+
+    <h3>TO THE GLADES IN THE "IRENE"</h3>
+
+    <p>They found the <i>Irene</i> waiting for them near the mouth
+    of the river, with Ned impatient to be off to catch the
+    inflowing-tide from the mouth of Harney's River, which was
+    about two miles down the coast.</p>
+
+    <p>It was still daylight when they crossed the bar and passed
+    the little key inside the mouth of the river, but they sailed
+    up the stream by the light of the stars, which gave mystic
+    beauty to the smooth water and the shadowy outlines of the
+    tropical forest that bordered the banks of the river. Captain
+    Hull anchored the <i>Irene</i> for the night in Tussock Bay, at
+    the head of the lower division of Harney's River, because, as
+    he said, he needed all the daylight he could get when he
+    tackled the crooked courses between Tussock Bay and the
+    Everglades.</p>
+
+    <p>When the anchor was hoisted in the morning, Dick was at the
+    wheel, which he held on to when the captain came up to relieve
+    him. The captain stood by as the boy steered across the bay,
+    and wondered at the chance that kept him for miles on exactly
+    the right course. As the boat was passing Tussock Key, Dick
+    headed up to the
+    northeast.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page272"
+       id="page272"></a>[pg 272]</span>
+
+    <p>"Too far north," said the captain. "Course is
+    east-southeast."</p>
+
+    <p>"No talking to the man at the wheel," said Dick, and Captain
+    Hull laughed and waited for the trouble that was coming. But no
+    trouble came, and the <i>Irene</i> twisted in and out, always
+    in plenty of water, for a mile and a half of crooked creek,
+    until it floated in a wider stream, the banks of which were
+    covered with long prairie grass, when Dick handed over the
+    wheel to the captain, saying:</p>
+
+    <p>"Guess you know the rest of the way, don't you, Captain? If
+    you get in any trouble call on me."</p>
+
+    <p>"That was one on me," said Captain Hull as he took the
+    wheel. "I never came that way before. Wonder who taught you
+    piloting? Mighty few pilots can find their way up this
+    river."</p>
+
+    <p>"I came that way," said Dick nonchalantly, "because the
+    water is deeper and there is less grass. The other river is
+    pretty shallow and gets badly choked up at this season."</p>
+
+    <p>"That's so," replied the captain, "but I'd like to know who
+    told you."</p>
+
+    <p>It took the rest of the day to reach the Everglades. There
+    were narrow streams so crooked that the <i>Irene</i> had to be
+    poled around the sharp corners, broad, shallow rivers, so
+    choked with eel and manatee-grass that every five minutes one
+    of the boys went overboard to clear the clogged propeller, and
+    twisting creeks, through which the water of the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page273"
+       id="page273"></a>[pg 273]</span> Everglades poured so
+       swiftly, that to make headway and avoid snags kept the
+       captain busy at the wheel and the boys fending off from the
+       banks with oars. Sometimes for miles the channel was clear;
+       and while the captain stood at the wheel the rest of the
+       exploring family sat upon the cabin roof and chattered like
+       children about the turtle and terrapin heads that dotted the
+       surface, the leaping young tarpon, grave old alligators, shy
+       otters, and birds that flew from the trees or soared
+       overhead.</p>
+
+    <p>The sensitive Tom resented Dick's neglect, and was seen
+    sitting on the after end of the cabin, in front of the wheel,
+    making friends with the captain. Every few minutes Tom put out
+    a paw and rested it on the captain's hand as it rolled the
+    wheel. Then Tom would look up in his face, and finally rubbed
+    his cheek on the captain's hand, and after that became his
+    shadow. That night Tom abandoned his sleeping place beside
+    Dick's bunk and turned in with the captain. Dick was a little
+    annoyed at first, but his conscience told him that he had
+    neglected Tom, and had himself to blame.</p>
+
+    <p>When the anchor was dropped, the <i>Irene</i> rested in a
+    solid mass of lily pads, with her bowsprit extending over the
+    border of the Everglades, which stretched out eastward, a
+    great, grassy, overflowed meadow, dotted with keys, to the
+    horizon. A slough of clear water, deep enough to float the
+    little power-boat, zigzagged out into the Glades, and the
+    captain, with Mr. Barstow, Molly and Dick in the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page274"
+       id="page274"></a>[pg 274]</span> craft, followed it for more
+       than a mile. There was water enough over the light grass of
+       the Glades to float the skiff, which Ned poled through a
+       carpet of white pond-lilies, that here and there covered the
+       surface. Many little grassy mounds showed where an alligator
+       had his cave. From one of them an alligator slid out and
+       started across the Glades at full speed. Ned was soon on his
+       trail, poling like mad. He was nearly up to the reptile when
+       it swung around and darted away at right angles to its
+       former course, gaining many yards on its pursuer, for the
+       grass prevented the quick turning of the skiff. Time after
+       time the reptile repeated this dodge, time after time the
+       boy was near enough to have touched the alligator with a
+       pole, but always he dodged, until Ned was too exhausted to
+       follow the creature any farther.</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, I wish you could have caught it," said Molly when Ned
+    returned.</p>
+
+    <p>"We'll get one to-morrow sure," said Dick, while Ned's only
+    comment was:</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't you get Dick to try fool things, sis."</p>
+
+    <p>"Captain," said Dick that evening, "I want an alligator, and
+    if you will help Ned pole in the skiff in the morning until we
+    are near enough to one, I'll either put a rope over his head or
+    go overboard and grab him."</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't try that on these 'gators; but I'll rig up a harpoon
+    for you, and if you can hit one with that there won't be any
+    trouble in getting
+    him."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page275"
+       id="page275"></a>[pg 275]</span>
+
+    <p>"I don't want to kill the thing with a harpoon."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'll fix that. I'll stop down the harpoon so you can't
+    drive it more than an inch beyond the hide, and the 'gator will
+    never know he's hurt. He'll think a fly lit on him."</p>
+
+    <p>In the morning, as they were about to start on the 'gator
+    chase, Ned said to his father:</p>
+
+    <p>"This is our third day and our last chance, so we have got
+    to keep busy."</p>
+
+    <p>"Not quite," replied Mr. Barstow. "You and Dick have done so
+    well that you can stay in command until I have to call you
+    down."</p>
+
+    <p>"Where do I come in?" said Molly. "Haven't I got something
+    to say about things?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Looks as if you were having too much to say now. You
+    mustn't try to influence the officers of this ship or lure them
+    away from their duties."</p>
+
+    <p>The little face that Molly made at her father wasn't quite
+    respectful, but Mr. Barstow only laughed at it.</p>
+
+    <p>On this day of the 'gator hunt, Molly took the wheel and her
+    father ran the engine of the motor-boat, while Ned and the
+    captain poled the skiff and Dick stood in the bow with the
+    harpoon pole. They soon started a nine-foot alligator out of
+    his cave, and after a chase of ten minutes and a few sudden
+    turns were so near the reptile that Dick fixed his harpoon to
+    the end of the pole and stood ready. Twice he threw and missed,
+    and each time many yards were lost while the pole was being
+    recovered. <span class="pagenum"><a name="page276"
+       id="page276"></a>[pg 276]</span> Dick was so mortified at
+       missing that he offered the harpoon to the captain, who
+       refused it, saying:</p>
+
+    <p>"You threw all right and almost got him last throw. You'll
+    fetch him next time."</p>
+
+    <p>The captain's prophecy was fulfilled and at the next throw
+    the harpoon pierced the soft hide of the hind leg of the
+    reptile. From the beginning of the chase the alligator had been
+    making for the river and was within a hundred yards of it when
+    struck. They headed it off from the river and Dick dragged on
+    the line while the others poled until the skiff was beside the
+    'gator. A heavy blow on the bow of the boat from the tail of
+    the reptile and the big open jaws with their rows of great
+    gleaming teeth that swung before Dick's face made him drop the
+    line and fall backward into the skiff, while the alligator
+    started off in a new direction. On the next approach the
+    creature turned on the skiff again and though the captain
+    fended it off with an oar the reptile had the best of the
+    battle. Several times Dick brought the skiff near the alligator
+    and tried to lasso it with the painter of the boat, but the
+    reptile was too wary for him. The captain suggested running the
+    reptile into the river, saying it would be easier to take it
+    aboard from the deeper water. As soon as they gave the brute a
+    chance it plunged into the river and towed the skiff two
+    hundred yards down the stream, then turning and rising to the
+    surface the alligator came with open mouth at Dick, who sprang
+    from his place in the bow and, seizing
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page277"
+       id="page277"></a>[pg 277]</span> the painter, the boy soon
+       had a rope around the head of the brute and its jaws tied.
+       They tried towing the alligator up the river to the
+       <i>Irene</i>, but it is easier to drag an anchor than an
+       alligator. Then as Dick was winded the captain and Ned
+       finally hauled it aboard the skiff, where for a time it
+       amused itself by trying to smash the skiff or knock somebody
+       overboard with its tail. It became perfectly quiet before
+       the <i>Irene</i> was reached, when the captain dragged on
+       the rope which bound its jaws while Ned boosted with his
+       arms around the tail of the brute. But the alligator was
+       playing 'possum and had Ned just where it wanted him and,
+       with a swing of its powerful tail, lifted the boy in the air
+       and neatly tossed him overboard. It was fortunate for Ned
+       that he was holding the alligator so tightly that it was
+       more of a push than a blow that he received. As it was, the
+       breath was so completely knocked out of him that for an
+       instant he could not swim and was drifting with the current,
+       feebly paddling with his hands, just enough to keep afloat,
+       when he felt Dick's supporting hand and heard a voice in his
+       ear:</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't say you're hurt, Neddy."</p>
+
+    <p>"No&mdash;no&mdash;not a&mdash;bit. Nothing but&mdash;the
+    talk&mdash;knocked out of me. Gee! Wouldn't he make a fine
+    spanking machine?"</p>
+
+    <p>Both of the boys were glad when the captain came for them
+    with the skiff and they were saved a hard swim against the
+    current.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page278"
+       id="page278"></a>[pg 278]</span>
+
+    <p>"Where is our alligator?" said Ned to the captain. "Hope you
+    didn't turn him loose."</p>
+
+    <p>"Nope. He's all right. He slipped back into the water when
+    you went in swimming, and of course I knew you wanted him
+    looked after first, so I gave his line a turn round the big
+    cleat. When I left he was trying to pull it out."</p>
+
+    <p>When the boys were back on the <i>Irene</i>, Molly clung to
+    her brother's hand, hardly able to speak, while Mr. Barstow
+    said to his son:</p>
+
+    <p>"Is that the sort of thing you boys have been doing in your
+    odd hours when you were not squabbling with panthers or mixing
+    up with tarpon? I am afraid you need a traveling guardian to
+    look after you."</p>
+
+    <p>A hundred feet was added to the rope that held the alligator
+    and he was left to pasture in the water until the <i>Irene</i>
+    was ready to sail, when he was hauled aboard the skiff and
+    lashed there. While he was being tied he was perfectly tame and
+    peaceful, but, though he looked as if butter wouldn't melt in
+    his mouth, no one trusted him and even the captain fought shy
+    of his tail.</p>
+
+    <p>For two miles from the Glades the river was broad and the
+    navigation, excepting for many bunches of moss and manatee
+    grass, was easy. Then came half a mile of a twisting narrow
+    creek, in places not twice the width of the <i>Irene</i>,
+    through which poured swiftly the whole volume of the big
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page279"
+       id="page279"></a>[pg 279]</span> river. At the head of this
+       creek the captain came to anchor.</p>
+
+    <p>"We won't get through this creek without a lot of trouble.
+    The current will throw us against the bank a dozen times and we
+    haven't speed to prevent it and couldn't turn the corners if we
+    had. The launch must go ahead and keep the bow of the big boat
+    out of the bushes if it can. Then we can't be bothered with the
+    skiff or the 'gator. We'd likely lose both. Somebody must take
+    the launch and tow the skiff through and then come back, if he
+    can get back, and help the big boat through. I hate to do it,
+    but we can't tow the skiff and, of course, it would be torn off
+    of the davits in two minutes. We are going to scrape the sides
+    and perhaps tear out half the rigging of the <i>Irene</i>,
+    anyhow. Now who volunteers to tow the skiff through the creek?
+    I can't go because the launch may not be able to buck the
+    current and get back and I must stand by the big boat."</p>
+
+    <p>"I volunteer," said Molly, "if you can get anybody to go as
+    engineer."</p>
+
+    <p>Every one laughed at this, excepting Molly, who blushed a
+    little, and Dick pulled the power boat up beside the
+    <i>Irene</i> as if he were afraid that somebody would change
+    her mind if there was any delay.</p>
+
+    <p>"Can she do it and is it quite safe?" asked Mr. Barstow.</p>
+
+    <p>"Do it as well as anybody. They may swamp the skiff or get
+    caught in a corner, but they can get out
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page280"
+       id="page280"></a>[pg 280]</span> on the bank without
+       anything worse than a ducking."</p>
+
+    <p>As the power boat started, with Molly at the wheel, Dick
+    standing by the motor and the skiff hauled close under the
+    stern, the captain called out to Dick:</p>
+
+    <p>"Full speed. It's your only chance to get through. Don't
+    bother with the skiff, but keep an oar handy to fend off from
+    the bank." The speed of the boat was doubled by the current and
+    Dick's heart was in his mouth as the banks flew past and some
+    log-guarded point threatened to smash the bow of the boat. But
+    Molly was quick to see the coming peril and the wheel rolled
+    swiftly to starboard or port, always in time to avert it. There
+    were double turns which the boat could never have made but for
+    the rush of the current which often swept them aside from a
+    stump or log that it seemed impossible to avoid. It was a
+    thrilling experience to both pilot and engineer, and when the
+    broad, placid river opened before them and the perilous trip
+    was past, the girl turned a flushed and beaming face toward her
+    companion and said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Wasn't it just lovely?"</p>
+
+    <p>And the boy replied with enthusiasm:</p>
+
+    <p>"It was glorious!"</p>
+
+    <p>Dick fastened the skiff to a tree on the bank, gave a look
+    at the lashing of the alligator and the return through the
+    creek began. There was nothing exciting about this trip. As the
+    craft was working <span class="pagenum"><a name="page281"
+       id="page281"></a>[pg 281]</span> against the current, the
+       flow of the water balanced the power of the engine, and log
+       stumps and points on the bank were passed slowly, inch by
+       inch. Often there was no progress and then the boat was
+       steered close beside the bank and Dick pushed with his oar
+       against the trees until less swift water was found. The run
+       down the creek was made in three minutes. The return 'took
+       half as many hours. On the <i>Irene</i> all were anxious but
+       the captain and Tom. At the end of an hour Ned was for
+       starting down the creek with the big boat, but Captain Hull
+       said:</p>
+
+    <p>"No. It may take them three hours. Give them two at least.
+    If we start now we'll make sure of a smash-up."</p>
+
+    <p>In another minute the motor of the launch could be heard,
+    although it was half an hour more before the wanderers were
+    welcomed aboard the <i>Irene</i> and their story told.</p>
+
+    <p>"It's our turn for trouble now," said the captain, "and
+    we're likely to get it, good and plenty."</p>
+
+    <p>"Want me to tow?" said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure," replied the captain.</p>
+
+    <p>"Me, too?" inquired Molly.</p>
+
+    <p>"No," replied the captain, rather sharply. "It isn't
+    piloting this time. You can't steer the launch much while it's
+    fast to the big boat. Best you can do is to fend off and then
+    you're likely to get caught, and when you do get caught and
+    fifteen tons comes down on you at ten miles an hour, somebody
+    has got to be spry."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page282"
+       id="page282"></a>[pg 282]</span>
+
+    <p>"Is there much danger to whoever goes in the little boat?"
+    asked Mr. Barstow.</p>
+
+    <p>"Some, not much. It's the big boat that is likely to get
+    caught and if the launch did get stuck and we couldn't sheer
+    off it would only mean a quick jump and a little swim
+    and&mdash;a busted launch."</p>
+
+    <p>The <i>Irene</i> started down the creek with her engine at
+    half speed, the captain at the wheel and Dick standing in the
+    bow of the motor boat with an oar at hand. Molly stood in the
+    companionway at the captain's request because he feared her
+    being swept overboard by overhanging branches. Mr. Barstow and
+    Ned were stationed near the bow with long poles for fending off
+    from the banks when necessary. The first trouble came from a
+    wooded point on the starboard side, but Dick swung the power
+    boat to port while Ned nearly went overboard as he threw his
+    weight on the pole with which he was fending. The bow cleared
+    the point, though the bowsprit swept the bushes and a
+    low-growing branch tore out the screens on the starboard side.
+    Before the point was passed Dick had the launch on the
+    starboard side, working to turn the <i>Irene</i> before she
+    should strike the opposite bank. The efforts of all hands
+    failed to make the turn in time and a stump by the bank caught
+    in the jib-stay of the boat and held her fast. As the stern of
+    the <i>Irene</i> swung on the point she had nearly passed, she
+    lay broad-side to the current, subject to all its
+    power.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page283"
+       id="page283"></a>[pg 283]</span>
+
+    <p>"We're in for it now, if that jib-stay don't part pretty
+    sudden," said the captain.</p>
+
+    <p>And before the words were out of his mouth the eye-bolt that
+    held the stay broke short off and the <i>Irene's</i> bow swung
+    down the stream. The boat was not caught badly again, although
+    her fore rigging on the port side was carried away and her
+    sides somewhat scarred. The only accident that threatened was
+    prevented by a precaution which Dick had taken. He had fastened
+    his tow line to the stern of the launch with a knot that could
+    be slipped and led the end of the line forward to where he
+    stood by the wheel. It happened that when nearly through the
+    creek it became needful to drag the bow of the <i>Irene</i> far
+    to port. Dick did this, but found himself in a pocket from
+    which he could not escape and in position to be dragged stern
+    first under the bow of the big boat. A quick jerk on the towing
+    line, and the launch was safe behind the <i>Irene</i>. There
+    was no more trouble for the big boat, which a minute later was
+    headed down the broad but shallow river, at half speed, while
+    Dick picked up the skiff with its alligator passenger who
+    slowly opened one eye when spoken to. In a few minutes the
+    <i>Irene</i> was traveling at full speed toward Tussock Bay
+    while her joyful passengers sat on the cabin roof and talked of
+    perils which had passed.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/284.jpg"
+             name="fig284"
+             id="fig284"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/284.jpg"
+             alt='"SLOWLY LIFTING HIS HUGE HEAD OVER THE SIDE OF THE SKIFF"' />
+        </a>"SLOWLY LIFTING HIS HUGE HEAD OVER THE SIDE OF THE
+        SKIFF"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>From Tussock Bay to the coast, the <i>Irene</i> sailed by
+    way of a branch of Shark River. The deep water of this river
+    near the Gulf of Mexico was
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page284"
+       id="page284"></a>[pg 284]</span> roughened by a high wind
+       and the rising and falling of the skiff seemed to excite the
+       alligator which for hours had been as quiet as if he were
+       asleep or dead. Slowly lifting his huge head over the side
+       of the skiff he gave a lurch which strained the rope that
+       held him and enough of the weight of the reptile was on the
+       side of the skiff to capsize it. The captain, who first
+       heard the struggle and saw the upset of the skiff, shouted
+       to Ned, who was below oiling the engine, to shut off the
+       power. Before the <i>Irene</i> lost her headway Ned was in
+       the river with the alligator, resting on the bottom of the
+       skiff which he rolled from over the reptile to save it from
+       drowning. Instantly the freed jaws of the alligator opened
+       wide in his face and the boy threw himself backward in the
+       water and swam swiftly away from his dangerous companion.
+       The rope had slipped from the head of the reptile, which now
+       seized the gunwale of the boat and thrashed about until he
+       had freed himself from the rope which bound him, after which
+       he quickly disappeared. Half an hour later Ned was pouring
+       his grievances into the ear of his chum, who was resting in
+       his bunk from the fatigue of the morning.</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't you think, Dick, it was bad enough to be scared to
+    death by a whopping old alligator that I thought was going to
+    bite me in two, without being scolded by everybody on board for
+    recklessness? First there was Dad, and he uses pretty powerful
+    language when he gets real earnest, then Captain
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page285"
+       id="page285"></a>[pg 285]</span> Hull gave it to me like a
+       Dutch uncle, and even Molly lectured me and squeezed out a
+       few tears. I told Dad it wasn't half as bad as your jumping
+       in the way of that panther, but he said that was altogether
+       a different thing and had some sense in
+       it."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page286"
+       id="page286"></a>[pg 286]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XXV</h3>
+
+    <h3>IN FLORIDA BAY</h3>
+
+    <p>After the <i>Irene</i> had sailed twenty miles down the
+    coast and was about opposite East Cape (Sable) Captain Hull
+    asked for his orders.</p>
+
+    <p>"Isn't Madeira Hammock on the coast, about thirty miles from
+    here?" inquired Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, but you will have to go seventy to get there. You've
+    got to go way round by the keys."</p>
+
+    <p>"Isn't there water enough for the <i>Irene</i> along the
+    coast?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Isn't enough to float the skiff. You can go about ten
+    miles. After that there's an inch of water and I reckon a mile
+    of blue, soft, sticky mud. I've been a few feet down in it and
+    the farther I went the softer and stickier it got."</p>
+
+    <p>"Suppose we go the ten miles you talk about what will we
+    find?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Tarpon, sharks, porpoises, lots of fish, birds and enough
+    sawfish to make a picket fence of their saws all around the
+    coast."</p>
+
+    <p>"That's us, Captain," said Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>And the <i>Irene's</i> mud hook went to the bottom that
+    night in eight feet of water off Joe Kemp's
+    Key.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page287"
+       id="page287"></a>[pg 287]</span>
+
+    <p>In the shoal water over the broad banks which lay to the
+    south and east of the <i>Irene</i> the bayonet fins of many
+    tarpon rose high above the surface as the fish beneath them
+    pursued their prey. Often the two fins shown by a wandering
+    shark swept swiftly across a bank, or three big reddish fins
+    moving in a straight line slowly behind a great, swaying,
+    four-foot weapon marked the course of a fifteen-foot sawfish.
+    There was water to float the power boat in the channels between
+    the banks, and families of porpoises or dolphins were always
+    ready to serve as pilots and point the path through these
+    labyrinthine waterways. A school of porpoises, rolling in the
+    water and leaping in the air, passed the motor boat as if they
+    had been telephoned for in the greatest haste. Two minutes
+    later, a quarter of a mile away, a great splashing could be
+    seen and huge bodies hurled in the air, which seemed to be
+    filled with flying fragments.</p>
+
+    <p>The power boat, with Molly at the wheel, started for the
+    fray at its best speed and when it reached the battlefield its
+    occupants saw a little band of porpoises in the midst of a
+    great school of silver mullet. Each blow of a porpoise tail
+    sent several mullet flying in the air, each blow that was
+    struck was followed by a quick turn or leap of the agile animal
+    for the victim which it caught before it fell. Ned and Dick
+    were in the skiff which had been towed by the power boat,
+    hoping to harpoon a sawfish or a shark. They had not before
+    thought of the swift <span class="pagenum"><a name="page288"
+       id="page288"></a>[pg 288]</span> and wary porpoise. They
+       called to the captain to cast them loose, and soon Ned was
+       poling the skiff toward the busy porpoises while Dick stood
+       in the bow of the skiff with his harpoon handy. Quick as a
+       flash the porpoises separated and scattered in every
+       direction and the boys followed several in vain. Then Molly
+       took a hand in the game and sent the power boat at one after
+       another of them until the captain called to her:</p>
+
+    <p>"If you'll stick to one you'll run him down."</p>
+
+    <p>Then Molly kept steadily after a single porpoise, until the
+    animal came to understand that it was the chosen victim, and
+    quickly put half a mile between it and its pursuer. In a few
+    minutes the half mile between them had vanished and the
+    creature made another frantic dash. After that it swam back and
+    forth as if confused, and traveled in narrowing circles,
+    wasting its strength, while the wheel of the pursuing boat
+    rolled back and forth without ceasing as it followed the course
+    of the animal or took short cuts to head it off. The boys came
+    near with the skiff, but the worried quarry paid so little heed
+    to them that soon Dick sunk his harpoon in the tail of the
+    porpoise. All the life and strength of the creature seemed to
+    come back and it threw a column of water in the air which
+    nearly swamped the skiff, while Dick's hands were torn and
+    blistered by the outgoing harpoon line, before way could be had
+    on the skiff. The frantic creature tore back and forth,
+    sometimes striking the skiff a powerful blow with
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page289"
+       id="page289"></a>[pg 289]</span> its tremendous tail as it
+       passed, sometimes towing it at high speed until Dick, who
+       was not yet strong, was more tired than the porpoise. He
+       changed places with Ned and the two were nearly worn out
+       when the porpoise surrendered.</p>
+
+    <p>They took the harpoon from the animal's tail and tried to
+    drag the creature over the gunwale of the skiff, but found it
+    too heavy for them. At length they lifted and dragged the
+    porpoise up on the gunwale of the skiff which they pressed down
+    until the water was beginning to flow over it. Half of the
+    animal was now over the side of the skiff and the boys threw
+    their weight backward expecting to roll the porpoise into the
+    bottom of the craft. This would have happened if the porpoise
+    had kept still, which it neglected to do. With a blow of its
+    tail on the water the animal threw its own body forward and Ned
+    and Dick found assistance instead of resistance as they pulled,
+    and promptly went over backward into the water with the
+    porpoise and the capsized skiff on top of them. When they got
+    to the surface their captive had escaped, but the power boat
+    was beside them with three highly edified occupants. After the
+    skiff had been righted and bailed out and the floating poles,
+    oar, hats, and line tub gathered in, Ned saw the fin and
+    swaying tail of a shark cutting the surface of the water near
+    them, and calling on Dick to take the harpoon, began to pole
+    the skiff toward the tiger of the
+    sea.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page290"
+       id="page290"></a>[pg 290]</span>
+
+    <p>"Look out," shouted the captain. "That's a shark. You'll
+    lose your iron if you strike him."</p>
+
+    <p>Th captain spoke too late, for the shark was struck and the
+    skiff was towed at speed for a hundred feet by the angry fish,
+    which then turned and rolled up on the taut line till it caught
+    the rope in its mouth and bit it in two as easily as scissors
+    snip thread.</p>
+
+    <p>"Told you so," said the captain. "A shark always bites the
+    line and often rolls up in it. An alligator always rolls up in
+    it, but can't bite it. I've had an alligator roll up against a
+    skiff and pretty near come aboard after I'd harpooned it.
+    There's another harpoon on the <i>Irene</i>, and I'll fix it
+    to-night with a few feet of wire for the next shark to bite on.
+    I reckon it'll give him a surprise."</p>
+
+    <p>Molly was in full command of the power boat for the day, and
+    as harpooning was over, she ran it at her own sweet will.
+    Sometimes the captain helped her with a hint when he saw her
+    heading for water that was too shoal. The course she took was
+    southerly and brought her near Man-o'-war Bush, from which rose
+    hundreds of man-o'-war hawks, or frigate pelicans, the most
+    graceful bird on the continent, excepting the fork-tailed kite.
+    These birds soared high overhead, circling, rising and falling
+    with scarcely a perceptible motion of their wings. From another
+    key a flock of roseate spoon-bill, or pink curlew, flew at the
+    approach of the boat, while young herons sat fearlessly on
+    branches of <span class="pagenum"><a name="page291"
+       id="page291"></a>[pg 291]</span> trees or spread wings and
+       stretched long legs as they fled in affright.</p>
+
+    <p>That night Mr. Barstow called a council on the cabin
+    top.</p>
+
+    <p>"Boys, I would like to have you make Miami in four days from
+    now, if you can manage it."</p>
+
+    <p>"That's easy," said Ned. "We can make the trip in a day.
+    That leaves us one day here and two at Madeira Hammock to find
+    Dick's pet crocodile."</p>
+
+    <p>"If you're going to Miami by way of Madeira Hammock," said
+    the captain, "you'd better allow two days for the trip. You're
+    likely to get some tangled up in that country."</p>
+
+    <p>"Then we'll cut out our day here. We have had our share of
+    fun out of this place. What is there in that bay to the east of
+    us, Captain?"</p>
+
+    <p>"There's a creek that leads to the Cuthbert Rookery, but it
+    isn't the season for that. It's a hard trip anyway, through
+    small salt-water lakes and little overgrown creeks where you
+    have to drag your skiff most of the way. And you've got to
+    carry all the water you drink and you won't find that a
+    joke."</p>
+
+    <p>"We have had all we want of that kind of country, Captain,
+    so we'll hike out of here at daylight and get to Madeira
+    Hammock quick as you can find the way."</p>
+
+    <p>"I can find the way now, anyhow as far as Lignum Vitae Key,
+    and if the tide doesn't bother me too much in the cut, maybe to
+    Hammer Point. Beyond <span class="pagenum"><a name="page292"
+       id="page292"></a>[pg 292]</span> that I want daylight and
+       then I ain't sure. Do you want to make a night run?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure," said both the boys together.</p>
+
+    <p>"If you will excuse me from any share in this night
+    navigation," said Mr. Barstow, "I think I will turn in. How is
+    it with you, Molly?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, I'll stay up a while and help Captain Hull navigate the
+    ship."</p>
+
+    <p>The moon rose soon after the anchor was broken out, and its
+    light reflected from the white canvas of the bellying sails and
+    the tops of the white-capped waves, gave a dream-like beauty to
+    the night. Captain Molly called to Engineer Dick:</p>
+
+    <p>"Stop that noise in the engine room!" and Dick promptly shut
+    off the gasoline from the motor. Captain Hull made no complaint
+    of this mutinous interference with his authority, but said:</p>
+
+    <p>"That's right, we don't need the engine now and I reckon we
+    ain't going to need it to-night."</p>
+
+    <p>The wind was fair and strong from the north, and every
+    minute its sweep grew wider and the waves bigger as the
+    <i>Irene</i> drew from under the shelter of the cape. The
+    captain and Ned stood by the wheel, while the girl and Dick sat
+    on the front of the cabin in the moonlight, watching the white
+    water that rose from under the bow of the clumsy craft, with
+    each heavy blow that it struck upon the waves.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/292.jpg"
+             name="fig292"
+             id="fig292"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/292.jpg"
+             alt='"YOUNG HERONS SPREAD WINGS AND STRETCHED LONG LEGS AS THEY FLED"' />
+        </a>"YOUNG HERONS SPREAD WINGS AND STRETCHED LONG LEGS AS
+        THEY FLED"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>As they sailed the wind grew stronger and at Horse-neck
+    Shoals the crest of breaking waves covered the deck of the
+    <i>Irene</i> with foam. Following
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page293"
+       id="page293"></a>[pg 293]</span> the swish of each heaving
+       wave as it lifted and swept past the boat came a heavy jar
+       as the craft struck in the soft mud beneath her and her
+       headway was checked.</p>
+
+    <p>"It's all right," said the captain, in answer to Ned's look
+    of anxiety. "I expected her to touch, but she'll pull
+    through."</p>
+
+    <p>No one else was alarmed, for Mr. Barstow was asleep in his
+    bunk below, while Molly and Dick were too busy watching the
+    effect of the moonlight on the breaking waves and the distant
+    keys to notice that anything unusual was happening. Soon the
+    water became deeper, the waves ceased breaking and subsided,
+    and the <i>Irene</i> sailed smoothly on till she was hauled up
+    in the wind to enter the cut in the bank near Lignum Vitae Key,
+    through which an adverse tide was pouring. Dick was called from
+    his post near the bow to start the motor, which was kept
+    running until the boat had made her way through the channel
+    between the white banks that showed clear under the moon as
+    daylight could have made them. Then the motor was shut off and
+    Dick returned to his post and resumed his study of moonlight
+    effects as its rays fell on the palms of Lignum Vitae, the line
+    of outer keys, the Matecumbies, and the jewel of an Indian Key,
+    of which he told Molly the legend. At this Molly jumped up and
+    said:</p>
+
+    <p>"It's all too lovely for anything and Daddy has got to come
+    on deck and see it."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page294"
+       id="page294"></a>[pg 294]</span>
+
+    <p>She went below and when she returned had Mr. Barstow in tow,
+    to whom she pointed out the beauties of sea and sky, of clouds
+    and light just as Dick had been doing to her. Then she went for
+    Captain Hull, who turned the wheel over to Ned and came
+    forward, where he answered the rapid fire of the girl's
+    questions, about Shell, McGinty and other keys as they passed
+    them and about the channel and cuts through which their course
+    lay, until he assured her he had told all he knew and if she
+    remembered it she was as good a pilot as he. But questions
+    continued until, having passed Tavernier Creek and neared
+    Hammer Point, the <i>Irene</i> was anchored for the night.</p>
+
+    <p>All hands were on deck when the rays of the next morning's
+    sun first fell on the mirror-like water about them, but Ned
+    spoke sadly as he said:</p>
+
+    <p>"I've shipped as cook and I s'pose I've got to get
+    breakfast, but I wish my assistant didn't waste so much of her
+    time."</p>
+
+    <p>"If you'd let me keep the cook I hired we'd have crawfish
+    for breakfast," said Captain Hull.</p>
+
+    <p>"Where would we get them?" inquired Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"Every one of these coral keys is built on crawfish and
+    Snake Creek here is full of 'em."</p>
+
+    <p>"Then after you've shown us a lot of crawfish and we've
+    caught them we'll have breakfast."</p>
+
+    <p>Captain Hull lashed two tarpon hooks to broomsticks, and
+    getting in the skiff with Molly and the two boys, poled to the
+    nearest key. Beneath the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page295"
+       id="page295"></a>[pg 295]</span> water the steep coral banks
+       of the key were filled with deep holes from out of many of
+       which long feelers projected. Pushing a hook into one of
+       these holes the captain gave it a quick turn and brought out
+       a squirming, squeaking imitation of a young lobster. Then he
+       handed the hooks to the boys. Ned got overboard and began to
+       haul out crawfish at the rate of two a minute. Dick was less
+       successful, for Molly had promptly commandeered his hook and
+       left him nothing to do but watch her when she tried to hook
+       the shell-fish. They didn't get many fish and when Ned came
+       along with a bunch of crawfish which he dropped in the
+       skiff, he said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Here, you kids, you aren't earning your salt. Just take my
+    hook, Dick, and catch some crawfish. I'll help Molly do
+    whatever she's doing."</p>
+
+    <p>On the way to the <i>Irene</i> Molly called out:</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, the beautiful, beautiful, bubble!"</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't touch it," shouted Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>But he was too late, for Molly had picked up a Portuguese
+    man-o'-war and sat wringing her hands with the pain of its
+    poison. For, while nothing in nature is more exquisite, few
+    things are more virulent than this animated, opalescent,
+    iridescent bubble with its long, delicate, purplish
+    tentacles.</p>
+
+    <p>Molly's hand pained her all that day and the next, while
+    Dick's commiseration was boundless, but was kept in restraint
+    by Ned, who frequently assured both of them that, although a
+    surgical case, it was <span class="pagenum"><a name="page296"
+       id="page296"></a>[pg 296]</span> probably not quite
+       hopeless. A run of two hours in directions that varied, but
+       averaged northwest, brought the <i>Irene</i> to Madeira
+       Hammock, where the anchor was
+       dropped.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page297"
+       id="page297"></a>[pg 297]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XXVI</h3>
+
+    <h3>MADEIRA HAMMOCK AND&mdash;THE END</h3>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:60%;">
+        <a href="images/298.jpg"
+             name="fig298"
+             id="fig298"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/298.jpg"
+             alt='"THEY SAW A CROCODILE SWIMMING UNDER WATER NEAR THEM"' />
+        </a>"THEY SAW A CROCODILE SWIMMING UNDER WATER NEAR THEM"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>Mr. Barstow wanted to explore Deer Key which was nearby and
+    Ned took him there in the power boat. The captain took Molly
+    and Dick out in the skiff to show them a crocodile and Dick
+    stood in the bow with the harpoon while Molly sat amidship and
+    the captain poled. Almost as they left the <i>Irene</i> they
+    saw a crocodile swimming under water near them, but failed to
+    get another sight of him. They cruised vainly in open water,
+    beside banks and in narrow channels. Finally while going
+    through a narrow creek a wave rolling high ahead of the skiff
+    showed that some big creature was fleeing before them. The next
+    moment a four-foot weapon of a hand's breadth, armed with a
+    double row of teeth, was lifted for a second above the surface
+    and was followed by the three fins, tandem, that proved the
+    presence of a sawfish. Dick fairly quivered with excitement as
+    he held his harpoon at ready.</p>
+
+    <p>"Captain," said he sharply, "will there be the least bit of
+    danger to Miss Barstow if I strike that fish
+    now?"</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page298"
+       id="page298"></a>[pg 298]</span>
+
+    <p>"There'll be some, of course. If he turns round and comes
+    back at us in this narrow creek the only safe place will be in
+    the bottom of the boat."</p>
+
+    <p>"Dick Williams, don't you stop for me. I'm not a bit afraid.
+    If you don't harpoon that sawfish and give me his saw, I won't
+    speak to you for a week," said the excited girl.</p>
+
+    <p>"No use, Molly, I wouldn't do it if it meant that you'd
+    never speak to me."</p>
+
+    <p>"If Miss Barstow will wait on the bank for half an hour you
+    can bring her the saw, all right," said the captain, who seemed
+    anxious to oblige both of the passengers.</p>
+
+    <p>"Put me ashore quick, then."</p>
+
+    <p>The girl was soon standing on the bank and the chase was
+    renewed. A hundred yards farther up the narrow stream the great
+    sawfish was found swimming slowly across a bank where the water
+    was shoal, with his two fins and tail showing in line above the
+    water. As the harpoon pole was lifted and Dick's every muscle
+    strained for the throw, the captain shouted:</p>
+
+    <p>"Throw three feet ahead of that forward fin. That's where
+    his back is."</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/300.jpg"
+             name="fig300"
+             id="fig300"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/300.jpg"
+             alt='"THE HARPOON STRUCK THE FISH IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS BROAD BACK"' />
+        </a>"THE HARPOON STRUCK THE FISH IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS BROAD BACK"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>The harpoon struck the fish in the middle of his wide back
+    and as the freed pole splashed in the water the sawfish made a
+    mighty swirl and was off at express speed. The line was strong,
+    the barb of the harpoon was under the tough leather of the
+    creature's back, and the skiff seemed to fly through
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page299"
+       id="page299"></a>[pg 299]</span> the water as Dick gave the
+       line a turn around his hand and the captain fended the skiff
+       from the banks when sharp turns were made by the flying fish
+       as it followed the channels of the crooked creeks. Sometimes
+       the stream broadened, often it narrowed; once the sawfish
+       dashed through an overgrown waterway where Dick and the
+       captain crouched to the gunwale to avoid the arching
+       branches that swept over and tore at the sides of the skiff.
+       There was half an hour of this work. Dick's hands were
+       blistered and numb and his brain dizzy with the quick turns
+       and changing courses of the fish, when suddenly he became
+       panic-stricken and called to his companion:</p>
+
+    <p>"Captain! Are you perfectly <i>sure</i> you know where you
+    are? <i>Sure</i> you can find Miss Barstow?"</p>
+
+    <p>The captain laughed.</p>
+
+    <p>"Find her? Why she's here within a hundred feet of you
+    now."</p>
+
+    <p>And, sure enough, the next turn in the creek showed the girl
+    standing on the bank by the water's edge.</p>
+
+    <p>"Can't I get aboard?" she called out as the skiff swept
+    past, and Dick would have said "Yes," but the captain shook his
+    head.</p>
+
+    <p>"There's trouble ahead. That fish is just getting ready to
+    fight."</p>
+
+    <p>Before they had passed out of sight of the girl, the sawfish
+    turned around and for the first time headed for the skiff.</p>
+
+    <p>"Down, quick!" yelled the captain and both Dick
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page300"
+       id="page300"></a>[pg 300]</span> and he crouched low in the
+       skiff as a great broad sword, swung with all the power of
+       the tremendous fish, swept over their heads. As the angry
+       creature passed them, a second blow which fell upon the
+       skiff and threatened to wreck it was echoed by a cry from
+       the girl. The attack on the skiff was the last great effort
+       of the fish, and though he still swam strongly he could be
+       controlled. The captain ran the skiff on a shallow bank and
+       helped Dick with the line until sixteen feet of fierceness
+       lay stranded on the bank. As the sawfish is a species of
+       shark, Dick had no hesitancy about killing it, but wanted
+       Molly to first see his captive and have a look at her saw,
+       before it left the place where it grew. The captain brought
+       the girl, and then a rope was made fast to the saw of the
+       fish and tied to a tree, after which the brute's brain was
+       explored with an axe and the saw cut off as a trophy.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/302.jpg"
+             name="fig302"
+             id="fig302"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/302.jpg"
+             alt="SIXTEEN FEET OF FIERCENESS LAY STRANDED ON THE BANK" />
+        </a> "SIXTEEN FEET OF FIERCENESS LAY STRANDED ON THE BANK"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"Better wake up," shouted the captain the next morning,
+    before the boys were stirring. "There's a shark outside waiting
+    for you, and I've wired your harpoon line."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys omitted their ablutions that morning and must have
+    hurried their devotions, for three minutes after they were
+    called found them aboard the skiff which they drove toward a
+    big fin and a swaying tail, which was cutting the water a
+    hundred yards from the <i>Irene</i>. As they neared the shark,
+    Dick took the harpoon pole and made ready
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page301"
+       id="page301"></a>[pg 301]</span> with the harpoon, while Ned
+       sculled quietly in the wake of the ugly fish. Twice the
+       shark heard them and darted away, but on the third approach
+       Dick drove the iron deep in the back of the brute. The shark
+       lashed out with its tail, sending the water flying as the
+       harpoon struck, and then made a straight-away dash for a
+       hundred yards while the boys rode in triumph behind it. Then
+       the maddened creature turned, and rolling up on the line,
+       bit it savagely but vainly.</p>
+
+    <p>Again and again the brute dashed away and again and again it
+    turned, biting at the line and attacking the boat with its
+    teeth. Dick held the skiff close to the shark, which lifted its
+    head and seized the gunwale in its huge mouth, when Ned struck
+    the furious creature a powerful blow on its nose with the axe.
+    For a moment the brute seemed paralyzed, but soon returned to
+    the attack, when the boy drove the point of the big gaff
+    through the tough hide of the tiger of the sea.</p>
+
+    <p>Ned held on to the handle of the gaff, although almost
+    dragged overboard during the first wild struggles of his
+    captive, and then hauled the head of the brute over the
+    gunwale, where a few blows with the axe ended the trouble.</p>
+
+    <p>When the boys got back to the <i>Irene</i>, Ned was happily
+    surprised to find ready a dainty breakfast which his assistant
+    had graciously prepared for all hands and which drew from him
+    the unusual praise:</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page302"
+       id="page302"></a>[pg 302]</span>
+
+    <p>"A girl on a cruise is a mighty nice
+    thing&mdash;sometimes."</p>
+
+    <p>The day was to be devoted to crocodile hunting and Dick went
+    in the skiff with the captain, while Molly was put in command
+    of the power boat with Ned as engineer and Mr. Barstow as
+    passenger.</p>
+
+    <p>Several crocodile caves were found, but none of the
+    inhabitants were at home. One large crocodile showed itself for
+    an instant, but the river was deep, the overhanging banks
+    offered good hiding places, and the reptile escaped. It was
+    after they had given the hunt up for the day and were on their
+    way to the <i>Irene</i> that Dick, who had stood faithfully at
+    his post in the bow, with his harpoon ready, threw hastily at
+    something he saw crawling on the bottom and found on the end of
+    his line a squirming baby crocodile, scarcely four feet long.
+    The harpoon had barely touched the side of the little reptile
+    and the barb held by a thread-like bit of skin. When the boy
+    saw how lightly the iron was held he dropped the line and
+    grabbed the baby with both hands. His arms were scratched and
+    his clothing torn by the needle-like teeth before he could tie
+    the jaws of the creature, after which he took the baby
+    crocodile in his arms and tucked it away in the bow of the
+    skiff. Before he had time to tie the little reptile in its crib
+    Ned shouted from the power boat:</p>
+
+    <p>"There's one under that bank, a big fellow."</p>
+
+    <p>The captain sculled the skiff slowly toward the crocodile,
+    which was lying on the water, just under
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page303"
+       id="page303"></a>[pg 303]</span> the bank. As they
+       approached, the creature slowly sank beneath the surface of
+       the water, which was shallow, and beneath it a bottom of mud
+       in which the fleeing reptile had left his trail. The captain
+       followed the trail by the furrow-like track of the tail, the
+       spoor of the paws and the roiled water, until Dick got a
+       shot with his harpoon. Then the crocodile towed the skiff
+       into the deeper channels of the river, among logs and snags
+       and under banks, sometimes rolling up on the line and biting
+       at the skiff while Dick vainly tried to get a bight of the
+       harpoon line around the creature's jaw. The reptile was too
+       wary for him, until finally the captain threatened the
+       crocodile with a pole, while Dick got a line around its jaws
+       and took it in the skiff. There was so little room in the
+       skiff that Dick sat on the back of his captive until they
+       reached the <i>Irene</i>. If he had tried this with an
+       alligator he would have gone overboard, <i>pronto</i>, but
+       when a crocodile's jaws are tied he is gentler than most
+       lambs.</p>
+
+    <p>As soon as Dick had his new pets safely on the <i>Irene</i>
+    he examined them carefully and then shouted to Ned:</p>
+
+    <p>"This is my old crocodile, the very one we turned loose when
+    we were here before. I'd know him in a thousand. Don't you
+    remember the broken point to the tooth that stuck out through
+    his upper jaw, on the right side, too? Why, Crocky, old boy,
+    how are you? I'm mighty glad to see you
+    again."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page304"
+       id="page304"></a>[pg 304]</span>
+
+    <p>"Don't you want to set them free to-morrow, Dick?" asked Mr.
+    Barstow.</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't, but I've got to."</p>
+
+    <p>"Would you rather send them North to be educated?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I surely would. I wish I could."</p>
+
+    <p>"I think it can be managed. I know of a zoological
+    collection where they will be very welcome. If you think they
+    haven't been injured, I will ship both of them North from
+    Miami."</p>
+
+    <p>"They are all right. I know that. I made two bad throws and
+    barely touched both of them. I don't believe you could find
+    where either of them was hit, now."</p>
+
+    <p>"Then North they go."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys made a box for the little crocodile, gathered a lot
+    of grass for his bed and stowed him away in the hold where he
+    would be safe from the attentions of Tom. There was not enough
+    lumber on board to make a box for the big crocodile and the
+    brute was put overboard to pasture at the end of a hundred-foot
+    line. As soon as the crocodile was overboard Dick drew it
+    beside the boat and untied its jaws. At first it tried to get
+    away, but soon gave it up and thereafter rose to the surface
+    every few minutes and gazed gravely upon its new friends on the
+    boat. When later the <i>Irene</i> was ready to sail, Dick drew
+    his pet up to the side of the boat and tied his jaws without
+    remonstrance from the reptile. It took three of them to haul
+    the creature <span class="pagenum"><a name="page305"
+       id="page305"></a>[pg 305]</span> aboard, where it was
+       fastened to a ringbolt on deck for the first stage of its
+       journey to the Zoo.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/304.jpg"
+             name="fig304"
+             id="fig304"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/304.jpg"
+             alt='"THEY HAULED THE HEAD OF THE BRUTE OVER THE SIDE OF THE BOAT"' />
+        </a>"THEY HAULED THE HEAD OF THE BRUTE OVER THE SIDE OF THE
+        BOAT"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"Captain Hull," said Ned, as the whole party were watching
+    the stars from the cabin top and waiting for the moon to rise
+    that night, "we have got back from the Madeira Hammock every
+    thing we lost there, so we will start for Miami to-morrow."</p>
+
+    <p>"Aye, aye, sir."</p>
+
+    <p>"You know you said we might lose a day round here, and now
+    we have got a day to spare."</p>
+
+    <p>"You'll be lucky if you don't lose it. There's lots of
+    chances between here and Miami, or between here and anywhere.
+    There isn't six inches between the <i>Irene's</i> bottom and
+    the rocks this minute and we're going to stir the mud a dozen
+    times to-morrow."</p>
+
+    <p>"Supposing a storm comes while we are anchored so near the
+    rocks?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Anybody who supposes in this country won't ever do anything
+    else."</p>
+
+    <p>"Would we make anything by another night run?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Make sure to pile up on a bank so high that you'd have time
+    to homestead a farm before you got off."</p>
+
+    <p>The <i>Irene</i> stirred the mud a few times the next day,
+    but passed through Blackwater, Barnes and Card sounds and all
+    the cuts and channels to Biscayne Bay without trouble. There a
+    high wind and a heavy sea held her back, so that it was dusk
+    when <span class="pagenum"><a name="page306"
+       id="page306"></a>[pg 306]</span> the anchor was dropped just
+       outside of the mouth of Miami River. During this, their last
+       evening on the cabin roof of the <i>Irene</i>, Mr. Barstow
+       said to Dick:</p>
+
+    <p>"Do you feel perfectly well and strong again?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Never felt so well before in my life and am getting my
+    strength back fast."</p>
+
+    <p>"Then vacation ends for you and Ned to-day. To-morrow
+    morning you will take the train for the North, where you will
+    have about two weeks to spend with your mother. I will wire her
+    from Miami about our arrangement, which I am sure she will
+    approve, and tell her when she may expect you. Very soon you
+    will receive your instructions. You and Ned will be together,
+    work the same, pay the same, and both of you have my perfect
+    confidence that you will justify every hope I have of you."</p>
+
+    <p>"Mr. Barstow, I haven't any words&mdash;"</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't say anything, Dick, I understand it all, my boy. Just
+    go ahead and make good, both for yourself and me."</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/306.jpg"
+             name="fig306"
+             id="fig306"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/306.jpg"
+             alt='"HE TOOK THE BABY CROCODILE IN HIS ARMS"' />
+             </a>"HE TOOK THE BABY CROCODILE IN HIS ARMS"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>In the morning Ned and the captain distinguished themselves
+    by waking up a dealer, buying some lumber, hustling it aboard
+    and having the two crocodiles boxed up for transportation North
+    in time for the train of that day. How much of a feat that was
+    requires a residence in South Florida to appreciate.</p>
+
+    <p>The <i>Irene</i> was run up the river to the railroad dock,
+    where the crocodiles were put on the cars and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page307"
+       id="page307"></a>[pg 307]</span> the boys took their train
+       for the North. When the good-byes were said, the captain
+       carried Tom across the dock on his shoulder and Dick's last
+       act before leaving was to formally present him to
+       Molly.</p><br />
+    <br />
+
+
+    <p class="center">THE END</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter">
+        <img width="381"
+             src="images/cover.jpg"
+             alt="front cover" />
+    </div>
+
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13168 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/13168-h/images/112.jpg b/13168-h/images/112.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ad6a9f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/112.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/124.jpg b/13168-h/images/124.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f9788ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/124.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/126.jpg b/13168-h/images/126.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..746c36e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/126.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/130.jpg b/13168-h/images/130.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a026ba7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/130.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/134.jpg b/13168-h/images/134.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4253429
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/134.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/146.jpg b/13168-h/images/146.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d46a646
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/146.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/152.jpg b/13168-h/images/152.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6eb8d86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/152.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/156.jpg b/13168-h/images/156.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4f67c11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/156.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/193.jpg b/13168-h/images/193.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eaca889
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/193.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/200.jpg b/13168-h/images/200.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..20fac13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/200.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/210.jpg b/13168-h/images/210.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dd6dbc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/210.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/216.jpg b/13168-h/images/216.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a8ea3ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/216.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/226.jpg b/13168-h/images/226.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9637943
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/226.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/232.jpg b/13168-h/images/232.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1db4af1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/232.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/234.jpg b/13168-h/images/234.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8f54063
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/234.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/236.jpg b/13168-h/images/236.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..60b7a7d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/236.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/238.jpg b/13168-h/images/238.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4554b2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/238.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/242.jpg b/13168-h/images/242.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e77904e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/242.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/260.jpg b/13168-h/images/260.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c5e83aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/260.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/264.jpg b/13168-h/images/264.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bebfc87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/264.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/284.jpg b/13168-h/images/284.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..181b10d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/284.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/292.jpg b/13168-h/images/292.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0141cd1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/292.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/298.jpg b/13168-h/images/298.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1c8530b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/298.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/30.jpg b/13168-h/images/30.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c5658d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/30.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/300.jpg b/13168-h/images/300.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e3d69b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/300.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/302.jpg b/13168-h/images/302.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c9d6dbf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/302.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/304.jpg b/13168-h/images/304.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7c20b91
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/304.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/306.jpg b/13168-h/images/306.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e2f5cc3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/306.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/46.jpg b/13168-h/images/46.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c0be8a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/46.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/76.jpg b/13168-h/images/76.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7434077
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/76.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/82.jpg b/13168-h/images/82.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f36b7f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/82.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/98.jpg b/13168-h/images/98.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fc6de12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/98.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/cover.jpg b/13168-h/images/cover.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..898b645
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/cover.jpg
diff --git a/13168-h/images/map.png b/13168-h/images/map.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7867dff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/map.png
diff --git a/13168-h/images/note.png b/13168-h/images/note.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ddd04c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/note.png
diff --git a/13168-h/images/page_dec.png b/13168-h/images/page_dec.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aae9cee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13168-h/images/page_dec.png
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..df1241f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #13168 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13168)
diff --git a/old/13168-h.zip b/old/13168-h.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..192f1b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h.zip
diff --git a/old/13168-h/13168-h.htm b/old/13168-h/13168-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2338888
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/13168-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,10448 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
+    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
+<head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type"
+          content="text/html; charset=us-ascii" />
+
+    <title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Dick In the Everglades,
+    by A.W. Dimock.</title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+    /*<![CDATA[*/
+
+    <!--
+    body                 {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;}
+    p                    {text-align: justify;}
+    blockquote           {text-align: justify;}
+    h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6    {text-align: center;}
+    h1 {margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em}
+    h2 {margin-top: 4em; margin-bottom: 2em}
+    h3 {margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em}
+
+    pre                  {font-size: 0.7em;}
+
+    hr                   {text-align: center; width: 50%;}
+    html>body hr         {margin-right: 25%; margin-left: 25%; width: 50%;}
+    hr.full              {width: 100%;}
+    html>body hr.full    {margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 0%; width: 100%;}
+    hr.short             {text-align: center; width: 20%;}
+    html>body hr.short   {margin-right: 40%; margin-left: 40%; width: 20%;}
+    li                   {margin-top: 0.5em; margin-left: 5%; list-style: upper-roman;
+                        font-size: 0.9em;}
+    .center {text-align: center;}
+    .note {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;}
+
+    span.pagenum {position: absolute; left: 1%; right: 91%; font-size: 8pt;}
+
+    .figure, .figcenter
+    {padding: 1em; margin: 0; text-align: center;}
+    .figure img, .figcenter img
+                       {border: none;}
+    .figcenter           {margin: auto;}
+
+    .inline {border: none; vertical-align: middle;}
+
+    .illustrations {margin: 0.5em 5%; font-size: 0.9em;}
+
+    p.author {text-align: right; margin-right: 5%;}
+
+    a:link {color: blue; text-decoration: none;}
+    link {color: blue; text-decoration: none;}
+    a:visited {color: blue; text-decoration: none;}
+    a:hover {color: red;}
+    -->
+    /*]]>*/
+    </style>
+</head>
+
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Dick in the Everglades, by A. W. Dimock
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Dick in the Everglades
+
+Author: A. W. Dimock
+
+Release Date: August 13, 2004 [EBook #13168]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DICK IN THE EVERGLADES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Sandra Brown, the Online Distributed Proofreading Team,
+and Internet Archive; University of Florida, Children
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+    <h1>Dick</h1>
+
+    <h1>In the Everglades</h1>
+
+    <h4>BY</h4>
+
+    <h2>A.W. DIMOCK</h2>
+
+    <h4>Author of "Florida Enchantments"</h4><br />
+
+    <h4>WITH THIRTY-TWO HALF-TONE ILLUSTRATIONS<br />
+    FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY<br />
+    J.A. DIMOCK</h4>
+
+    <div class="figcenter">
+        <img width="300"
+             src="images/page_dec.png"
+             alt="fishing reel" />
+    </div>
+
+    <h4>NEW YORK</h4>
+
+    <h4>FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY<br />
+    PUBLISHERS</h4>
+
+    <h4>COPYRIGHT, 1909.</h4>
+    <hr />
+
+    <div class="figcenter">
+        <a href="images/note.png"
+             name="fig2"
+             id="fig2"><img width="403"
+             src="images/note.png"
+             alt="author's handwritten note." /></a>
+    </div>
+    <hr />
+
+    <h2>PREFACE</h2>
+
+    <p>Dick in the Everglades is a true story. All that imagination
+    had to do with it was to find names for the boys and arrange a
+    sequence of events. Other characters, white and Indian, appear
+    under names similar to, or identical with their own. Any old
+    alligator hunter, familiar with the swamps and the Ten Thousand
+    Islands, can follow the course of the explorers from the text
+    of the story. It would be possible for two fearless boys,
+    imbued with a love of Nature and the wilderness, to repeat,
+    incident by incident, the feats of the explorers in the
+    identical places mentioned in the story.</p>
+
+    <p>Many of the stories are understatements, seldom is one
+    exaggerated. I have been asked if it were possible for a boy to
+    handle a manatee in the water as one of the boys was
+    represented as doing. I have done it myself three times with
+    manatees three times the size of these in the story. In the
+    story the manatees escaped. Two of those which I captured were
+    sent to the New York Aquarium, where one of them lived for
+    twenty months. The crocodiles which the boys sent to the
+    Zoological Park may be seen to-day, alive and well in the
+    reptile house. The frequent swamping of canoes and skiffs by
+    porpoises, or dolphins, tarpon and manatees are all experiences
+    of my own.</p>
+
+    <p>Aside from the Government charts which give the coast line
+    only, the existing maps of the scene of the story are worse
+    than useless. In them a hundred square miles are given to Ponce
+    de Leon Bay, which doesn't exist, unless the little depression
+    in the coast which is called Shark River Bight is accounted a
+    bay. Rivers are omitted; one with a mouth fifty feet wide is
+    represented as a mile broad. A little stream four miles long is
+    sent wandering over a hundred and forty miles of imaginary
+    territory. I have sailed and paddled for days at a time over
+    the watercourses of South Florida, with a compass before me and
+    a pad at hand on which every change of course was noted and
+    distances estimated, and although no attempt at accurate
+    charting has ever been made, I am quite sure that none of the
+    natural features or products of the country traversed by the
+    young explorers have been misrepresented in the book.</p>
+
+    <p>The pictures are from photographs taken on the scene of the
+    incidents they illustrate. They show more conclusively than can
+    any words of mine, how beautiful is the region traversed by the
+    boy explorers and what interesting and exciting adventures they
+    enjoyed.</p>
+    <hr />
+
+    <h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+    <ol>
+        <li>THE CHUMS <a href="#page1">1</a></li>
+
+        <li>DICK GOES TO SEA <a href="#page15">15</a></li>
+
+        <li>LIFE ON A SPONGER <a href="#page27">27</a></li>
+
+        <li>CAUGHT IN A WATERSPOUT <a href="#page38">38</a></li>
+
+        <li>OUTFITTING FOR THE HUNT <a href="#page51">51</a></li>
+
+        <li>DICK'S HUNT FOR HIS CHUM <a href="#page61">61</a></li>
+
+        <li>THE MEETING IN THE GLADES <a href="#page76">76</a></li>
+
+        <li>OLD DREAMS REALIZED <a href="#page93">93</a></li>
+
+        <li>THE CAPTURE OF THE MANATEE
+        <a href="#page108">108</a></li>
+
+        <li>HARPOONING FROM A CANOE <a href="#page123">123</a></li>
+
+        <li>GHOSTS AND ALLIGATORS <a href="#page129">129</a></li>
+
+        <li>HUNTING IN HARNEY'S RIVER
+        <a href="#page136">136</a></li>
+
+        <li>EDUCATING AN ALLIGATOR <a href="#page150">150</a></li>
+
+        <li>ENCOUNTER WITH OUTLAWS <a href="#page157">157</a></li>
+
+        <li>DICK AND THE BEAR <a href="#page165">165</a></li>
+
+        <li>IN THE CROCODILE COUNTRY
+        <a href="#page171">171</a></li>
+
+        <li>AMONG THE SEMINOLES <a href="#page183">183</a></li>
+
+        <li>DICK'S WILDCAT AND OTHER WILD THINGS
+        <a href="#page195">195</a></li>
+
+        <li>A PRAIRIE ON FIRE <a href="#page209">209</a></li>
+
+        <li>DICK'S FIGHT WITH A PANTHER
+        <a href="#page219">219</a></li>
+
+        <li>CONVALESCENCE AND CATASTROPHE
+        <a href="#page234">234</a></li>
+
+        <li>THE RESCUE <a href="#page245">245</a></li>
+
+        <li>MOLLY AND THE MANATEE <a href="#page258">258</a></li>
+
+        <li>TO THE GLADES IN THE "IRENE"
+        <a href="#page271">271</a></li>
+
+        <li>IN FLORIDA BAY <a href="#page286">286</a></li>
+
+        <li>MADEIRA HAMMOCK AND--THE END
+        <a href="#page297">297</a></li>
+    </ol>
+    <hr />
+
+    <h3>ILLUSTRATIONS</h3>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig3">MAP SHOWING DICK'S
+    CRUISE IN A CANOE</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig30">"DICK HUNTED ALL THE
+    TURTLES HE SAW"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig46">"A SILVERY, TWISTING
+    BODY SHOT TEN FEET IN THE AIR"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig76">"THE EVERGLADES AT
+    LAST"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig82">"WE'VE GOTTER HAVE
+    ONE OF THEM YOUNG TURKS IF IT TAKES ALL NIGHT"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig98">"THE SEMINOLE WAS
+    STANDING IN HIS CANOE LOOKING FIXEDLY AT US"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig112">"HE FOUND DICK
+    STANDING IN WATER SHOULDER DEEP, HANGING ON TO THE FLIPPER OF
+    THE MANATEE"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig124">"THE STRICKEN TARPON
+    LEAPED SIX FEET IN THE AIR"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig126">"THE TARPON BEGAN A
+    SERIES OF LEAPS"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig130">"GROUPS OF TALL
+    PALMETTOS, OR MAGNIFICENT TALL PALMS"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig134">"HE HELD THE JAWS OF
+    THE 'GATOR SHUT, WHILE DICK SEIZED THE HIND LEGS OF THE
+    REPTILE"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig146">"THE TARPON LEAPED
+    AGAINST NED WITH FURY"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig152">"OUT CAME THE
+    REPTILE'S HEAD FROM THE CAVE"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig156">"SEE THE BABY 'GATOR
+    SIT UP, NED!"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig193">"THERE GOES YOUR
+    PET. THAT'S THE LAST OF HIM"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig200">"A FEW OF THE
+    HOMELESS BEES LIT ON THE COMB"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig210">"ALL BEYOND THE DARK
+    MEADOW WAS A LIVING MASS"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig216">"THE BARB CAUGHT IN
+    THE REPTILE'S LOWER JAW"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig226">"THE COON SCRAMBLED
+    TO THE TOP OF A LITTLE TREE"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig232">"HE SAW THE GENTLY
+    SWAYING HEAD AND THE LIGHTNING FLAY OF THE FORKED
+    TONGUE"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig234">"NED FOUND A GOOD
+    CAMPING SITE MARKED BY A FREAK PALMETTO"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig236">"THE LYNX SPRANG
+    INTO THE CANOE AND SEIZED ONE OF THE FISH"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig238">"PORPOISES ROLLED
+    THEIR BACKS OUT OF THE WATER"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig242">"THE HARD, POINTED
+    HEAD OF THE BIG TARPON TORE THROUGH THE BOTTOM OF THE FRAGILE
+    CANOE"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig260">"THE INDIGNANT BIRD
+    PUNCHED HOLES THROUGH HIS HAT"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig264">"THE LIGHT FROM THE
+    BULL'S EYE SHOWED THE HEAD AND BODY OF THE REPTILE"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig284">"SLOWLY LIFTING HIS
+    HUGE HEAD OVER THE SIDE OF THE SKIFF"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig292">"YOUNG HERONS SPREAD
+    WINGS AND STRETCHED LONG LEGS AS THEY FLED"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig298">"THEY SAW A
+    CROCODILE SWIMMING UNDER WATER NEAR THEM"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig300">"THE HARPOON STRUCK
+    THE FISH IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS BROAD BACK"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig302">"SIXTEEN FEET OF
+    FIERCENESS LAY STRANDED ON THE BANK"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig304">"THEY HAULED THE
+    HEAD OF THE BRUTE OVER THE SIDE OF THE BOAT"</a></p>
+
+    <p class="illustrations"><a href="#fig306">"HE TOOK THE BABY
+    CROCODILE IN HIS ARMS"</a></p>
+    <hr />
+
+    <h1>DICK IN THE EVERGLADES</h1>
+
+    <div class="figcenter">
+        <a href="images/map.png"
+             name="fig3"
+             id="fig3"><img width="381"
+             src="images/map.png"
+             alt="MAP SHOWING DICK'S CRUISE IN A CANOE" /></a>
+    </div>
+
+    <h1>DICK IN THE
+    EVERGLADES</h1><span class="pagenum"><a name="page1"
+       id="page1"></a>[pg 1]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER I</h3>
+
+    <h3>THE CHUMS</h3>
+
+    <p>"Come in!"</p>
+
+    <p>The doctor's voice had a note of sternness which was not
+    lost on the two boys waiting outside his study door. The taller
+    of the two, Ned Barstow, turned the handle and stepped into the
+    study, followed immediately by Dick Williams. The doctor,
+    sitting behind his desk, looked decidedly uncompromising as he
+    said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Now, Barstow and Williams, you were absent from your room
+    last night. Where were you?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Camping in Farmer Field's woods, sir," replied Ned
+    Barstow.</p>
+
+    <p>"How often has this happened before?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Twice, sir."</p>
+
+    <p>"Was any one else with you?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Only last night, sir. Another boy was with us then," said
+    Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"Who was he?" <span class="pagenum"><a name="page2"
+       id="page2"></a>[pg 2]</span> "I can't tell you, sir."</p>
+
+    <p>"Williams, you may go now. I will see you later."</p>
+
+    <p>After the door had closed on Williams, the doctor turned
+    again to Barstow, and said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Barstow, I have always felt that I could rely upon your
+    influence with the younger boys being for good. Now, I find you
+    aiding to upset the whole discipline of the school by this
+    camping affair. I hope there has been nothing worse. You know I
+    never insist on tale-bearing regarding mere boyish escapades,
+    but I would like to know if there was any other reason for your
+    refusing to give up your companion's name."</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, sir, there was. We had a chicken for supper, that was
+    taken from Farmer Field's poultry-house."</p>
+
+    <p>"Did you or Williams steal that chicken, Barstow?"</p>
+
+    <p>"No, sir, but we knew about it and helped eat it, and are
+    just as much to blame as the boy who took it."</p>
+
+    <p>"And, now, you mean to protect the thief?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, you see, Doctor, a good many fellows don't look at
+    hooking apples, or nuts, or chickens as real stealing."</p>
+
+    <p>"What do you think about it?" asked the doctor.</p>
+
+    <p>"I think it was wrong and I am very sorry it happened. It
+    won't occur again."</p>
+
+    <p>"I have no fear that it will. But it is too serious
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page3"
+       id="page3"></a>[pg 3]</span> an offence to be lightly passed
+       over. In the first place you and Williams must see Farmer
+       Field, tell him what you have done and pay for the chicken
+       that was&mdash;taken. After that I will talk with you. Now
+       send Williams to me."</p>
+
+    <p>When Dick Williams came in the doctor began:</p>
+
+    <p>"Williams, how much do you love your mother?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Why, more than anyone else in the world, sir."</p>
+
+    <p>"She is keeping you here at considerable expense. Don't you
+    think you owe it to her to pay more attention to your
+    studies?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, Doctor, and I am going to do better hereafter."</p>
+
+    <p>"How will your mother feel when she hears of this
+    chicken-stealing episode?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh! Doctor; she mustn't hear of it that way. We didn't
+    think of it as stealing last night, but this morning Ned and I
+    talked about it and we are going to see Farmer Field and tell
+    him what we did and pay for the chicken."</p>
+
+    <p>"Do you mean, Dick," and the good doctor's voice shook a
+    little as he asked the question, "that you and Ned decided to
+    tell Farmer Field about the taking of his chicken, before you
+    knew that I had heard of your camping out?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Why, yes, sir. I supposed Ned had told you."</p>
+
+    <p>"Your friend Ned is rather a curious boy, but when you are
+    in doubt about the right and wrong of anything, you might do
+    worse than ask his
+    advice."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page4"
+       id="page4"></a>[pg 4]</span>
+
+    <p>"Oh! I get enough of that without asking for it," said
+    Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>And the doctor laughed, but he soon looked pretty serious
+    again, and said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Dick, I think no one will tell your mother and she need
+    never know, but I hope you will tell her all about it of your
+    own accord."</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure!" said Dick, "I couldn't keep that or anythink else
+    away from Mumsey for five minutes after I saw her."</p>
+
+    <p>There was a significant pause, during which the doctor
+    stroked his chin meditatively before asking:</p>
+
+    <p>"Now, what in the world made you two boys go on that camping
+    escapade? I want you to tell me that, Dick."</p>
+
+    <p>The boy hesitated a moment and then said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Why, I really don't know, Doctor&mdash;we just wanted to.
+    You see, there are so many things to see and listen to at night
+    that way. Birds and animals, I mean. Ned and I are going to be
+    explorers some day, you know."</p>
+
+    <p>"Hum!" said the doctor.</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, that will do for the present, Williams. I hope you
+    understand that you are escaping serious trouble very easily
+    and that you mean to be as good as you can for the rest of the
+    time you are at the school."</p>
+
+    <p>Fanner Field received Ned and Dick with an air of gruffness
+    that was belied by twinkling blue eyes
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page5"
+       id="page5"></a>[pg 5]</span> and, when Ned had finished
+       telling his story and offered to pay for the chicken,
+       said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Did you take that chicken out of my poultry-house?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Not exactly, but it's the same thing. We knew about it and
+    helped eat it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Was it tender?" asked the farmer.</p>
+
+    <p>"No, sir, it was the toughest thing I ever put in my
+    mouth."</p>
+
+    <p>"I thought so. Why, that rooster was a regular antique. He
+    must have been a hundred years old. Next time you want a
+    chicken for a late supper, better let me choose it for you. Who
+    helped you eat that rooster?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Please don't ask us that. We'll tell you anything about
+    ourselves, but we can't give him away."</p>
+
+    <p>"Wouldn't think much of you if you did. No need of it
+    anyhow. I know who it was."</p>
+
+    <p>"He must have told you then, for we haven't told
+    anybody."</p>
+
+    <p>"Do you remember that while you were cooking that rooster
+    out in my woods, Steve Daly, your companion, said he heard
+    somebody in the bushes and you said it was only a dog?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, I remember it. I did say that."</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, I was that dog!"</p>
+
+    <p>"And you never told on us?" asked Dick. "Then you've been
+    mighty kind and I'm ashamed to look you in the face."</p>
+
+    <p>"Never be ashamed to look anyone in the face,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page6"
+       id="page6"></a>[pg 6]</span> my boy. It isn't good to take
+       even a little thing that doesn't belong to you, but that
+       won't happen again to you. But weren't you playing truant
+       when you had that tough supper in my woods? Doesn't your
+       conscience trouble you at all about that?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Not a bit," said Dick; "that wasn't mean."</p>
+
+    <p>It was fortunate for Dick's peace of mind that his
+    conscience wasn't troubled by mischief, for he was never out of
+    it and was at the root of about all the purely mischievous
+    happenings at the school.</p>
+
+    <p>Even the lesson of the camping incident and the doctor's
+    kindly talk wore off in a fortnight. Yet he was popular with
+    teachers as well as pupils. His head was crowned with a mass of
+    sandy hair and his impertinent face plastered with freckles.
+    The boy was quick and full of grace as a wildcat and so well
+    built and lithe that he was a terror on the football team.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick was often too busy to attend to his studies and fell
+    behind in his lessons, until the good doctor sent for him and
+    gave him an earnest but understanding talk which sent the boy
+    back to his books, filled with remorse and determined to get to
+    the head of his class in a hurry. One of these resolves was
+    usually effective for about a week. After which Dick generally
+    suffered a severe relapse.</p>
+
+    <p>During his last winter at school, he frequently took long
+    tramps in the woods in the hours when he should have been at
+    his books, and was finally taken
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page7"
+       id="page7"></a>[pg 7]</span> to task by his chum for the bad
+       example he was setting the younger boys by playing
+       truant.</p>
+
+    <p>"But, Ned," said Dick, "I just can't keep away from the
+    woods, and they do me good, I know they do. I am a whole lot
+    better every way after a good long tramp by myself through the
+    thickest woods I can find. I'd like to camp out in them
+    to-night and I believe I will."</p>
+
+    <p>"That's all right, Dick. I'll camp with you; only we've got
+    to have Doc's permission. He trusts us a lot, and we can't go
+    back on him."</p>
+
+    <p>"Nice chance we've got of getting that. Maybe he'd camp with
+    us!" said Dick satirically.</p>
+
+    <p>"Shouldn't wonder if he would. You don't understand Doc. Did
+    you ever know him to refuse a fellow anything he squarely asked
+    for, unless he simply had to do it? Come along."</p>
+
+    <p>And the boys walked together to the study.</p>
+
+    <p>"Doctor," said Ned, "Dick and I want to camp out to-night in
+    Farmer Field's woods, if you have no objection."</p>
+
+    <p>"Want to camp out? Well, so do I, only I am afraid I might
+    be needed here. Do you know how to camp? What do you expect to
+    take with you and how will you keep warm?"</p>
+
+    <p>"We thought of taking a hatchet, a blanket for each of us
+    and some potatoes to roast. Then we will make a bed of hemlock
+    boughs, build a fire near it and roll up in our blankets."</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, you may go, and I will help out your
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page8"
+       id="page8"></a>[pg 8]</span> commissariat with a loaf of
+       bread and a chicken. But be sure you have plenty of fuel
+       ready before dark. It will be a cold night and you will have
+       to replenish your fire three or four times before
+       morning."</p>
+
+    <p>"Thank you, Doctor. You don't know how much obliged we are
+    to you for your kindness."</p>
+
+    <p>"And you don't know how much trouble I am in for, when the
+    rest of the boys hear of this escapade of yours."</p>
+
+    <p>But after the study door closed the doctor smiled quietly to
+    himself and said under his breath:</p>
+
+    <p>"Just like myself at their age&mdash;have the woods
+    instinct."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned and Dick slept little that night. There was about a foot
+    of snow on the ground and they scraped bare a place for their
+    camp-fire beside a big stump and gathered enough fuel from
+    windfalls for the night. Then they rolled a log beside the fire
+    for a seat and built a soft bed with fragrant branches of
+    hemlock and spruce. They roasted the chicken over a thick bed
+    of glowing coals and baked potatoes in the ashes of the fire.
+    The chicken was carved with their pocket knives and they got
+    along without forks or plates. By using bark gathered from a
+    birch and softening it over their fire they made cups with
+    which they brought water from a nearby brook. When supper was
+    finished the boys rolled up in their blankets and lying on the
+    bed they had built on the snow, inhaled its fragrance as they
+    watched the eddying smoke of their camp-fire and the stars that
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page9"
+       id="page9"></a>[pg 9]</span> shone through the spreading
+       branches above them and listened to the voices of the night,
+       from the distant cry of an owl to the whish of falling snow,
+       shaken from evergreen boughs by the breeze. They had visions
+       of camps, scattered from the equator to the poles, some of
+       which were destined to be realized. Ned formed a plan that
+       night, of which he wrote to his father, but of which he said
+       nothing at the time to his chum.</p>
+
+    <p>But as Dick stood beside Ned in their last hour at
+    Belleville, and the sadness of parting was in the face and eyes
+    from which fun usually bubbled, Ned said:</p>
+
+    <p>"My father owns a tract of land in the Big Cypress Swamp of
+    Florida. There is a lot of fine timber on it and he intends to
+    set up a lumber mill in the swamp and perhaps build a railroad
+    from Fort Myers to some part of it. A surveyor with a guide is
+    going into the swamp this fall to locate the best timber and
+    I'm going with them. You know how we have planned to do real
+    camping and exploring together. Well, here's our chance. I've
+    written to Dad and he invites you to go with me. We can start
+    any time. When can you be ready, Dick?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Ned, I'd give all I have in the world to go with you, but I
+    can't&mdash;I can't. Mother has spent more than she could
+    afford to keep me at this school and sometimes I'm ashamed when
+    I think how I've wasted my time. Now I don't mean to be an
+    expense to her or anyone else hereafter. I won't take
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page10"
+       id="page10"></a>[pg 10]</span> a penny that I don't earn,
+       from anybody, and I won't go on any trip, even with you,
+       until I can pay my own way, every cent of it."</p>
+
+    <p>"But, Dick, your companionship and the work you can do will
+    be worth all it costs, twice over, to me and to Dad and he will
+    feel just that way about it."</p>
+
+    <p>"It's like you, Ned, to say all that, but it's no use and
+    you know it. You've been mighty good to me ever since I came to
+    this school and I'm going to keep your good opinion by not
+    accepting your offer to go with you now. Some time, when I can
+    keep up my end, I'll be with you bigger than an Injun. If you
+    ever find strange footprints down in those Everglades, better
+    foller 'em up. They'll likely be mine. Good-bye, Ned."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys clasped hands and as Dick walked away tears rolled
+    down his freckled cheeks.</p>
+
+    <p>Four months after the parting of the two friends, at
+    Belleville, Dick received a letter postmarked "Immokalee,
+    Florida," which was headed:</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p class="author">Big Cypress Swamp,<br />
+        20 miles from anywhere,<br />
+        October 10th.</p>
+
+        <p>DEAR CHUM:</p>
+
+        <p>Here I am! on a prairie inside the Big Cypress Swamp,
+        about which we used to talk and where we planned to camp
+        some day. Well, it's bigger than anything we ever dreamed
+        of and every foot of it is alive. Sometimes I sleep in a
+        tent, but more often <span class="pagenum"><a name="page11"
+           id="page11"></a>[pg 11]</span> under the stars. Last
+           night I heard the scream of a panther, so near that it
+           made me shiver, and the next minute a frog dropped from
+           the branch of a tree over my head and fell on my face. I
+           must have screamed louder than the panther, for I scared
+           Chris Meyer, the surveyor, who is camping with me,
+           pretty badly. The guide we expected didn't come, so we
+           are guiding for ourselves. I hope Chris knows where we
+           are, for I am sure I don't. We measure the big cypress
+           trees with a tape line and Chris calculates the number
+           of feet of lumber in each tree. Then we estimate the
+           trees in an acre and guess at the number of acres. At
+           least that's the way the business looks to me. Sometimes
+           the walking is easy, but to-day we had to wade through
+           mud waist-deep and the moccasins were pretty thick. I
+           watched out for the ugly things and it kept me on the
+           jump, but Chris marched straight ahead and paid no
+           attention to them, excepting once when a big
+           cotton-mouth that was coiled on top of a stump struck at
+           him. Then he fell over backward into the mud, and I had
+           a good laugh at him&mdash;afterwards. Chris killed that
+           snake. It was a short, thick snake and about as pretty
+           as a Bologna sausage, but its mouth opened five inches
+           and its long, needle-like fangs were dripping with
+           venom. I am hungry all the time and enjoy our bill of
+           fare very much, although it is only bacon, grits and
+           coffee, morning, noon and night. We are traveling light,
+           for we carry all our baggage on our backs. We see deer
+           and wild turkey <span class="pagenum"><a name="page12"
+           id="page12"></a>[pg 12]</span> every day and it's pretty
+           hard to keep my hands off my rifle, but I promised Dad
+           not to shoot anything out of season. In three weeks the
+           law will be off and then it will be bad for the first
+           buck I meet. Chris says it's good for me to see a lot of
+           deer before I shoot at any. He says I won't be so likely
+           to miss or only wound them when I really hunt them. I
+           guess he's about right, for when I first saw a
+           deer&mdash;it was a big buck and only twenty yards
+           away&mdash;I had a regular attack of buck ague and I
+           couldn't have hit the side of a house even if I'd been
+           inside it. Now I can look at one, point a stick at him
+           and say <i>bang</i>, with my nerves just as quiet as if
+           it were a cow. I have seen a few bears, but they are
+           very shy. We'll turn loose on them, too, when we get
+           round to hunting, but in the mean time we are sticking
+           to our timber job for all there is in it.</p>
+
+        <p>An old alligator hunter is camping beside us to-night.
+        He is bound for Boat Landing, with a lot of alligator hides
+        and otter skins, and I am finishing up this letter to send
+        by him. Just as soon as this surveying business is over I
+        am going to have a glorious hunt. If only you were here we
+        would start out by our lonesomes and have all the
+        adventures we ever talked about. Probably Chris will go
+        with me. I haven't quite the pluck to try it alone, as I
+        know you would do in my place. I may brace up to it,
+        though. Dad has given me permission to do just as I please.
+        He says he trusts me not to be foolish or foolhardy and to
+        keep him informed of my plans. Isn't he a
+        <span class="pagenum"><a name="page13"
+           id="page13"></a>[pg 13]</span> good Dad? Come if you
+           can. Come when you can.</p>
+
+        <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Always and forever your
+        chum,</p>
+
+        <p class="author"
+           style="margin-top:-1.5em">NED.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>Dick's mother read Ned's letter and was quiet and sad all
+    the rest of the day. After Dick had gone to bed she went into
+    his room, sat down on the bed beside him, kissed him and
+    said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Dicky boy, mother wants you to take a good, long vacation.
+    You've worked hard and been a great comfort to her since you
+    left school and now she's going to send you to your chum Ned,
+    down in Florida where she knows your heart is. Now&mdash;don't
+    speak yet&mdash;mother knows what you want to say. dear, but
+    she can perfectly well afford to send you and you will hurt her
+    feelings if you don't let her."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick put his arms around his mothers' neck and as soon as he
+    could speak, half sobbed out:</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, Mumsey, I can't take your money. You've got so
+    little."</p>
+
+    <p>"But mother wants you to, so much."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick held his mother's face close to his own for a minute
+    and then said, very slowly:</p>
+
+    <p>"Mumsey, I'll go&mdash;and it's really and truly because you
+    want me to&mdash;but I won't take any of your money. Hush, now!
+    Don't you say a word, or I'll&mdash;disown you. I've got a
+    ten-dollar bill of my own and I'll keep that in my pocket just
+    so you won't worry for fear I'm hungry; and I will bet you ten
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page14"
+       id="page14"></a>[pg 14]</span> dollars I'll bring that same
+       bill back to you and I won't go hungry one day either."</p>
+
+    <p>"But, Dick&mdash;"</p>
+
+    <p>"Not one word, Mumsey, except to say you'll take that bet. I
+    can get a ride to New York on a boat, any day. Then I'll go to
+    the Mallory Line and work my way to Key West on one of their
+    boats; and from Key West I can find a fishing boat that will
+    land me on the west coast of Florida somewhere within a hundred
+    miles of Ned, and I'd walk that far just for the fun of
+    surprising him."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page15"
+       id="page15"></a>[pg 15]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER II</h3>
+
+    <h3>DICK GOES TO SEA</h3>
+
+    <p>Three days after Dick's talk with his mother, he boarded a
+    Key West steamer just as it was leaving its New York pier. He
+    sat on the deck and watched busy ferry-boats in the river,
+    fussy tugs and chug-chugging launches in the harbor, and the
+    white-winged yachts and great ocean steamers in the lower bay.
+    He looked back from the Narrows upon the receding city, to the
+    east upon Coney Island with its pleasure palaces, and to the
+    southwest upon the great curve of Sandy Hook. Every step upon
+    the deck near him brought his heart into his mouth in dread of
+    what he knew he had to face. When the steamer was opposite Long
+    Branch and there was small chance that he could be sent back,
+    he inquired for the captain, whom he found talking to some
+    young girls among the passengers. This somewhat reassured
+    Billy, for he felt that the captain wouldn't eat him up in the
+    presence of the young ladies, and he stood waiting with his cap
+    in his hand until the captain spoke to him.</p>
+
+    <p>"Do you want to see me, my
+    boy?"</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page16"
+       id="page16"></a>[pg 16]</span>
+
+    <p>"If you are Captain Anderson, I do, sir."</p>
+
+    <p>"All right, go ahead."</p>
+
+    <p>"I want you to set me to work, sir."</p>
+
+    <p>"Why should I set you to work? Do you belong on the
+    boat?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Not yet, but you see it's this way. I had to get to Key
+    West and I thought I'd work my passage with you."</p>
+
+    <p>"Why didn't you ask me before we left the dock?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Because I was afraid you wouldn't take me, if you could
+    help it, and I had to go."</p>
+
+    <p>"You cheeky little devil, I believe I'll chuck you
+    overboard."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh!" said a brown-eyed girl who stood beside the captain,
+    "you mustn't do that!"</p>
+
+    <p>The captain laughed and said to Dick:</p>
+
+    <p>"I hope you understand that you owe your life to this young
+    lady. Now, go and report yourself to the cook and tell him to
+    put you on the worst job he's got."</p>
+
+    <p>"Thank you very much, Captain, but couldn't you make it the
+    engineer instead of the cook? I'd rather work than wash
+    dishes."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'd like to oblige so modest a boy. Report to the chief
+    engineer, give him my compliments and tell him you are to have
+    the hottest berth on the boat. He'll probably set you to
+    shoveling coal."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick thanked him again; then looking into the face of the
+    girl, he said:</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page17"
+       id="page17"></a>[pg 17]</span>
+
+    <p>"Thank you, Miss Brown-Eyes, for saving my life," and,
+    bowing low, turned away.</p>
+
+    <p>"Captain, couldn't you see that he was a gentleman? What
+    made you give him such hard work?" asked the girl.</p>
+
+    <p>"Because he was such a cheeky gentleman that if I let him
+    stay on deck he would take command of the boat by to-morrow and
+    all you young ladies who helped him would be guilty of mutiny
+    and would have to be executed."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick was put to work in the engine-room, oiling the
+    machinery. Some of the work was easy and safe, some of it was
+    easy but not safe. Oil cups had to be filled as they flew back
+    and forth, bearings must be oiled after great steel rods had
+    flashed by and before they returned. The swift, silent play of
+    the great piston and the steady motion of the resistless,
+    revolving shaft, half hypnotized the boy and he stood, dazed
+    and in danger, until called down by the sharp rebuff of the
+    engineer.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Tend to your business, there. Don't watch that shaft or
+    you'll go dotty."</p>
+
+    <p>On the second day of the trip there was trouble in the
+    fire-room. The steamer had started on the trip short of firemen
+    and now a fireman who had fallen in the furnace-room, striking
+    his head on the steel floor, was lying unconscious in his
+    berth. The pointer on the steam-gauge fell back, the engine
+    slowed down, crisp commands came from pilot-house to
+    engine-room, sharper messages passed
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page18"
+       id="page18"></a>[pg 18]</span> between engine and fire
+       rooms, while overworked men grew sullen and threatened to
+       throw down their shovels.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick offered to do the work of a fireman, but the engineer
+    shook his head and said:</p>
+
+    <p>"That's a man's work, boy."</p>
+
+    <p>"Give me a shovel and a chance."</p>
+
+    <p>And they were given him. He soon learned to throw the coal
+    evenly and feed the furnaces like a fireman, but his unseasoned
+    body shrank from the fierce heat; he staggered back from the
+    hot blast every time he swung open a great furnace door and,
+    until the clang of its closing, he could scarcely draw a
+    breath. He threw off his jumper and his white skin fairly
+    gleamed in that grimy place. The other firemen looked curiously
+    at that slight, boyish form which was doing a man's work like a
+    man and there was no more shirking in front of those furnaces.
+    The fireman nearest the boy often pushed him aside and spread
+    shovelfuls of coal over his grates, rushing back to his own
+    work that it might not fall behind. A strong beam wind sprang
+    up and the boat rolled badly, while Dick, with his hands
+    blistered, fought fiercely to keep off seasickness and to keep
+    up his fire.</p>
+
+    <p>Up in the main saloon and around the deck a young girl
+    wandered as if she wanted something without quite knowing what
+    it was. She climbed stairs under the sign "passengers not
+    allowed," went in and out of the pilot-house and, meeting the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page19"
+       id="page19"></a>[pg 19]</span> captain, asked if she
+       couldn't go wherever she wished on the boat. He replied:</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, Miss. I appoint you third mate, with power to give any
+    orders you please and go wherever you wish."</p>
+
+    <p>A little later, with a dark waterproof drawn tightly over
+    her light dress, she opened the door leading to the
+    engine-room, and clinging to the heavy brass rail, climbed
+    slowly down the narrow, greasy iron stairway till she stood
+    beside the mighty engine. The engineer hastened to her
+    side.</p>
+
+    <p>"It's against the rules and very dangerous, Miss, for a
+    passenger to come into this room."</p>
+
+    <p>"But the captain told me I could come."</p>
+
+    <p>"All right, but please be very careful and hold tight to
+    that rail. I am afraid I haven't any right to let you stay,
+    anyhow."</p>
+
+    <p>"Thank you very much and I'll be very careful."</p>
+
+    <p>The girl watched the engine for some time and then crept
+    slowly along a steel bridge that looked like a spider's web,
+    from which she could look into the furnace-room, with its
+    roaring fires, scorching heat and constantly clanging iron
+    doors. For some minutes she gazed silently, then turning
+    quickly, hurried across the bridge, up the greasy stairs and on
+    to the main saloon where she found her father in a big
+    arm-chair, buried in a book. The girl first pulled the book out
+    of her father's hands, then, sitting on the arm of his chair,
+    clasped her hands on his shoulder and whispered eagerly into
+    his ear.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page20"
+       id="page20"></a>[pg 20]</span>
+
+    <p>"Daddy, I want you to get that boy out of that hot place
+    down in the bottom of the boat where he is at work. I know he's
+    sick, for I saw him lean up against the wall and shut his eyes
+    and he was just as white&mdash;"</p>
+
+    <p>"Why, Molly, where have you been to see all this?"</p>
+
+    <p>"First, I went where the big engine is, then I went a little
+    farther and saw&mdash;Oh! Daddy, hurry, please; if you don't I
+    know he'll die."</p>
+
+    <p>"So you want me to get this boy up in the saloon to play
+    with you?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't mean that at all, Daddy. I should think you'd hate
+    to see anybody worked to death down in that hot hole."</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, I'll see the captain about it as soon as I have
+    finished my book."</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't you think you'd better see him now? I'm quite sure
+    you won't enjoy your book while I'm here and I've decided to
+    stay with you for the present."</p>
+
+    <p>"All right, Molly, come along," and they hunted up the
+    captain, whom they found sitting near the pilot-house.</p>
+
+    <p>"Captain, I have taken an interest in that stowaway of
+    yours. Is there any objection to having his name put on the
+    cabin list, at my expense, of course?"</p>
+
+    <p>"No kick coming from me," said the captain, "though we
+    <i>are</i> short-handed in the fire-room and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page21"
+       id="page21"></a>[pg 21]</span> the boy has been doing a
+       man's work there. I don't believe he will accept your offer,
+       for he's an independent little cub and, as I have put him to
+       work, I can't insist upon it."</p>
+
+    <p>The captain sent a deck-hand for Dick, and the boy appeared
+    on deck in overalls and jumper, cap in hand.</p>
+
+    <p>"Dick," said the captain, "this gentleman has put your name
+    on the passenger list. The purser will give you a room and a
+    seat at the table."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, Captain, please don't take me from my work. I know I've
+    got to leave it if you say so, but&mdash;"</p>
+
+    <p>"No, you haven't," interrupted the captain; "you are on the
+    pay-roll and can hang on to your job as long as you do your
+    work."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick's face was still troubled as he turned toward Molly and
+    her father, meeting a reproachful look from the girl, which
+    made him wonder if he had seemed ungrateful for the kindness
+    shown him, and said:</p>
+
+    <p>"I want to thank you a thousand times for your kindness and
+    I will come to the cabin if you think I&mdash;Have you any boy
+    of your own, sir?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, I have a boy of about your age."</p>
+
+    <p>"If he were here, in my place, what would you like to have
+    him do?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I'd be proud of him if he did just what you're doing, my
+    boy."</p>
+
+    <p>Tears were in Dick's voice as he said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Thank you very much, sir," then, turning to
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page22"
+       id="page22"></a>[pg 22]</span> Molly, a roguish smile lit up
+       his face as he bowed to her, saying:</p>
+
+    <p>"Thank you again, Miss Brown-Eyes."</p>
+
+    <p>The next day when Dick was off duty, instead of going to his
+    bunk, he dressed himself carefully and went up on the promenade
+    deck. It was quite contrary to the rules, but the officers only
+    smiled and looked away, while many of the passengers spoke to
+    him, for the story of his having refused cabin passage was
+    pretty well known on the boat. He walked about restlessly, as
+    if in search of something or somebody, until he caught sight of
+    a girl in the extreme bow of the boat, looking down upon the
+    water twenty feet below her. Dick suddenly discovered that he
+    wanted to look over the bow, too. A minute later he was leaning
+    on the rail behind the girl, looking down upon a school of
+    porpoises, or herring hogs, which were playing about the boat.
+    A jet of water and spray curled upward from the cutwater of the
+    steamer, which was running at high speed, but the graceful
+    little creatures kept abreast of her without apparent effort.
+    There were twenty or thirty of them, gliding in and out as
+    gracefully as if they were moving to the measure of a waltz.
+    Sometimes one touched the prow or side of the boat; usually
+    they kept pace with the steamer as evenly as if they were a
+    part of it; but occasionally one darted ahead at a speed which
+    left the boat behind as if it were standing still. At last the
+    girl, long conscious <span class="pagenum"><a name="page23"
+       id="page23"></a>[pg 23]</span> that some one was standing
+       beside her, putting out her hand to that somebody, said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Aren't they dears? Oh!" she added, as her hand was taken
+    and she looked around, "I thought it was Daddy. Please excuse
+    me."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick looked as if he might be persuaded to forgive her, and
+    for some minutes they stood in silence, leaning over the rail
+    and looking at the playful porpoises beneath them, when he
+    said:</p>
+
+    <p>"I hope you don't think I didn't appreciate your father's
+    lovely offer. You will never know how grateful I really was to
+    him&mdash;and to somebody else, too, who, I think, had
+    something to do with it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Of course I don't think you were ungrateful, but I did hate
+    to see you at work down in that hot place and I don't see why
+    you couldn't have come up in the cabin and been comfortable and
+    not had to wear such greasy clothes."</p>
+
+    <p>"How did you know where I was at work?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I happened to be looking at the big engine and I walked
+    along a little way and saw you way, way down near the bottom of
+    the boat in front of a hot furnace, shoveling coal into
+    it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Now I know where that offer came from," said Dick, "and I
+    want you to see why I couldn't accept it. I wanted very, very
+    much to get to Key West and I was very glad of the chance to
+    work my passage. Perhaps it was wrong to come aboard the way I
+    did. I guess it was. But Captain Anderson gave me a job and
+    made it all right. Now I'm not
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page24"
+       id="page24"></a>[pg 24]</span> ashamed to look anyone in the
+       face, even when I have on my fireman's clothes, while if I
+       gave up my work and let a stranger give me what I could earn
+       myself I would feel like a charity scholar and I don't think
+       I'd have the cheek to speak to you or any one else on
+       board."</p>
+
+    <p>Molly told her father of her talk with Dick and he said:</p>
+
+    <p>"I can use that kind of a boy in my business. I'll have a
+    talk with him when we get to Key West."</p>
+
+    <p>Three days later the great steamer lay beside her wharf in
+    Key West. Dick was paid the full wages of a fireman for the
+    trip and when he said he wasn't worth so much, was
+    good-naturedly told to shut up and advised that if he refused
+    to take money that was offered him in that town he was likely
+    to be caught and exhibited as a freak. He shed his jumper and
+    overalls and exchanged hearty good-byes with the whole crew of
+    the steamer. He walked through the saloons, but it was early,
+    most of the passengers were yet in their berths and neither
+    Molly nor her father was to be seen. Dick went out on the dock
+    to inquire for a boat to Chokoloskee, Caxambas or Marco. He was
+    referred to a Captain Wilson, who told him that the boat for
+    Chokoloskee had just sailed, was beyond hailing distance and
+    wouldn't leave again for a week, and that there was no Caxambas
+    or Marco boat in port. Dick found the captain so genial and
+    friendly that he told him something of his
+    story.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page25"
+       id="page25"></a>[pg 25]</span>
+
+    <p>"I'll fix you out," said Captain Wilson. "I own a sponging
+    outfit and am just starting out on a cruise, but I'm one man
+    short. So you come in his place. It will be a short trip, not
+    over four weeks. You'll make good wages and I'll find you a
+    chance to get to Chokoloskee when we get back. You can live on
+    board till I find it. If you stay here you are bound to lose a
+    week and your board anyhow."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'd like to go first rate, but I don't know anything about
+    sponging."</p>
+
+    <p>"You'll learn fast enough. Can you scull?"</p>
+
+    <p>"A little. I can row better."</p>
+
+    <p>"Have to scull in sponging, but you'll pick that up. Can you
+    come aboard now? I want to be off."</p>
+
+    <p>"I need some clothes and would like to say 'good-bye' to
+    some friends on the steamer."</p>
+
+    <p>"I can fit you out on board with all the clothes you will
+    need on the cruise, so hurry up and see your friends. I'll wait
+    here for you."</p>
+
+    <p>But Molly and her father had left the steamer and Dick went
+    with Captain Wilson aboard his sloop, which sailed at once.</p>
+
+    <p>The captain hunted up some clothes for Dick to wear while
+    sponging and as the boy came on deck after putting them on, his
+    first glance fell on the white sails of a schooner yacht which
+    had just passed them, but was then two hundred yards away. The
+    beauty of the boat appealed to Dick and his eyes rested
+    lingeringly upon her. How much greater would have been his
+    interest had he known that the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page26"
+       id="page26"></a>[pg 26]</span> two forms which he could see
+       on the deck of the yacht, near the companionway, were the
+       Molly of whom he was thinking at that moment, and her
+       father, and that they were talking of him. What a pity that
+       he couldn't have known that Key West had been searched for
+       him and that Molly's father had offered a reward for his
+       name and address! Had Dick come on deck two minutes sooner
+       the bow of the yacht <i>Gypsey</i> would have been thrown up
+       in the wind and that tiny launch lowered from the boat's
+       davits in less time than it takes to tell of it. And then,
+       had Molly's father known Dick's name, he would have taken
+       the boy to his yacht, if he had had to tie him to do it, but
+       if Dick had once heard the name of Molly's father it would
+       not have been necessary to tie him. However, if either had
+       known the name of the other this story would not have been
+       written.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page27"
+       id="page27"></a>[pg 27]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER III</h3>
+
+    <h3>LIFE ON A SPONGER</h3>
+
+    <p>The yacht sailed on and Dick, walking up to Captain Wilson,
+    who stood at the wheel, said, as he lifted his cap:</p>
+
+    <p>"I beg to report for duty, sir." The captain grinned, as he
+    replied:</p>
+
+    <p>"I hope you'll always be as polite. You'll sure be a
+    curiosity on this coast. I'll put you in with Pedro. He doesn't
+    know much English, but you can talk enough for both. There he
+    is, that black-mustached fellow, with little rings in his ears.
+    He will let you know what your duties are."</p>
+
+    <p>A string of four dingies trailed behind the sponger and as
+    many poles, each thirty feet long, with a sponge-hook at one
+    end, lay upon the deck. Pedro was examining one of these poles
+    when Billy went to him and said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Pedro, I am to go in your boat. What do I have to do?"</p>
+
+    <p>"You scull where I tell you&mdash;slow&mdash;I look in
+    glass&mdash;see sponge&mdash;take up pole&mdash;you stop
+    still&mdash;then <span class="pagenum"><a name="page28"
+       id="page28"></a>[pg 28]</span> you scull where pole
+       go&mdash;you work good or I keek you."</p>
+
+    <p>"Pedro, if you ever keek me, you'll go overboard queek and
+    don't you forget it."</p>
+
+    <p>The sponger lay at anchor on the sponging ground for nearly
+    a week before the water was clear enough for work. Dick spent
+    most of his time sculling his dingy and soon learned to throw
+    his weight on the big sculling oar to the best advantage
+    without going overboard very often. One day while Pedro sat in
+    the bow, they saw a 400-pound loggerhead turtle lying asleep on
+    the water. Pedro motioned to Dick to scull up to the turtle and
+    when the dingy was within three feet of the creature he jumped
+    on its back and seized the edge of its shell just behind the
+    head, with both hands. Pedro's weight was so far aft on the
+    turtle's deck that the bow pointed upward and the reptile's
+    struggles only served to keep its head above water and thus
+    carry the man comfortably on its back. Soon Pedro shifted his
+    right hand to the tail-end of the turtle and thereafter
+    navigated his living craft with ease. Dick sculled the dingy
+    beside the turtle and, while trying to make fast the boat's
+    painter around the creature, fell overboard. Pedro didn't know
+    enough English to express his feelings fully, and so talked
+    Spanish for a while. Dick thought he could get the rope around
+    the turtle more easily if he stayed in the water, and he
+    finally succeeded, though the reptile got one of the sleeves of
+    his shirt while he was doing it. Then the boy
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page29"
+       id="page29"></a>[pg 29]</span> and Pedro got into the boat
+       and pulled the turtle beside it. In rolling the reptile
+       aboard they shipped a lot of water and as the turtle dropped
+       suddenly to the bottom of the dingy Dick fell backwards out
+       of the boat. Pedro began to express himself in Spanish
+       again, and, as the sponger was less than two hundred yards
+       distant, Dick swam to it, leaving his companion to bail out
+       the dingy and scull it to the big boat. The boat's tackle
+       was required to hoist the turtle aboard, where it was turned
+       over to the Cook, who butchered it on deck. The heart of the
+       reptile continued to beat for hours after it had been
+       removed from the body, so strongly that its throbbing could
+       not be restrained by the grip of the most powerful hand.
+       Pedro said that the heart would beat till the sun went down,
+       and it did.</p>
+
+    <p>For days Dick hunted all the turtles he saw lying on the
+    water. At last he got near enough to one to grab him before he
+    dove. But he got hold too far back, the reptile's head was
+    already turned downward and his flippers forced him rapidly
+    forward. Dick hung on as well as he could, which wasn't for
+    long, for the strong rush of the water and its great pressure
+    as the reptile made for the bottom quickly compelled the boy to
+    let go. Yet he was under water so long that when he came to the
+    surface Captain Wilson was in a dingy sculling like mad to
+    reach him. The captain gave the boy a kindly warning, which
+    affected him so much that in ten minutes he was off after
+    another turtle, which he saw asleep.
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page30"
+       id="page30"></a>[pg 30]</span> The creature began his dive
+       just as Dick jumped for him, and the boy got hold of his
+       tail-end as it was lifted above the water, in time to get a
+       sharp slap in the face from the heavy hind flipper of the
+       turtle. Dick sculled for an hour without seeing another
+       turtle, when, as he was returning to the boat and within a
+       hundred yards of it, one rose beside the dingy so near that
+       the boy was on its back before it could go under the
+       surface. He soon had his charger in fair control, but the
+       science of riding a big loggerhead turtle isn't picked up in
+       a minute. One of the crew came out in a dingy to help, but
+       Dick asked him to pick up his boat and oar and take them to
+       the sponger and said that he would ride back on the turtle.
+       Sometimes his steed was manageable, and once he got within a
+       few yards of the big boat, when it broke loose and carried
+       him fifty yards away. Then, as Dick tried to check the
+       reptile, he pulled its head too far and tipped it over on
+       its back on top of himself, with his own head so near the
+       parrot-like jaws of the loggerhead that when they were
+       snapped in his face they missed his nose by about an inch.
+       The turtle was as anxious to turn over as the boy, and, by
+       favoring his motions, Dick soon had the creature right side
+       up, while he again rode triumphantly on his back. In another
+       hour the halyards were fast to the turtle and Billy had made
+       good his promise to ride it back to the boat.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/30.jpg"
+             name="fig30"
+             id="fig30"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/30.jpg"
+             alt='"DICK HUNTED ALL THE TURTLES HE SAW"' /></a>"DICK
+             HUNTED ALL THE TURTLES HE SAW"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>When the water became clear the dingies were sent out with
+    two men in each, one of whom sculled while
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page31"
+       id="page31"></a>[pg 31]</span> the other sat with his face
+       in a water-glass watching the bottom for sponges. The
+       water-glass is a bucket with a glass bottom which so smooths
+       the surface of the water as to produce the effect of a
+       perfect calm to one who is looking through it. The first day
+       of sponging was like a dream to Dick. The water was smooth
+       as a mirror and no water-glass was needed. He sculled slowly
+       over water so clear that he seemed to be floating in the
+       air. Beneath him was fairyland, filled with waving
+       sea-feathers and anemones, paved with curious shells,
+       strangely beautiful forms of coral and sponges of various
+       kinds, and alive with fish of many varieties. Sometimes
+       there floated on the surface of the water Portuguese
+       men-of-war, most beautiful of created things, like
+       iridescent bubbles, with long silken filaments, delicately
+       lined in pink, purple and entrancing blue. Lighter than
+       thistledown, fitted to drift with the merest zephyr, they
+       can nevertheless force their way against a breeze. Harmless
+       as a soap-bubble in appearance, each of them is charged with
+       virulent poison, and when Dick touched one with his hand he
+       received a shock that made him wonder if a bunch of hornets
+       had hidden in that innocent-looking bubble.</p>
+
+    <p>Sometimes schools of little fish gliding beneath the dingy
+    began to dash wildly about, and a moment later a group of
+    jackfish or Spanish mackerel could be seen darting around and
+    picking up stragglers from the little school, which often
+    huddled for <span class="pagenum"><a name="page32"
+       id="page32"></a>[pg 32]</span> protection close beside and
+       beneath the dingy. Dick like all brave boys, was on the side
+       of the under dog, and he laughed with glee when a
+       quick-moving mackerel shark appeared among the pursuers of
+       the little fish and picked up a few of them for his
+       breakfast as he drove the rest away. As Dick sculled easily
+       with one hand, he kept an eye upon Pedro, and obeyed the
+       signals of his hand, to go to the right, the left, or stop,
+       as sponges were seen. Then from time to time the long pole
+       with the claw at the end was lowered to the bottom and a
+       sponge torn loose.</p>
+
+    <p>Sometimes Dick changed places with Pedro, and manipulated
+    the long pole with the claw, while Pedro handled the sculling
+    oar. Then Dick began to learn the difference between coarse
+    grass and common cup sponges, and the finer fibred glove and
+    choice sheep's wool varieties. For when he was clumsy with the
+    pole, Pedro only swore softly in Spanish, but when he brought
+    up a worthless grass sponge, the big oar was lifted, and the
+    boy might have been knocked overboard but for the iron claw
+    which he held high, while a purpose gleamed in his eye which
+    made Pedro peaceful. But Dick felt that Pedro was half right
+    and he set to work studying sponges until he knew them almost
+    as well as his teacher. His strength and skill with the sponge
+    hook were less than the Spaniard's, but his eye was quicker and
+    Pedro's chronic growls were often changed to grunts of
+    approval. When the surface of the water was
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page33"
+       id="page33"></a>[pg 33]</span> ruffled by a breeze it was
+       needful to use the water-glass. Then Pedro sat with his head
+       in the bucket, studying the bottom, and when he took up the
+       heavy pole which lay on the thwarts of the dingy and dipped
+       it vertically in the water, it was the duty of Dick to stop
+       sculling at once. But once while Dick was sculling and
+       looking for sponges he saw gliding beneath the dingy, a
+       whip-ray, the most beautiful member of the ray family.
+       Shaped like a butterfly, its back is covered with small,
+       light rings on a black background. Its long, slim tail is
+       like the lash of a coach-whip and at its base is a row of
+       little spears with many barbs, which are capable of
+       inflicting exceedingly painful wounds. The roof of the mouth
+       and the tongue of the fish are hard as ivory and shell-fish
+       are ground between them as rock is pulverized by the jaws of
+       a quartz-crusher. As Billy watched the graceful swaying of
+       the body of the whip-ray under the impulse of its wings, a
+       wandering shark came upon it. In its first rush the tiger of
+       the sea almost caught the beautiful creature, which
+       fluttered for a hundred yards upon the surface of the water,
+       with the jaws of its pursuer opening and closing within a
+       few inches of its body.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick was so busy watching the chase and so earnest in his
+    sympathy with the frightened, fleeing whip-ray that he quite
+    forgot his duties. He was reminded of them when Pedro, who had
+    been frantically signaling him, took his head from the bucket
+    and made a speech in Spanish to Dick that must have
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page34"
+       id="page34"></a>[pg 34]</span> used up all the bad
+       adjectives in that language. Dick's conscience hampered him
+       so much that he was quite unable to reply fittingly, and the
+       battle of words was won by Pedro. The dingy drifted so far
+       during the discussion that they were unable to find the
+       sheep's wool sponge that Pedro had seen, and which he now
+       described as the finest one ever found.</p>
+
+    <p>Each day the spongers in the dingies worked farther from the
+    sloop and each day more time was lost when the sloop made its
+    round to pick up the spongers for dinner. There were too few
+    sponges to please Captain Wilson, who sailed over the ground
+    whenever the water was smooth, studying the bottom with
+    practiced eye and throwing out little floats, with anchors
+    attached, wherever a sponge was seen.</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm going to the 'Lake,'" said the captain, one afternoon
+    at the end of a day of little success. "It's a feast or a
+    famine there. You get rich or go broke."</p>
+
+    <p>"What is there at the 'Lake'?" asked Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Sponge, all sponge, the bottom lined with sponge. If the
+    weather is just right we'll pile the deck with sponges in a
+    week till you can't see over them. If the weather isn't exactly
+    right we won't get a sponge. On one cruise there, the men on
+    this sloop averaged twenty-five dollars a day apiece. I've been
+    there five times since without ever making enough to pay for
+    our salt."</p>
+
+    <p>A week later the captain said to the boy:</p>
+
+    <p>"Dick, you are a mascot. You've brought us big
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page35"
+       id="page35"></a>[pg 35]</span> luck. We never had such
+       weather here but once and I don't care now how soon it comes
+       on to blow. I reckon it'll begin to-night from the looks and
+       we'll hike for Key West to-morrow."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick was glad to go. The week had been a hard one, the work
+    incessant and each night he felt as if his back were broken. He
+    was used to the fresh, sweet air of his country home and the
+    sloop he was in was arranged like most of the sponging craft,
+    with quarters sufficient for half the crew it carried. The deck
+    of the sponger was piled with the result of the work of the
+    week. The sponge of commerce, the one you buy at the drug
+    store, is the skeleton of the creature; the thing taken from
+    the water is its corpse. Not until this body has rotted away is
+    it pleasant to live with. Day by day the stench, like that of a
+    charnel house, became more unbearable to Dick. The crew seemed
+    never to notice it, which caused the boy much wonderment that
+    noses had ever been given them. He was glad when a strong wind
+    came and swept some of the smell away instead of leaving it to
+    settle in chunks in every nook and cranny on the boat.</p>
+
+    <p>At Key West most of the crew went to their homes, but Dick
+    was invited to live on the sloop till he found a boat for the
+    coast he wanted to reach.</p>
+
+    <p>Cargoes sent to Key West for a market are almost always sold
+    at auction and the auction houses in the early morning are busy
+    marts. Cargoes of sponge, fruit, vegetables, lumber and other
+    goods are sold <span class="pagenum"><a name="page36"
+       id="page36"></a>[pg 36]</span> in lots to suit purchasers,
+       who range from the dealer who buys by the cargo, or the
+       small merchant who takes a few boxes of pines, oranges,
+       grape-fruit, or tomatoes, to the housewife who wants a
+       watermelon or a bunch of bananas. On the day following their
+       arrival at Key West Captain Wilson handed Dick a roll of
+       bills containing a hundred dollars, saying to him:</p>
+
+    <p>"That's about your share in the cruise, Dick. The sponge
+    hasn't been sold yet, but you are in a hurry to get off and I
+    reckon that's about right."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick was dazed as he took the roll, but a moment later he
+    handed it back to the captain, saying:</p>
+
+    <p>"I can't take that, Captain Wilson. It is ten times as much
+    as I have earned. You took me on as a boy and I want you to pay
+    me just what you would have paid any other boy."</p>
+
+    <p>"Put that money in your pocket, Dick. You've done a man's
+    work and now you've got a man's pay and that's all there is to
+    it. Lucky for you, though, that the weather was good at the
+    Lake. If it hadn't been you wouldn't have got anything but your
+    board. Now come ashore and we'll hunt up a boat for Marco or
+    Chokoloskee."</p>
+
+    <p>They stopped at an auction room in Key West for a minute,
+    when Captain Wilson sang out to a boy who was passing:</p>
+
+    <p>"Hi, Johnny! Where's the <i>Etta</i>?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Same old place, off the end of the dock."</p>
+
+    <p>"Thought yesterday was your sailing
+    day."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page37"
+       id="page37"></a>[pg 37]</span>
+
+    <p>"So it was, but Cap'n's in the calaboose. Got drunk yest'd'y
+    and had a fight. I got ter raise th' cash ter git him out."</p>
+
+    <p>"Why don't the boss bounce him? He's drunk most of the
+    time."</p>
+
+    <p>"Boss says Cap'n Tom's a better sailor when he's drunk than
+    any of th' others when they're sober."</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, I'll get Tom out of limbo for you and charge it to
+    the boss. Only you must take this friend of mine with you to
+    Chokoloskee."</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure! What's his name?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Name's Dick. Can you make an alligator-hunter of him?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Reckon I kin, or kill him
+    tryin'."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page38"
+       id="page38"></a>[pg 38]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER IV</h3>
+
+    <h3>CAUGHT IN A WATERSPOUT</h3>
+
+    <p>The next morning the <i>Etta</i>, with Dick on board,
+    started for Chokoloskee. The weather was bad, with a succession
+    of squalls from the southwest, and the captain kept in the lee
+    of the line of keys instead of taking the straight course
+    across the Gulf. But he carried all sail till the rotten
+    main-sheet parted at the boom, and when he came up in the wind
+    to lower the sail the main throat halyard refused to unreeve.
+    Before an order was given Dick was half way up the mast and
+    soon came riding down to the deck on the gaff. When reefs had
+    been taken in the sails, the sheet replaced, and the boat was
+    again under way, the captain said to Dick:</p>
+
+    <p>"Who taught you sailoring?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Captain Wilson taught me some, and&mdash;"</p>
+
+    <p>"That's enough. You don't need to mention anybody else. What
+    Wilson doesn't know about sailing, sponging and fishing isn't
+    worth knowing."</p>
+
+    <p>By noon they were about twenty miles southwest of North-West
+    Cape and, as the wind had moderated, the reefs were shaken out
+    and the bow of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page39"
+       id="page39"></a>[pg 39]</span> <i>Etta</i> pointed due
+       north, straight for Sand-Fly Pass. The breeze grew less and
+       less, and in two hours had died away entirely. From the
+       northeast a black, threatening cloud was moving slowly
+       toward them, while the sails flapped idly as the <i>Etta</i>
+       rolled to a heavy ground swell. The cloud came nearer and
+       grew blacker, while swirling little tails dropped from it,
+       almost touching the water, and then suddenly returned to the
+       black mass above.</p>
+
+    <p>"What a funny cloud," said Dick to Captain Tom. "Does it
+    mean a hurricane?"</p>
+
+    <p>"No. This is the hurricane month, but hurricanes always give
+    a day or two's warning through the barometer and that hasn't
+    changed a tenth in a week. But this is worse than a hurricane
+    if it hits us. Those are waterspouts in the making, that you
+    see dropping from the big cloud, and when one of them gets a
+    good hold on the water you will see something that you won't
+    forget as long as you live, which won't be a great while if it
+    hits us," said the captain.</p>
+
+    <p>Almost as he spoke a great inverted cone of cloud settled
+    down from the mass above and touching the surface of the water
+    set it whirling furiously. The water from the Gulf was lifted
+    skyward, in a column which constantly grew broader at the base
+    while its pointed top, mingling with the almost equally solid
+    cloud, gave hour-glass form to the huge, swirling, threatening
+    mass that bore down on the <i>Etta</i>, within a half mile now.
+    Suddenly the waterspout separated from the great cloud mass and
+    moved <span class="pagenum"><a name="page40"
+       id="page40"></a>[pg 40]</span> rapidly eastward. For ten
+       minutes the crew of the <i>Etta</i> watched it until, when
+       more than a mile distant, the waterspout collapsed more
+       suddenly than it had formed and from the foam-covered water
+       a great wave rolled outward, spreading until the <i>Etta</i>
+       rocked in its path.</p>
+
+    <p>"Thank goodness, that trouble's over," said Dick to the
+    captain.</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, but how about this one?" replied Captain Tom, as he
+    pointed to the big cloud which was now within two hundred yards
+    of them and more threatening than ever. Another waterspout was
+    forming and soon its roar filled their ears, while a towering
+    mass seemed to spread over their heads, ready to fall upon and
+    crush them. Already, spiteful patches of wind, torn from the
+    revolving cyclone, slapped the sails of the <i>Etta</i> as if
+    to tear them from the mast.</p>
+
+    <p>"Shan't I take in sail?" asked Johnny of the captain.</p>
+
+    <p>"No use," was the reply. "When that thing strikes us nothing
+    will make any difference and a bit of breeze in the next minute
+    might pull us out."</p>
+
+    <p>For a long minute they watched the approaching demon which
+    was now within a hundred yards and its tremendous suction was
+    already disturbing the water about them when the captain
+    shouted:</p>
+
+    <p>"Launch the dingy and get aboard; leave the oars to me!"</p>
+
+    <p>In an instant the little dingy had been slid overboard and
+    the boys were sitting in the stern; then
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page41"
+       id="page41"></a>[pg 41]</span> Captain Tom stepped aboard
+       and was soon pulling mightily away from the <i>Ella</i> and
+       across the line of progress of the waterspout. But it was
+       all too late. The dingy was less than two hundred feet from
+       the <i>Etta</i> when she began to toss, lifting her bow high
+       and then plunging it deep beneath the surface. The first
+       touch of the waterspout carried away mast and sails and
+       swept clear the deck. In another instant the schooner was
+       engulfed, but her bulk broke the back of the waterspout and
+       it began to sway; its straight, smooth column began to kink
+       up and break, and many hundred tons of water fell crashing
+       into the Gulf. When the great column fell the dingy was
+       within three hundred feet and, as Captain Tom threw his
+       weight on the oars in a last effort to increase the
+       distance, one of the oars snapped and the captain fell on
+       his back in the bow of the boat, striking his head on the
+       gunwale with a force that stunned him. At this moment the
+       outflowing wave from the falling water swept over the skiff,
+       rolling it upside down. Dick, who was a regular water-dog,
+       saw the big wave coming and, as it rolled the dingy over, he
+       sank for a moment beneath the surface till the wave had
+       passed, then came up with all his senses alert. He swam to
+       the capsized dingy, which was near him, and was soon joined
+       by Johnny.</p>
+
+    <p>"Where's the captain?" shouted Dick. "We've got to find him.
+    Look everywhere, Johnny."</p>
+
+    <p>The broken water was now tossing madly and it seemed an age
+    to Dick before he caught a glimpse
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page42"
+       id="page42"></a>[pg 42]</span> of the captain's head on the
+       crest of a wave two boat's lengths distant. He swam to the
+       place, and searched the water above and below, diving until
+       he was exhausted. He was losing hope when once more the
+       captain's body came to the surface and Dick seized it. He
+       started for the dingy with his burden, but was fearing he
+       would never make it, when he found Johnny beside him,
+       saying:</p>
+
+    <p>"Here, you're played out. Put your hand on my shoulder. I
+    can take care of the cap'n, too."</p>
+
+    <p>"All right, you take care of the captain. I can get back to
+    the dingy."</p>
+
+    <p>When they reached the dingy the water had become so much
+    smoother that they were able to rest while clinging to the side
+    of the dingy and holding the captain's face out of water.</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't 'spose Cap'n's dead, do yer?" said Johnny.</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't think so, but we've got to get this dingy bailed out
+    and get him in it, mighty soon. Then I know what to do to bring
+    him to, if there's life in him. Lend me your cap and I'll bail
+    out the dingy."</p>
+
+    <p>"That ain't the way we bail boats down here," said Johnny,
+    who got into the dingy and began to rock it. In about a minute
+    he had rocked it nearly dry and finished the job with his cap.
+    Dick then climbed into the dingy and the boys pulled the body
+    of the captain beside it and, bearing down on the gunwale until
+    water began to come in, dragged it aboard, half filling the
+    dingy as they did it. As Johnny began to bail again a feeble
+    voice beside him
+    whispered:</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page43"
+       id="page43"></a>[pg 43]</span>
+
+    <p>"What you fellers doin'?"</p>
+
+    <p>The captain soon got stronger, and said he was all right but
+    for a headache which was splitting his skull. He tried to rise,
+    but fell back in a faint, and Dick told him he must lie still
+    and give orders, which Johnny and he would obey. Then Dick
+    stood on a thwart and studied the water as far as he could see,
+    hoping to find an oar. He saw a mast, a hatch cover and some
+    broken fragments from the <i>Etta</i> and at last the blade
+    from the oar which the captain had broken. Johnny and he
+    paddled with their hands until they recovered the oar blade. As
+    a light breeze had sprung up from the south, which was causing
+    them to drift northward, they headed south, paddling and
+    watching by turns, until they found the lost oar. Then Dick,
+    resting the oar in the sculling hole, called on the captain for
+    orders.</p>
+
+    <p>"Better strike out due east and make for Nor'-West Cape.
+    That's the nearest land and we're liable to be struck by a
+    squall 'most any minute. Then there's a cocoanut grove at the
+    Cape and you'll be thirsty by the time you get there."</p>
+
+    <p>"Gee!" said Dick, "I'm thirsty now. Wish you hadn't spoken
+    of it."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick put his weight on the oar and as he swung back and
+    forth on it the captain called out:</p>
+
+    <p>"You sure can scull, boy, but take it easy; you've got over
+    a dozen miles of it to the Cape and near fifty more up the
+    coast, after that."</p>
+
+    <p>"Where do I come in?" said
+    Johnny.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page44"
+       id="page44"></a>[pg 44]</span>
+
+    <p>"Go 'way, child, this is man's work," replied Dick, as he
+    swung easily on his oar, but with a vim that drove the dingy
+    through the water at good speed.</p>
+
+    <p>Johnny begged for his turn, but didn't get it for two hours,
+    by which time the tops of the cocoa palms could be seen. Then
+    Captain Tom began to feel better and talked of doing his share
+    of the work, upon which Dick whistled a few bars of "Go 'Way
+    Back and Sit Down," which the captain seemed to understand, for
+    he gave no more trouble.</p>
+
+    <p>It was nearly dark when they landed on a beach at the border
+    of a forest of cocoa palms and in a few minutes Johnny had a
+    dozen young nuts on the ground and was hacking at the tough
+    husk of one with his knife. When the ape-faced end of the nut
+    had been laid bare and the eye cut out with a pen-knife blade,
+    he gave the nut to Dick, who was soon absorbing the most
+    delicious drink of his life. There was about a pint of milk in
+    each nut, and it took a round dozen to quench the thirst of the
+    three. They broke open half-grown or custard nuts and ate their
+    pulpy meat and they tried some of the hard flesh of the mature
+    nut.</p>
+
+    <p>The castaways built a fire on the beach for cheer and warmth
+    and piled up fallen leaves of the palm to soften their beds on
+    the sand. Captain Tom told the boys that the plantation house
+    was not occupied, and that the next house down the coast was a
+    number of miles distant and just opposite to the course they
+    wanted to take. He then added that he was no
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page45"
+       id="page45"></a>[pg 45]</span> more captain now than his
+       companions and would give no orders, but he advised that
+       they start up the coast before sun-up and do a lot of their
+       sculling in the cool of the morning. The boys collected a
+       couple of dozen of nuts to keep down their thirst and when
+       the sun rose they were several miles up the coast.</p>
+
+    <p>About nine o'clock Dick said to the captain:</p>
+
+    <p>"I wish it was breakfast time. I'm starving."</p>
+
+    <p>"Have your breakfast any time you want it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Want it now."</p>
+
+    <p>"All right," said the captain, who was sculling, and he
+    headed the dingy for shore, where it struck on a reef at the
+    mouth of a stream.</p>
+
+    <p>"Now, if you boys will rustle some wood I'll have your
+    breakfast ready."</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't see anything to eat round here," said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"How would an oyster roast strike you?" asked the
+    captain.</p>
+
+    <p>"My, but wouldn't an oyster taste good? Do you s'pose there
+    is one within ten miles?"</p>
+
+    <p>Johnny laughed and said:</p>
+
+    <p>"What you standin' on? Must be a hundred barrels on
+    'em."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick looked down and was amazed to see that the whole reef
+    was composed of oysters&mdash;oysters of all sizes, oysters
+    single, in small bunches and in great masses.</p>
+
+    <p>"Woods are full of 'em," said the captain, and he pointed to
+    the mangrove trees that lined the stream,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page46"
+       id="page46"></a>[pg 46]</span> the lower branches of which
+       were burdened with bunches of oysters bigger than Dick's
+       head. A fire was made and branches of these trees containing
+       bunches of oysters were thrown on it. A few minutes later
+       the branches were taken off of the fire, with shells
+       bursting open showing hot, steaming oysters ready for the
+       sharp sticks which took the place of forks with the
+       castaways. After Dick had filled himself with roast oysters,
+       he ate a few dozen raw, by way of a change, and then went
+       back to his roasting, until he was so full that he told
+       Johnny that he never wanted to eat again as long as he
+       lived, at which Johnny grinned. Only three hours later, as
+       Johnny was sculling over a shallow bank, he stopped work and
+       began to thump the bottom with his oar.</p>
+
+    <p>"What is it?" asked Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Bottom covered with clams. Reckon I'll pick up a few for
+    Cap'n and me. You said you didn't want to eat again, ever,"
+    replied Johnny.</p>
+
+    <p>But both of the boys went overboard and in a few minutes had
+    put more clams aboard the dingy than the whole party could have
+    eaten in a week.</p>
+
+    <p>The castaways camped on their second night at the mouth of
+    Lossman's River, where they had a famous clam-roast. They found
+    a fisherman's house where they got fresh water and a can to
+    hold it, also some cornmeal, with which Johnny made an
+    ash-cake, or, as Dick called it, Johnny-cake. The captain said
+    it was the best thing he had ever eaten, and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page47"
+       id="page47"></a>[pg 47]</span> Dick engaged him on the spot
+       as a camping companion on his hunt for his chum.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:50%;">
+        <a href="images/46.jpg"
+             name="fig46"
+             id="fig46"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/46.jpg"
+             alt='"A SILVERY, TWISTING BODY SHOT TEN FEET IN THE AIR"' />
+        </a>"A SILVERY, TWISTING BODY SHOT TEN FEET IN THE AIR"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>The next morning the boys slept till the sun had risen and
+    the captain awoke them to look upon a gorgeous picture seldom
+    to be seen. The unclouded sun was shining brilliantly and the
+    eastern sky clear and bright, but in the west a storm was
+    gathering. There were snow-clad peaks brilliant with sunshine,
+    thunder-heads black as midnight from which lightning was
+    playing, while above and beneath them all shone a perfect
+    double rainbow and an equally perfect reflection of it from the
+    mirror-like surface of the Gulf. So perfect a double-circled
+    rainbow the captain had never before seen, and, though he lived
+    near the coast, Johnny had never seen one at all. By the time
+    they had finished their breakfast of roast clams and ash-cake
+    the rainbow had melted away and the storm-clouds were nearer,
+    but Dick wanted to start on up the coast. The captain shook his
+    head and Johnny recited:</p>
+
+    <p>"Rainbow in the mornin', sailors take warnin'."</p>
+
+    <p>Half an hour later all hands were glad to run to the
+    fisherman's house, from the doorway of which they looked out
+    upon storm-driven sheets of rain that shut out the Gulf and
+    fell in hissing masses upon the palmetto roof that covered
+    them, while the continuous blaze of lightning and crash of
+    thunder gave Dick his first taste of a tropical thunderstorm.
+    Half an hour later the sky was cloudless, the sun more
+    brilliant than ever, and the only reminder of
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page48"
+       id="page48"></a>[pg 48]</span> the storm that had passed was
+       the sullen roar of the surf as the big waves broke on the
+       beach.</p>
+
+    <p>When Johnny proposed to renew their voyage and the captain
+    assented, it was Dick who held back.</p>
+
+    <p>"What can we do out there?" said he, waving his hand toward
+    the white-capped waves that were sweeping in and sending their
+    foam high up the beach. Johnny only laughed in reply, but the
+    captain and he dragged the dingy, in which two poles had been
+    placed, out into the surf until the waves rolled waist deep
+    past them.</p>
+
+    <p>"Tumble aboard, both of you," ordered the captain, as he
+    stood by the stern of the craft, holding its bow squarely
+    against the incoming waves. The boys climbed aboard, and Dick,
+    following Johnny's example, seized a pole and together they
+    held the boat against the sweep of the surf until the captain
+    was aboard with the oar in his hands. It was exciting work and
+    as they pushed on and out, with each new wave tossing the bow
+    of the boat in the air and spilling its crest of water and foam
+    over the gunwales, Dick exclaimed:</p>
+
+    <p>"Isn't it glorious? I never had such fun," and even the
+    captain smiled assent.</p>
+
+    <p>They pushed on until outside of the breakers and among the
+    smooth-rolling waves, where the deepening water made poling
+    difficult and they resumed their sculling. The captain took the
+    first trick, while Johnny bailed out, with his cap, the water
+    that the waves had spilled
+    aboard.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page49"
+       id="page49"></a>[pg 49]</span>
+
+    <p>Everything went smoothly and there was no more excitement on
+    the trip until in the afternoon, when Dick was working the
+    sculling oar. He was swinging it slowly, as he looked down into
+    the water, when there appeared suddenly, just under the dingy,
+    a great black creature, broader than the boat was long. As it
+    rose nearer to the surface, almost touching the craft, he saw a
+    great open mouth, three feet across, with a heavy black horn on
+    each side of it, which looked quite equal to disposing of Dick
+    and his boat at a single bite. The sight was so frightful that
+    Dick impulsively thrust his oar against the creature, and was
+    instantly thrown from his feet as the stern of the dingy was
+    tossed in the air and a column of water fell upon and around
+    him. When the commotion was over and Johnny had crawled back
+    into the submerged boat and was rocking it dry, Dick said to
+    Captain Tom, who was swimming beside him:</p>
+
+    <p>"I believe I'll swim the rest of the way. I'm getting tired
+    of being pitched overboard every few minutes."</p>
+
+    <p>After they were all aboard and Dick had resumed his work
+    with the oar, he asked the captain:</p>
+
+    <p>"What was that thing that looked like a devil, that I hit
+    and that hit back?"</p>
+
+    <p>"That was a devil-fish. They are perfectly harmless," said
+    the captain, adding, reflectively, "unless you punch 'em."</p>
+
+    <p>The tide favored the castaways at Sand-Fly Pass
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page50"
+       id="page50"></a>[pg 50]</span> and they reached Chokoloskee
+       Bay without further adventure, but then came the painful
+       part of the trip: telling the owner of the <i>Etta</i> of
+       its destruction by a waterspout. All the comment Mr.
+       Streeter made was:</p>
+
+    <p>"Glad none of you went down with the boat."</p>
+
+    <p>The captain and Johnny went to their homes, while Dick
+    accepted Mr. Streeter's invitation to stay with
+    him.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page51"
+       id="page51"></a>[pg 51]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER V</h3>
+
+    <h3>OUTFITTING FOR THE HUNT</h3>
+
+    <p>The Streeter home was on the bank of a little river that
+    emptied into Chokoloskee Bay, and Dick, for the first time, saw
+    oranges and grape-fruit growing and tasted the delicious
+    alligator pear and the guava.</p>
+
+    <p>After supper Mr. Streeter said to Dick:</p>
+
+    <p>"Johnny tells me you have got a friend lying around loose
+    somewhere in the Big Cypress Swamp, or the Everglades, and that
+    you and he are going to take a day off to look him up."</p>
+
+    <p>"That's about the size of it, only of course I don't expect
+    to find him in a day or a week. I had some hope that a month
+    would do. I suppose it all seems very silly to you?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Not a bit, not a bit. The Big Swamp isn't a bad place, if
+    you've sand and sense, and I reckon you have both or you
+    wouldn't have got as far as you have. I suppose it's Ned
+    Barstow you're looking for?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Who in the world could have told you? I haven't spoken his
+    name since I left home."</p>
+
+    <p>"Nobody told me, but last week Chris Meyer, the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page52"
+       id="page52"></a>[pg 52]</span> surveyor, was here and, as we
+       are old friends, we talked half the night. He told me of his
+       work for Mr. Barstow, the big lumber man, and said that Ned
+       Barstow, his son, had been out in the swamp with him as
+       surveyor's assistant for 'most a month, Chris told me that
+       when he left, Ned was arranging to go on a hunting trip with
+       Billy Tommy, a Seminole Indian. He thought the plan was to
+       hunt slowly through the swamp to Tommy's canoe, which he had
+       left somewhere between Boat Landing and Charley Tiger's. Ned
+       expected then to work down through the Everglades to Cape
+       Sable if possible."</p>
+
+    <p>"Is there any chance of my finding him in that great
+    wilderness, Mr. Streeter? It looks so much bigger than it did
+    from up north. How is it possible to keep from getting
+    lost?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't have to. Soon as you begin to worry because you don't
+    know where you are, trouble begins. More than one man in this
+    country has gone crazy and killed himself because he thought he
+    was lost. Why, you can't be really lost. If you're worried just
+    start for the North Star. You'll hit somebody before you strike
+    the North Pole. But it's a heap easier to keep from worrying if
+    you've got company. Lordy, the picnic you and Johnny are going
+    to have! I wish I was as young as you and going with you. Your
+    best way to find Ned will not be to follow his trail, but to
+    head him off somewhere in the Glades. That's easier than you
+    think. I could pretty nearly figure out to a mile where he is
+    this minute. You <span class="pagenum"><a name="page53"
+       id="page53"></a>[pg 53]</span> see, he's with Billy Tommy,
+       and I know that Injun. Couldn't make him hurry if he tried,
+       and he won't try. He'll be so busy shootin' things and
+       skinnin' 'em and fussin' 'round camp that they'll get ahead
+       mighty slow. Shouldn't wonder if it took 'em a week from the
+       time they started to get to where Tommy left his canoe. Then
+       they will put out in the Glades and head straight for
+       Charley Tiger's camp."</p>
+
+    <p>"How do you know that?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Because I know Tommy and because it's the only Injun camp
+    'round there where he'd be sure to find
+    <i>whyome</i>&mdash;that's whisky, or rum, or anything that'll
+    make drunk come."</p>
+
+    <p>"But suppose Ned wouldn't go that way?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, Tommy'd fix that. He'd point to the west and say, 'Big
+    Swamp, canoe no can take!' Then he'd wave his hand to the east,
+    'No trail, <i>oko suchescha</i> (water all gone), saw-grass
+    <i>ojus</i> (heaps)!' No, they never got past Tiger's camp
+    without stopping. Then Tommy got drunk and Ned couldn't move
+    him under four days. It's an even chance that they are right
+    there now."</p>
+
+    <p>"How far from here is Tiger's camp?" asked Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Less than forty miles, but you'd think it was four hundred
+    before you got there, if you tried to cross the swamp to reach
+    it. Besides, they would certainly be gone before you could
+    possibly get to <span class="pagenum"><a name="page54"
+       id="page54"></a>[pg 54]</span> the camp. Then you couldn't
+       take a boat, and you've got to have one to follow your
+       friend."</p>
+
+    <p>"Can I buy or hire a skiff, here?"</p>
+
+    <p>"You can do a lot better. One of your Northern tourists left
+    a little beauty of a canoe with me, to be sold first chance I
+    got. It cost seventy dollars, delivered here, and you can have
+    it for twenty. It's only fifteen feet long and about two feet
+    wide amidships, but it weighs only forty pounds and when there
+    isn't water enough for the canoe to carry you, why, you can
+    carry the canoe. Then a few little traps go with it which you
+    may find useful. There's a broken fly-rod, which you can fix
+    all right, and a little single-barrel shot-gun, not worth much,
+    but you can always pick up a supper with it. There are also a
+    pair of grains, a light harpoon, and a cast-net which is torn
+    some, but Johnny can fix it. Johnny's got a rifle and all the
+    camp kit two tough boys will need.</p>
+
+    <p>"Better take a piece of light, waterproofed canvas big
+    enough to keep off some of the rain when it storms, an axe, a
+    bag of salt to save the hides of the alligators you will be
+    sure to kill if Johnny goes with you, and some grits and bacon.
+    Oh! you may need a mosquito-bar, and if you do want it you're
+    likely to want it bad. Make it of cheese-cloth; that'll keep
+    out sand-flies, too. Some of my folks will run it up on the
+    machine for you in a few minutes. There may be some other
+    little things that you'll need, but you can trust Johnny to
+    think of 'em. Now, Dick, you don't have to pay for any of these
+    things till you <span class="pagenum"><a name="page55"
+       id="page55"></a>[pg 55]</span> get good and ready. I'm used
+       to giving long credits and this time I'm glad to do it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, Mr. Streeter, you don't know how grateful I am to you
+    for all you are doing for me. The money is the least part of it
+    and I can fix that all right. You wouldn't think I was a
+    capitalist to look at me, would you?" said Dick, laughingly.
+    "Since I left home I've rolled up quite a fortune as a fireman
+    and a sponger and I can pay my little bills and have money to
+    burn besides. How soon do you think we can get off?"</p>
+
+    <p>"You ought to start to-morrow. You can get ready in an hour.
+    Know anything about canoeing?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Not much, but I've rowed some in a shell."</p>
+
+    <p>"That'll help you a little, but it leaves you something to
+    learn. The man whose canoe you have bought was cruising down
+    here with his family and he told me that every time one of 'em
+    stepped in that canoe he went overboard. He said he had to
+    choose between the canoe and his family and had concluded to
+    let the canoe go. One of my boys owns a little Indian canoe in
+    which Johnny and he have poled around a good deal, so I reckon
+    Johnny can keep inside of your canoe, but you'd better spend
+    the forenoon to-morrow practicing in it with a paddle, then you
+    can get off right after dinner and your clothes will be dry
+    before you make camp at night."</p>
+
+    <p>"Does Johnny know the course we ought to take from
+    here?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Not far, but I can help you some and you'll find
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page56"
+       id="page56"></a>[pg 56]</span> out the rest for yourselves.
+       You'll have to. Then Johnny savvies Injun talk pretty well
+       and you're sure to run across them or their camps. And he'll
+       likely know them, and if Ned's anywhere in their country or
+       has been there they'll sure know it. You will leave this bay
+       by way of Turner's River, which will take you into the most
+       tangled up part of the Ten Thousand Islands. You will go
+       through rivers and bays, around keys, along twisting
+       channels and up narrow, crooked creeks. You'll be lost from
+       the start, but you don't want to think of that. Just make
+       your course average southeast for the first fifty miles,
+       which you ought to cover in three days. Then hunt for some
+       creek coming from the east. It will be a little one, you
+       will have to drag your canoe, perhaps for miles, under
+       branches that close over the creek and you may have to carry
+       your canoe and pack your dunnage over prairie land. In a day
+       you ought to strike the Everglades. Then turn to the north
+       and look for Indian trails, which you want to follow
+       whenever they lead anywhere near where you are trying to go.
+       They will help you to dodge the worst of the saw-grass which
+       is likely to be your greatest trouble.</p>
+
+    <p>"Keep along the border line between the Everglades and the
+    cypress country and you will probably hit Osceola's camp. He's
+    about the whitest Seminole in the State and he'll help you all
+    he can. Remember, when in an Indian camp, that their brand of
+    politeness is different from a white man's, though it
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page57"
+       id="page57"></a>[pg 57]</span> may be just as sincere. If
+       you're hungry, and don't see a spoon lying around, just dip
+       your hand in the family pot, if you can eat that way. If you
+       want to sleep lie down on the nearest unoccupied bunk. If
+       you make a mistake they won't tell you of it.</p>
+
+    <p>"Now, remember above all things, that you mustn't get
+    rattled. That's the biggest risk you'll run in this country. If
+    you get separated from Johnny and think about being lost and
+    get excited and begin to walk fast, or run, stop right there
+    and sit down and don't go on till you're perfectly cool, not if
+    you have to camp right where you are for a night, or a day, or
+    both. Just as soon as you have taught yourself that when you
+    get excited you have got to sit still for an hour or two,
+    you'll stop getting excited. There is mighty little real danger
+    where you are going. There are bear and panther, but the only
+    thing on earth that's a bigger coward than a bear is a panther.
+    People from your country think the alligator is a dangerous
+    brute. I have lived among them, killed them, dealt in their
+    hides, of which I have shipped north the biggest consignments
+    sent from this coast, since before you were born, and I never
+    knew of a human being having been harmed by one. This deep
+    river running in front of my door used to be full of them, and
+    there are some there now, but my whole family of children swim
+    in it almost every day without thought of danger. Only two
+    weeks ago Johnny killed a ten-foot 'gator right in front of my
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page58"
+       id="page58"></a>[pg 58]</span> house and within a hundred
+       feet of it. Any of our hunters will wade into a pond where
+       there are fifty alligators, to drag out one they have shot;
+       many of them will tackle, with nothing but a stick, any
+       'gator under six feet that they can catch on a prairie or
+       asleep on a bank, and a few of the boys will wade
+       bare-footed and bare-handed into a pond on the prairie and
+       bring out little alligators. Johnny is a dabster at that.
+       Likely you'll see him do it before many days.</p>
+
+    <p>"Of course rattlesnakes are bad, but they always give
+    warning, usually a good long one. I've killed hundreds, perhaps
+    thousands of them and never been bitten. Cotton-mouth moccasins
+    are poisonous, but they are sluggish and not so very plenty.
+    You'll have to get used to the smaller moccasins. You will find
+    lots of them. I've kicked them out of my path on the prairies
+    and in the marshes for a good many years without having been
+    bitten by one.</p>
+
+    <p>"Sharks have a bad name, and Florida waters are full of
+    them, but there is no authentic instance on record of their
+    having killed a man, woman, or child in this country. There are
+    convicts and other outlaws in the Ten Thousand Islands. They
+    may steal something from your camp, but they won't harm you.
+    Some of them are bad men, and when they kill their own kind,
+    people here don't mind it, but the outlaws know that the
+    community wouldn't stand for their hurting any of you
+    boys."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick was ashamed when he got up to breakfast
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page59"
+       id="page59"></a>[pg 59]</span> to find that Mr. Streeter and
+       Johnny had been at work for an hour and had got everything
+       ready for a start, even to the mosquito-bar, which one of
+       the family had already made.</p>
+
+    <p>The outfit consisted of a fly-rod, with reel, line and
+    flies; rifle and shot-gun, with fifty cartridges for each; pair
+    grains, harpoon, line and pole; cast-net, fish hooks and lines;
+    forks, tin-cups and plates, two each; light axe, saucepan and
+    frying-pan; piece of waterproofed canvas, six by eight feet;
+    lantern, kerosene, and bag of salt; white bacon, hominy and
+    corn meal, five lbs. each; canoe, two paddles and one long oar;
+    five gallon can of water, and bucket; waterproof box filled
+    with matches.</p>
+
+    <p>Each of the boys carried a clasp knife and a pocket,
+    watertight match safe.</p>
+
+    <p>Nothing had been loaded on the canoe, as Mr. Streeter wanted
+    to be sure that Dick could stay in it, before he filled it with
+    goods that water might harm. He was soon satisfied on this
+    point, for although Dick got into the canoe with exceeding
+    care, he kept his balance perfectly, and after the first few
+    strokes appeared perfectly at home in the craft. He paddled for
+    a few minutes kneeling on the bottom of the boat, then sitting
+    on a thwart, and finally came back to the dock sitting on the
+    stern, while the bow of the canoe tilted up in the air. Then
+    Johnny got in with him and the boys maneuvered the craft until
+    Mr. Streeter called out to them:</p>
+
+    <p>"You kids are all right and don't need to waste
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page60"
+       id="page60"></a>[pg 60]</span> any more time. Better pack up
+       and be off, and save half a day." They loaded the canoe
+       carefully and took their positions, Dick in the stern and
+       Johnny in the bow. Then lifting their caps to the family,
+       who had come down to the dock to see them off, the boys
+       dipped their paddles together in the river and began Dick's
+       hunt for his chum.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page61"
+       id="page61"></a>[pg 61]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER VI</h3>
+
+    <h3>DICK'S HUNT FOR HIS CHUM</h3>
+
+    <p>An hour's paddling brought Dick and Johnny to the mouth of
+    Turner's River, up which they headed the canoe. A strong tide
+    setting up the river nearly doubled their speed.</p>
+
+    <p>"Lucky for us that the tide is running our way," said
+    Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Not much luck about it. Mr. Streeter knew about the tide.
+    That's why he hurried us off 'fore dinner. Tide'll be other way
+    this evenin'," replied Johnny.</p>
+
+    <p>"Isn't Mr. Streeter a brick?"</p>
+
+    <p>"He's all that. Lots o' people 'd have hard times 'f he
+    moved away. He helps th' Injuns, too, when they're in hard
+    luck."</p>
+
+    <p>The first fork in the river was a mile from its mouth and
+    Dick, who was steering, took the right branch, which led
+    southeast, although it was much the smaller stream. At the next
+    parting of the stream one branch led to the east and the other
+    due south. Fortunately Johnny knew which fork to take, and for
+    a mile or two there was no trouble. Then the river opened out
+    into a broad shallow bay,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page62"
+       id="page62"></a>[pg 62]</span> filled with little keys, but
+       nothing to tell Dick which way to steer. He tried to keep to
+       a southeast course, but ran into shallows which soon ended
+       in a pocket from which they had to back out. Often they
+       followed a good channel for a mile, only to have it end in
+       an oyster reef, and again they had to turn back. A pair of
+       dolphins lifted their heads above the surface in front of
+       the canoe and with a sniff of fright started away across the
+       bay like an express train. They were great creatures, nearly
+       nine feet long, and were followed in their flight by a baby
+       dolphin less than half their size, which rose within reach
+       of Dick's paddle, sniffed impertinently in his face and
+       skittered away after his mother as fast as he could wiggle
+       his funny flat tail.</p>
+
+    <p>"Better foller them porpoises," said Johnny; "they know the
+    channel."</p>
+
+    <p>The dolphin is so uniformly miscalled porpoise, on the west
+    coast and everywhere else, that the creature will soon come to
+    think that it really is a porpoise.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick followed the dolphins as long as he could see them and
+    was led into a deep channel which opened out into a series of
+    broad bays through which they paddled until, among the sunken
+    lands of the flooded mangrove keys, they came upon a shell
+    mound, the site of an old abandoned plantation. Dick's aching
+    muscles and Johnny's clamorous stomach had long been pleading
+    for a rest, and the boys landed on the mound for a picnic
+    dinner. They opened a box which Mrs. Streeter had given them as
+    they started <span class="pagenum"><a name="page63"
+       id="page63"></a>[pg 63]</span> from her home, and found a
+       bountiful lunch of cold venison, baked sweet potatoes,
+       boiled eggs, bread, butter, orange marmalade and two
+       pineapples.</p>
+
+    <p>"Gee!" said Dick. "Are we going to live this way, Johnny?"
+    but Johnny only grinned.</p>
+
+    <p>After the boys had eaten, as only boys can eat, they crawled
+    through the vines and among the thorns of the overgrown
+    plantation. They found stalks of sugar-cane and bunches of
+    bananas; wide-spreading guava and lime trees, loaded with
+    fruit; and tall Avocado pear trees from which hung purpling
+    globes of that great, creamy, most delicious fruit, commonly
+    called alligator pear. They filled with fruit the shirts they
+    wore, till they bulged like St. Nicholas, and made many trips
+    between the trees and their canoe. As Dick was standing beside
+    a lime tree, he heard a sound near him like the whirring of a
+    big locust. Dick had never before heard the angry jarring of
+    the rattles of the great king of snakes, but he didn't need to
+    be told the meaning of the blood-curdling sound, which seemed
+    to come from all directions at once. He gazed about him for a
+    moment, with every muscle tense, until he caught sight of the
+    head of the reptile waving slowly to and fro above the
+    irregular coils of his body. The snake seemed to be within
+    striking distance and the unnerved boy sprang suddenly away
+    from it, landing among the thorn-bearing branches of a big lime
+    tree. Dick soon recovered his nerve, and hunting up a big
+    stick, went cautiously in search of the reptile, which
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page64"
+       id="page64"></a>[pg 64]</span> he found still coiled. He
+       broke the creature's back with his first blow and had struck
+       several more when Johnny came crawling through the
+       undergrowth, and called out:</p>
+
+    <p>"Want to save his skin?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure," replied Dick, who hadn't thought of it before.</p>
+
+    <p>"Then don't smash him any more and I'll show you how to
+    round-skin him. He's dead enough, now. A feller from New York
+    showed me how. He skinned 'em for a livin'. Birds, too. Said
+    he'd give me ten dollars if I'd get him the skin of one of
+    these fork-tailed kites. He wanted the nest and eggs, too. Say,
+    but he could skin things. Skin a bird without losin' a feather
+    or gettin' a drop o' blood on it. Said the best way to skin
+    snakes was 'fore they was dead."</p>
+
+    <p>As Johnny began cutting the skin free from the jaws of the
+    reptile, the long, needle-like fangs dripped yellow venom and
+    Dick, looking on with a white face, half whispered:</p>
+
+    <p>"Suppose you happened to touch those fangs?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Ain't a-goin' to touch 'em. Wish I had my pliers here, to
+    pull 'em out. You oughter save 'em, and the skull, too. The
+    feller I was tellin' yer about always did."</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't want them; makes me sick to look at them," said
+    Dick, who looked mightily relieved when, the head having been
+    skinned, it was cut off and thrown into the bay. After that he
+    became <span class="pagenum"><a name="page65"
+       id="page65"></a>[pg 65]</span> interested and helped Johnny
+       with his work until he held in his hand the beautiful skin
+       of a diamondback rattlesnake, over six feet long.</p>
+
+    <p>In the afternoon the boys entered a big bay that seemed to
+    have no other outlet. They followed its shore for an hour,
+    exploring every little bay that looked big enough to hide the
+    smallest creek. They sounded the depth of the water with their
+    paddles and traced a little channel to a clump of bushes that
+    overhung the water from the shore. Johnny pulled the bow of the
+    canoe under the overhanging branches and found a little creek
+    through which the water was flowing. They dragged the canoe
+    into the stream and found water deep enough to float it, but
+    branches and vines obstructed them above, while logs and snags
+    troubled them below. They used their knives and the axe more
+    than they did their paddles. At times they lay down in the
+    canoe and dragged it under branches and at others got
+    overboard, and standing in water and mud, lifted it over logs.
+    They were in the deep gloom of a jungle from which the thick
+    growth above shut out nearly all the light. As they pushed the
+    canoe forward, unseen vines seized their throats in a garroting
+    clutch, while solid masses of spider-webs stuck to their faces
+    and spiders the size of a saucer ran over them. As Johnny sat
+    in the bow, he collected the most spiders, since Dick only got
+    those which his companion managed to dodge, but then Johnny was
+    used to the critters and didn't mind them, while Dick wasn't,
+    and did.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page66"
+       id="page66"></a>[pg 66]</span>
+
+    <p>"What kind of snakes are these swimming round my legs?"
+    asked Dick, as he stood nearly waist-deep in mud and water and
+    helped lift the canoe over the biggest log they had struck.</p>
+
+    <p>"Speckle-belly moccasins. Mustn't get scared o' them, if
+    you're goin' to hunt in this country. They ain't likely to bite
+    if yer don't step on 'em and they won't kill yer, nohow," said
+    Johnny.</p>
+
+    <p>The stream was so crooked that the boys had to travel three
+    miles to gain one and as the troubles in their path seemed to
+    increase they talked of turning back. But as it was already too
+    late to get out of the creek before dark, they decided to keep
+    on. As it was, darkness overtook them while they were yet in
+    the creek. Among their stores was a lantern, by the light of
+    which they progressed for a little while, when Johnny proposed
+    making camp.</p>
+
+    <p>"But we can't camp here. I'm not a merman, to sleep in the
+    water," said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"You can stretch out in the canoe, if we tie it so it won't
+    tip over, and I'll build a brush bed good enough for me in ten
+    minutes," said Johnny, who took the axe, and cut a short pole,
+    which he rested on the branches of two trees which grew side by
+    side, so that the stick lay parallel to a fallen tree trunk
+    which lay about five feet distant. Then he cut a number of inch
+    saplings into six-foot lengths, with which he made a platform
+    from the pole to the tree, and spreading his blanket on this
+    elastic couch announced that his bed was ready. The boys made a
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page67"
+       id="page67"></a>[pg 67]</span> hearty supper from the
+       fragments that were left from the bountiful provision that
+       Mrs. Streeter had made for their dinner. Dick's bed in the
+       canoe was probably softer than Johnny's bed, but he didn't
+       sleep as well. The sides of his canoe were only five inches
+       above the water which contained the moccasins, and Dick was
+       sure he could feel their tongues touch his face as the
+       reptiles searched for a soft place to strike. Then the
+       snarling from a tree beside him would have been less
+       terrifying if he had known that instead of being, as he
+       supposed, two wildcats quarreling for the first bite at him,
+       it was merely a friendly family discussion between two
+       'coons.</p>
+
+    <p>Things looked more cheerful by daylight, and when Johnny
+    asked whether they should go on or turn back, Dick replied:</p>
+
+    <p>"Go on just as long as the creek runs." But the creek became
+    choked with brush and turned back on its course, until Johnny
+    said:</p>
+
+    <p>"If this crik gits any crookeder it'll fetch us back
+    home."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys had to cut away two trees which had fallen across
+    the creek where the growth was so thick that to cut a path
+    around would have been more work than to clear away the logs.
+    The trees were large, their axe a little one, and when the boys
+    came to three trees lying near together across the stream Dick
+    was so dismayed that he said to
+    Johnny:</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page68"
+       id="page68"></a>[pg 68]</span>
+
+    <p>"Let's get back out of this creek. We must be on the wrong
+    track, Mr. Streeter said Indians and hunters got through this
+    country, but they never got through this way. What do you
+    think?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Hate to go back, but s'pose we've got ter."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick's spirits ran low during the return trip through the
+    creek. They were going in the wrong direction, and each hour
+    was taking him farther away from where he supposed Ned was.
+    Many times he wished they had kept on and fought their way
+    through the creek. After reaching the bay they had left the day
+    before they turned to the east and north as they followed
+    labyrinthic channels that led around big and little keys in
+    that part of the ten times Ten Thousand Islands. The work
+    became confusing, the waterways they followed led them toward
+    every point in the compass. Sometimes a narrowing stream made
+    them think they had struck a creek which flowed from the
+    mainland, but always it opened into some small bay filled with
+    little keys. Late in the afternoon they found a point of land
+    high enough for a camp, where they spent the night. After they
+    had eaten their supper, Dick said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Johnny, do you know where we are?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Nope; bin goin' 'round so fast I've got dizzy."</p>
+
+    <p>"You mean we are lost?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yep; but that's nothin' s' long's we don't stay lost."</p>
+
+    <p>"What shall we do, and where shall we
+    go?"</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page69"
+       id="page69"></a>[pg 69]</span>
+
+    <p>"Go anywhere, only stick to it. Got ter do sumpthin; fresh
+    water's 'most gone. Reckon we'd better go 'bout sou'west. We
+    kin find a river that'll take us t' the coast, 'nd I kin find a
+    way that'll take us where you wanter go."</p>
+
+    <p>An hour's paddling brought the boys to a bay in which were
+    several pretty keys, on one of which Dick saw a number of
+    beautiful white birds.</p>
+
+    <p>"What are those?" he asked.</p>
+
+    <p>"Egrets," said Johnny. "Want ter shoot 'em?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Of course not," replied Dick. "It's against the law, and
+    wicked, besides. They are the loveliest birds there are and
+    never ought to be killed just for fun."</p>
+
+    <p>"We never kill 'em for fun. Only tourists do that. If you
+    Northern fellers didn't pay us ter git plumes we'd never kill
+    'em. D'ye remember that key over there?"</p>
+
+    <p>"No. What about it?"</p>
+
+    <p>"See that crik by the palmetter 'nd the big stump? Know it
+    now?"</p>
+
+    <p>"What! Isn't that the creek we slept in night before
+    last?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure! 'nd that's where we wanter go now. Them trees that we
+    stopped fer was cut by our fellers to keep off the Lossman
+    River plume hunters. We've got ter cut 'em out, er git 'round
+    'em if 't takes a week."</p>
+
+    <p>"How about water?"</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page70"
+       id="page70"></a>[pg 70]</span>
+
+    <p>"Find it t'other side o' the crik. I'd rather go without
+    than go back t' anybody's house fer it."</p>
+
+    <p>"But that old shack where we killed the rattler isn't far
+    off, and I saw a water-barrel under the caves."</p>
+
+    <p>"So did I, 'nd a possum floatin' in it, too. That's why I
+    didn't fill up there. We'll go slow on what we got 'nd do
+    without a day 'r two, 'nd we'll find some by then if we stick
+    t' anything."</p>
+
+    <p>"We're going to stick to things hereafter, Johnny. It was
+    plumb foolish to lay down just because a tree got in our way,
+    and it was my fault, too. It isn't going to happen again,
+    though. Let's get through that creek to-night, if we have to
+    work by the light of the lantern."</p>
+
+    <p>"Ain't you 'fraid o' the snakes?" said Johnny.</p>
+
+    <p>"No. I'm too ashamed of myself for backing out of that creek
+    to be afraid of anything, except doing it again."</p>
+
+    <p>When the boys got back to the trees which lay across the
+    creek, they took turns with the little axe, which was not much
+    heavier than a hatchet, until they had cleared an opening for
+    the canoe. They found other trees in their way, but they kept
+    on. Once they unloaded the canoe on stumps and logs until they
+    could lift it over a log that lay so deep in the water that it
+    was hard to cut. Five minutes later, and within a hundred yards
+    of where they had turned back on the previous day, the boys
+    reached the end of the creek, where it opened into
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page71"
+       id="page71"></a>[pg 71]</span> a bay which seemed to Dick as
+       beautiful as a dream. It was dotted with little islands, on
+       some of which were picturesque groups of palmettos, and on
+       others big trees filled with white-plumaged birds. Two black
+       dots on the surface of the water a hundred yards from the
+       canoe moved slowly across its bow. Johnny stopped paddling
+       and said:</p>
+
+    <p>"There's a 'gator. D'ye want him?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't see him."</p>
+
+    <p>"See them two black knobs on the water? The little one's his
+    nose 'nd the big one's his eye. He's turnin' 'round 'nd showin'
+    both eyes, now. Shoot him in the eye if yer want t' kill him.
+    It'll take some time t' skin him, though, 'nd mebbe ye're in a
+    hurry to get along."</p>
+
+    <p>"I sure am," replied Dick, and as the paddles dipped
+    together in the water, the alligator, suspicious of them,
+    slowly sank from their sight.</p>
+
+    <p>At the end of the bay the boys found a deep, narrow river
+    with a current which Dick supposed was tidal, but which Johnny
+    thought came from the Glades. Dick tasted the water and was
+    surprised to find that instead of being salt it had the
+    sweetish taste of merely brackish water. There were birds of
+    many kinds in the trees on the banks of the river, and as the
+    boys paddled against the current Johnny saw a brace of ducks
+    swimming ahead of the canoe. He took in his paddle and picked
+    up the shotgun, which, with much forethought, he had placed
+    beside himself in the canoe before starting out. Dick
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page72"
+       id="page72"></a>[pg 72]</span> paddled very slowly and
+       quietly toward the ducks until they were within easy range.
+       Johnny had been told that if he wanted to be a real
+       sportsman he must never fire at birds with a shotgun unless
+       they were flying. So he waited until the ducks rose before
+       firing at them. The next instant a bird fell heavily on the
+       water a few yards ahead of the canoe.</p>
+
+    <p>"Why, that bird fell out of this tree!" said the astonished
+    Dick. "I didn't know you fired up in a tree."</p>
+
+    <p>"I didn't," replied Johnny. "That was a water-turkey, and he
+    isn't hurt a bit. They often act so when they're scared. Watch
+    out for him under the bank."</p>
+
+    <p>In a minute or two Dick saw a long, snake-like head and neck
+    thrust out of the water by the bank. The head twisted about
+    with a quick, jerky motion till the bird's eyes rested on the
+    canoe, when it disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared.</p>
+
+    <p>"What became of the ducks?" said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Reckon we'll find one of 'em 'round that p'int. The other
+    got away." Johnny was right, and the duck was found just around
+    the point.</p>
+
+    <p>At some places the river narrowed into deep creeks and at
+    others broadened out into wide, shallow bays, where the boys
+    were puzzled to find the inlet they wanted. It was nearly noon
+    when they struck a stream of quite a different sort from
+    anything they had previously seen. Its mouth lay between banks
+    that were high for Florida, and through it flowed
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page73"
+       id="page73"></a>[pg 73]</span> a stream of crystal-clear
+       water, which, to the great relief and delight of the boys,
+       was fresh as a mountain brook The bed of the stream looked
+       like sand to Dick, but when he thumped it with his paddle he
+       found it was coral rock. Suddenly Johnny called to him:</p>
+
+    <p>"Watch out fur the boat," and resting his hands on the sides
+    of the craft leaped into the water without disturbing in the
+    least the balance of the canoe.</p>
+
+    <p>As Johnny swam rapidly under water, close to the white coral
+    bottom of the creek, Dick saw that he was chasing a turtle
+    which was skurrying toward the bank for protection. It got
+    there all right, but the bank didn't protect it, and soon
+    Johnny came to the surface hugging to his breast with his left
+    hand a wildly flapping turtle, while with his right he struck
+    out for the canoe. Getting into the canoe would have been a
+    ticklish job, so Johnny handed the turtle to his companion and
+    swam to the bank while Dick followed with the canoe. By the
+    time Johnny had butchered the turtle, Dick had constructed a
+    very creditable camp-fire under a palmetto, in the shade of
+    which the boys rested while they waited for the turtle stew to
+    be ready for them. Their breakfast had been a cold one,
+    consisting entirely of fruit, and they had decided that for
+    dinner they would begin with turtle stew and end with broiled
+    duck. When the stew had been finished, Johnny inquired:</p>
+
+    <p>"Want that duck cooked
+    now?"</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page74"
+       id="page74"></a>[pg 74]</span>
+
+    <p>"No, I don't. If I ate another mouthful I'd bust. Let's have
+    the duck next week."</p>
+
+    <p>Yet each of the boys managed to eat about a hatful of wild
+    grapes, which they found growing a short distance from their
+    camp-fire.</p>
+
+    <p>Just as the boys were starting out again, Dick saw a turtle,
+    and, laying down his paddle, said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Johnny, if you can catch turtles, I can. See me go for that
+    one."</p>
+
+    <p>"Hold on," shouted Johnny, as Dick was about to jump
+    overboard. "That's an alligator turtle. Bites worse'n a
+    bulldog, and ain't good fur much t' eat, nohow."</p>
+
+    <p>As they kept on up the creek, its banks came nearer
+    together, trees were more numerous, and the bushes thicker.
+    Soon these began to close overhead, while the stream itself
+    broke up into several smaller ones. As these twisted about,
+    forming a labyrinth of little channels bounded by hundreds of
+    tiny keys, all cohered by an interlaced canopy of leaves and
+    branches, Dick wondered if ever they could find their way out.
+    But he had resolved that morning that never again would he turn
+    back in his exploring so long as it was possible to go on. The
+    little streams continued to become smaller and the turns
+    shorter, until to get around the bends the axe was in constant
+    use to clear a path, while the boys waded and often dragged or
+    carried the canoe. It was wearing work, and they frequently sat
+    down to rest. On one of these occasions Johnny
+    inquired:</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page75"
+       id="page75"></a>[pg 75]</span>
+
+    <p>"How long you want ter keep this up? This ain't the right
+    creek, not the one Mr. Streeter told about."</p>
+
+    <p>"I know that. The creek he spoke of must be away south of
+    this, but this will probably take us to the Everglades, or near
+    them. So we had better keep on till the brook gives out and
+    then travel to the east, toting the canoe till we get to the
+    Glades. We may be away north of Osceola's camp, but there will
+    likely be a trail that will help us to find it, and anyhow we
+    will be near the line that Mr. Streeter thinks Ned and the
+    Indian will follow. Don't you like the plan?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Me? Sure! I don't want any better fun than t' keep on t'
+    the Atlantic Ocean, only 'fraid it'd be too hard fer you."</p>
+
+    <p>Night found the toys in a narrow stream, scarcely more than
+    the width of the canoe, with bushes around them so thick that
+    they found it hard to clear a place big enough to sleep on.
+    They were tired enough to sleep soundly, in spite of the
+    occasional cries of the birds and beasts of the forest.</p>
+
+    <p>They made an early start in the morning, and, although the
+    creek was crooked and they had to cut away many small trees,
+    they were encouraged to find the bushes becoming less abundant
+    as the water grew more shallow, and by dark they were on the
+    border of an open prairie, where they made camp for the
+    night.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page76"
+       id="page76"></a>[pg 76]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER VII</h3>
+
+    <h3>THE MEETING IN THE GLADES</h3>
+
+    <p>"The Everglades at last!" said Dick the next morning as the
+    rays of the rising sun fell on the waters of the Everglades in
+    the distance and lit up the clumps of cypress and groups of
+    palmettos that dotted the prairie before him. A little to the
+    north and extending into the Glades was a row of willows which
+    Johnny visited and found that it marked the course of a slough
+    that crossed the prairie and extended far out into the
+    Glades.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/76.jpg"
+             name="fig76"
+             id="fig76"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/76.jpg"
+             alt='"THE EVERGLADES AT LAST"' /></a>"THE EVERGLADES
+             AT LAST"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>They were soon afloat in this slough, paddling toward the
+    Everglades, but the channel which they followed was crooked and
+    it was an hour before they reached them. The boys made their
+    camp beside a little group of palmettos on a bit of dry ground
+    which had often been used for that purpose. Johnny pointed to a
+    faint line in the grass of the Glades and told Dick that it was
+    an Indian trail. Dick was excited at the thought that the chum
+    he had come so far to meet might even now be in sight. When,
+    far to the north, he saw what Johnny said was an Indian canoe
+    with two people poling it, he could scarcely restrain himself
+    from <span class="pagenum"><a name="page77"
+       id="page77"></a>[pg 77]</span> paddling out to meet it. The
+       canoe came on rapidly, and Dick's excitement increased until
+       he began to fancy that in one of the faces that showed above
+       the grass he could make out the features of his chum, when
+       Johnny dashed his hopes to the ground by saying:</p>
+
+    <p>"Them's Injuns. Squaws, too. B'lieve I know 'em."</p>
+
+    <p>Then as the approaching faces showed more clearly through
+    the tall grass:</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure thing. It's Miami Billy's girls. They'll savvy where
+    Charley Tommy is."</p>
+
+    <p>The Indian girls were poling past the canoe without
+    appearing to see it, when Johnny spoke to them. Then the girls,
+    who were clothed in the brightest of prints, with masses of
+    beads on their necks, sat down in their canoe and had a pow-wow
+    with Johnny that was altogether unintelligible to Dick. When
+    the girls had gone, Johnny explained:</p>
+
+    <p>"Squaws say: 'Think so Charley Tommy not been Osceola Camp,
+    two moons. Been Big Cypress; hunt 'gator. Maybe so hunt with
+    white man. Not been Charley Tiger camp this moon.' The girls
+    left that camp day 'fore yesterday. Only other trail from
+    Tiger's camp goes t' Miami. We c'n camp right here 'nd ketch
+    'em sure."</p>
+
+    <p>Johnny proposed that while waiting they do some alligator
+    hunting. They got out their canvas and rigged up a regular
+    camp. Dick wrote a few lines on a scrap of paper, addressed it
+    "Mr. Edward <span class="pagenum"><a name="page78"
+       id="page78"></a>[pg 78]</span> Barstow," and fastened it on
+       a palmetto tree, in such a way that no one passing along the
+       trail could fail to see it. The boys then unpacked the
+       canoe, and turning it upside down on a bit of dry land
+       stowed their stores under it. They gathered a lot of grass
+       for their beds, arranged for an early start in the morning,
+       and slept dreamlessly till morning came. The hunt was to be
+       on foot, and Johnny insisted that Dick carry the rifle,
+       while he made up a light pack for himself of axe,
+       frying-pan, forks and a little bacon, corn meal, bait and
+       matches. When Dick saw Johnny's pack, he said to him:</p>
+
+    <p>"Won't we get back to-night?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Mebbe so, but you can't allers tell. We might get to
+    follerin' sumthin and be gone two or three days. I don't reckon
+    we're goin' to get lost, though we may be bothered some."</p>
+
+    <p>"If there's a chance of that we haven't got enough to
+    eat."</p>
+
+    <p>"Got plenty. All we really want is a rifle, matches and
+    salt. They'd be good for a month."</p>
+
+    <p>"What do you do for bread?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Cut the bud out of a cabbage tree."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys tramped across the prairie to a belt of cypress,
+    where Johnny stopped for some minutes, looking back to study
+    the landscape and take note of every clump of trees and bit of
+    water in sight.</p>
+
+    <p>"I thought you were not afraid of getting lost," said
+    Dick.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page79"
+       id="page79"></a>[pg 79]</span>
+
+    <p>"I ain't afraid. I could alters git home all right, but I'd
+    hate to lose the canoe."</p>
+
+    <p>The cypress strand was swampy, and they crossed it by
+    stepping from root to root, excepting that once, when Dick was
+    looking at a moccasin, he made a misstep and landed in the mud,
+    where he sank to his waist. The woods were narrow, and beyond
+    them was a broad prairie with clumps of trees and pools of
+    water scattered through it. As they walked and waded they
+    crossed the tracks of many animals and birds, to most of which
+    Johnny could give names. There were plenty of 'coons, a few
+    wildcats, some deer, and one bear, while between the little
+    ponds alligators had worn regular paths.</p>
+
+    <p>"What's that?" said Dick as a lizard-like creature scuttled
+    through the grass some fifty yards in front of him.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Gator! Shoot quick, 'fore he gits t' that pond!"</p>
+
+    <p>Dick fired, and his bullet spattered the mud over the
+    reptile's back as it slid into the water.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick was very much chagrined at missing his quarry, but
+    Johnny consoled him.</p>
+
+    <p>"I'll git ye another shot at him. I'll call him out o' the
+    water, and if he don't come I'll take a stick an' go in there
+    an' run him out."</p>
+
+    <p>Johnny stood beside the pond and grunted in imitation of a
+    young alligator. In a few minutes two black dots appeared on
+    the surface of the water, and, slowly rising, disclosed the
+    eyes and the point of the nose of an alligator. Johnny grunted
+    again, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page80"
+       id="page80"></a>[pg 80]</span> and the big mouth opened wide
+       to take in the baby 'gator which the reptile thought he
+       heard. Then the horny ridges of the back began to appear,
+       and soon the whole body of the reptile lay on the surface.
+       Johnny whispered to Dick:</p>
+
+    <p>"Shoot him in that hump behind his eyes." Dick took careful
+    aim and fired. The alligator rolled slowly over, with its
+    yellow belly on top and its four paws uplifted. Johnny waded
+    into the pond and dragged out the body of the reptile, which
+    Dick helped him skin. When this had been done Johnny cut from
+    the creature a round strip of white flesh, about a foot long,
+    beginning at the hind leg and running toward the tail.</p>
+
+    <p>"What's that for?" said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Fur dinner. I told ye we'd find 'nuff t' eat."</p>
+
+    <p>"Do yon s'pose I'm going to eat that?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure! 'nd yer goin' ter like it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Then I wish I hadn't helped skin it."</p>
+
+    <p>Just as the boys were leaving the pond they heard a little
+    grunt, and turning around saw a baby alligator, less than two
+    feet long, lying on the surface.</p>
+
+    <p>"Want ter ketch that alive?" asked Johnny.</p>
+
+    <p>"Can you do it?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I'll show' yer."</p>
+
+    <p>And Johnny took off his shoes and waded into the pond. He
+    waded about the pond, feeling in the mud with his toes until he
+    felt the reptile, when, slipping his toes under it he lifted
+    his foot suddenly <span class="pagenum"><a name="page81"
+       id="page81"></a>[pg 81]</span> and brought the alligator
+       near enough to the surface to be able to seize him. Dick was
+       delighted with the captive, but was frank enough to say:</p>
+
+    <p>"Johnny, I said once that I could learn to do anything that
+    you could. I take that back. I couldn't learn to do what you
+    did then in a thousand years."</p>
+
+    <p>Johnny laughed and said:</p>
+
+    <p>"You'd do it this afternoon, and I'll bet on it."</p>
+
+    <p>Johnny tied a string around the jaws of their little pet and
+    handed it to Dick, who carried the wiggly thing so awkwardly
+    that Johnny took it back and, opening the bosom of his shirt,
+    put the alligator where he would have a soft bed and plenty of
+    room to prowl around.</p>
+
+    <p>"That's another thing I'd be scared to do," said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>Johnny led the way to a clump of palmettos beside a clear
+    little spring and a nice shady bit of ground, where they made a
+    camp-fire, after driving away a family of moccasins that seemed
+    to own the place. A slice of alligator steak, nicely browned,
+    was served on a palmetto fan to Dick, who nibbled squeamishly
+    at the delicate morsel at first, but soon handed back his leafy
+    plate for another helping.</p>
+
+    <p>"Wouldn't have believed it," said Dick, "but I never tasted
+    any better meat."</p>
+
+    <p>"Wait till I cook ye a rattler. That beats fried
+    chicken."</p>
+
+    <p>"No, thank you. I draw the line at
+    snakes."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page82"
+       id="page82"></a>[pg 82]</span>
+
+    <p>"You drawed it at 'gators this mornin'. Want some more?"</p>
+
+    <p>And Dick shamelessly passed up his plate.</p>
+
+    <p>The boys walked and waded several miles, until they were
+    near a heavily wooded tract, which Johnny said was cypress
+    swamp. It was late in the day, and they were about to turn back
+    when Dick saw a turkey, which was holding her head half as high
+    as his own, step silently into the cover of the woods, followed
+    by half a dozen of her half-grown brood. Johnny saw the birds
+    almost as soon as Dick, and exclaimed excitedly:</p>
+
+    <p>"We've got ter have one of them young turks if it takes all
+    night."</p>
+
+    <p>They entered the swamp and got sight of one of the turkeys
+    as he ran along a log, and they walked to where they saw the
+    bird, only to get another glimpse at about the same distance.
+    Again they followed the birds, this time as cautiously as if
+    they had been stalking hostile Indians. Often they saw one or
+    more of the turkeys, but never within easy range.</p>
+
+    <p>"Better try a long shot. They're gettin' wild," said
+    Johnny.</p>
+
+    <p>"No, you try 'em, Johnny; you're used to the rifle and
+    you're a better shot than I, anyhow."</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/82.jpg"
+             name="fig82"
+             id="fig82"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/82.jpg"
+             alt="WE'VE GOTTER HAVE ONE OF THEM YOUNG TURKS IF IT TAKES ALL NIGHT" />
+        </a>"WE'VE GOTTER HAVE ONE OF THEM YOUNG TURKS IF IT TAKES
+        ALL NIGHT"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>Johnny took the weapon, and his chance came soon. One of the
+    young birds lit on a stump within long range of him and
+    remained there until he had taken a careful sight and fired.
+    The bird fell, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page83"
+       id="page83"></a>[pg 83]</span> the rest of the brood flew
+       into the depths of the swamp. When the boys were ready to
+       start back to camp, Dick discovered to his chagrin that he
+       had no idea of the direction in which they should travel.
+       Johnny, too, was in some doubt, and as it was already
+       growing dark and they had been traveling in the swamp for an
+       hour or two, he proposed that they camp right where they
+       were.</p>
+
+    <p>"How can we camp here? Water's knee-deep, there's no place
+    for a fire, and I'd starve to death before morning. Don't you
+    expect to have anything to eat until to-morrow?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Bet yer I do! What's the matter with young turkey?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Young turkey's bully, but raw turkey's bum."</p>
+
+    <p>Johnny laughed and waded to where a fallen tree had left a
+    level place among its upturned roots. A few minutes' work with
+    the hatchet, which Johnny always carried when hunting, cleared
+    out a good foundation for a fire.</p>
+
+    <p>"Bully for you! I'll dress the turkey while you build a
+    fire," said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>By the time the bird was ready for the frying-pan, Johnny
+    had not only built the fire, but had cut a lot of poles and
+    rigged up a rough cot between the fallen tree and a rotten log
+    that lay near it. Johnny cut some thin slices of bacon for the
+    frying-pan and then filled it with thick slices and chunks of
+    turkey. When this had been cooked and disposed of, Dick still
+    looked hungry, and another panful
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page84"
+       id="page84"></a>[pg 84]</span> of the bird was fried. Dick
+       slept some during the night, but complained that he had a
+       map of his bunk on his back, which had been printed deeply.
+       When breakfast was over and the last bone of the turkey had
+       been picked, the boys turned their faces to the east and
+       started for their camp. They soon reached an open glade,
+       which was quite unfamiliar to them, and were about to enter
+       it, when Johnny, who was ahead, slipped behind a tree and
+       held up his hand warningly to Dick, who promptly got behind
+       another. Two deer were in the opening, about a hundred yards
+       to windward of the boys, toward whom they were slowly
+       feeding. Dick was excited and was nervously raising his
+       rifle, when Johnny whispered:</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't hurry. Got lots o' time."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick was ashamed of his nervousness, and determined to
+    conquer it, even if he didn't fire at all. One of the deer was
+    a buck with fine antlers, and Dick watched his slow advance, as
+    he looked around for a moment and then browsed for a minute or
+    two, until the boy felt that his nerves were steady once more.
+    The buck was within fifty yards when Dick lifted the rifle to
+    his shoulder and let his cheek rest upon its stock. In another
+    instant the hunted deer had caught sight of the hunter, but it
+    was too late. The beautiful creature stood motionless for half
+    a minute, while Dick wondered if he could have missed, and then
+    sank slowly to the ground, dead. At the report of the rifle the
+    other deer, which <span class="pagenum"><a name="page85"
+       id="page85"></a>[pg 85]</span> was a doe, scampered a few
+       yards, then, turning back her head, gazed with wondering
+       eyes upon her fallen mate. Johnny took from his pocket a
+       cartridge, and, holding it between thumb and finger, looked
+       inquiringly at Dick. Dick shook his head, and in another
+       instant the doe had scampered out of danger. Dick helped
+       Johnny skin and dress the deer, and learned a lot while
+       doing so, but he seemed less happy than a boy should be
+       after killing his first deer.</p>
+
+    <p>"Johnny, I wish that buck hadn't looked at me out of his big
+    eyes just when I was killing him. If I had waited a second I
+    believe I wouldn't have fired."</p>
+
+    <p>"Glad ye didn't wait, then. Why didn't yer worry about th'
+    'gator? 'Gators has fine eyes."</p>
+
+    <p>When the boys started on again they counted their loads
+    light, but after they had crossed the glade and waded and
+    wallowed through a mile or two of swamp they were of a
+    different opinion. When at last they had crossed the swamp and
+    only a bit of prairie lay between them and the Everglades, they
+    were glad enough to throw down their packs for a long rest. The
+    Everglades were before them, but where was their camp? In that
+    open country they could have seen it for three, perhaps four,
+    miles. Johnny had studied the country around the camp when they
+    left it the day before, but could see nothing familiar now.
+    However, the boy wasn't
+    worried.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page86"
+       id="page86"></a>[pg 86]</span>
+
+    <p>"Reckon we're too fur north. Better go south a few miles,
+    'nd if we don't find it we'll turn 'round 'nd go t'other way.
+    All we got ter do is t' stick t' the saw-grass," said he.</p>
+
+    <p>For a quarter of a mile the tramp was an easy one. Then the
+    boys struck a hit of boggy ground, in which they sank over
+    their knees at every step. When the ground became firmer the
+    water got deeper, and after wading half a mile without a chance
+    to lay down his pack and rest, Dick said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Johnny, I always heard that Florida deer were small, but
+    this one must have weighed a ton. Wonder if your half is as
+    heavy as mine. I've got to sit down on that hummock and
+    rest."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick waded to the hummock and sat down on it, wondering what
+    Johnny was laughing at. The next minute he understood, for the
+    hummock gave a heave and Dick rolled off into the water, while
+    a scared alligator scurried away through the water and mud of
+    the prairie. The hummock was only a pile of loose grass such as
+    alligators often collect and under which they live in the
+    Everglades and the submerged prairies about them. Soon the boys
+    found dryer ground, and after a brisk tramp of half an hour
+    were cheered by the sight of their camp. There was no sign of
+    life about it, to the great disappointment of Dick, who had
+    been hoping that Ned had found it. Before reaching their camp
+    they had to cross a slough that was wide and deep.</p>
+
+    <p>"Reckon we've got ter swim," said Johnny as he
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page87"
+       id="page87"></a>[pg 87]</span> found a dry place on the bank
+       for his pack and his rifle before wading into the stream.
+       But the bottom was of coral and hard, the water reached only
+       to his arm-pits, and the boys crossed without trouble,
+       carrying their packs on their heads. Dick decided to wait
+       for Ned at the camp, and Johnny collected wood and proceeded
+       to smoke their venison. For two days they stayed by the
+       camp, watching the trail and keeping the buzzards away from
+       the venison by day and listening to the cries of the wild
+       creatures in the woods near-by at night, when Dick's
+       patience gave out.</p>
+
+    <p>"Johnny," said he on the morning of the third day, "we've
+    got to find Ned Barstow. Do you s'pose if he knew that I was
+    within fifty miles of him he'd loaf in camp for a week
+    expecting me to run over him? Not much he wouldn't. He'd be
+    sky-hootin' from daylight till dark over the whole country till
+    he lit on me. Mr. Streeter said Charley Tommy couldn't get past
+    Tiger Tail's camp under four days. Now, what's the matter with
+    our meeting him there? Can't you follow the trail of those
+    squaws bade to Tiger's camp?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I kin try. Mebbe 'tain't so easy's you think, though."</p>
+
+    <p>"What risk do we run in trying it?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Nothin', 'cept we may miss your man. We're all right 'nd
+    could live anywhere in this country for a year on what we've
+    got and could pick
+    up."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page88"
+       id="page88"></a>[pg 88]</span>
+
+    <p>"Then let's hike out. I can't keep still any longer."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys followed the trail by which the squaws had come
+    without difficulty for a few miles. Then came a stretch of open
+    water, where their eyes failed to catch the faint traces of the
+    passing canoes among the few scattering blades of grass that
+    appeared on the surface. Several times they picked up the trail
+    after they had lost it, but at last they missed it for miles.
+    They decided not to go back, and kept on, hoping to find it
+    again. They kept in the light grass as much as they could, but
+    in avoiding the strands of the heavy saw-grass of the Glades
+    they were forced farther and farther to the east, until night
+    found them in the open Everglades with no hope of a place to
+    camp.</p>
+
+    <p>They made their way to a flooded key of sweet-bay, myrtle
+    and cocoa plums, and Johnny piled up brush on which he tried to
+    sleep, while Dick lay in the canoe, which had been lashed
+    between two little trees. They were awakened by a deluge of
+    rain, and in a few minutes there wasn't a dry rag between them.
+    They used their canvas to protect guns, ammunition and such
+    things as had to be kept dry. A cold wind chilled them to the
+    bone, and they had to sit down in the water to get warm. It was
+    a short-lived storm, and when the rain ceased and the stars
+    came out Dick said to his companion:</p>
+
+    <p>"It's no use trying to sleep to-night; let's pull out for
+    Tiger Tail's."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page89"
+       id="page89"></a>[pg 89]</span>
+
+    <p>When morning came the boys saw, far to the northwest, an
+    Indian camp which they knew must belong to Charley Tiger Tail.
+    But between them and the camp was an almost impassable barrier
+    of saw-grass. They paddled to the east, keeping on the southern
+    border of the saw-grass strand, and whenever an opening
+    appeared they followed it until turned back by grass too heavy
+    for them to force their way through. They worked until noon and
+    were out of sight of the Indian camp when they saw, a mile
+    north of them, a couple of Indians poling their canoe. Johnny
+    waved his hand to the Indians, who stopped poling and waited
+    for the boys to get to them. He was soon pow-wowing with them,
+    and translating to Dick as he talked.</p>
+
+    <p>"These Injuns, Charley Jumper and Cypress Tiger. This Miami
+    trail. Goes Tiger Tail's camp, 'bout six mile. Hooray! Charley
+    Tommy 'nd your man there. No, went away this mornin'. They say
+    think so on Osceola trail. That's the trail the squaws was on,
+    'nd we lost it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Can't we cut across to that trail and head them off, or
+    catch up with them?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I asked 'em. They say: 'No good, trail bad, trail to
+    Charley Tiger good, then go Osceola trail. Maybe so Charley
+    Tommy stop Osceola camp, maybe Miami Billy camp, maybe so not
+    stop anywhere.' They say they sick <i>ojus</i>, want
+    <i>whyome</i>. That means they're awful sick and want whisky,
+    but all Injuns <span class="pagenum"><a name="page90"
+       id="page90"></a>[pg 90]</span> is that. These is good
+       Injuns. Better do what they say."</p>
+
+    <p>The trail to the Indian's camp was a crooked one, but Johnny
+    followed it without trouble, although it was nearly dark when
+    they reached the camp. They slept on one of the high tables
+    which the Seminoles use for their beds, and found Charley Tiger
+    Tail quite a civilized Indian, who spoke a little English, sold
+    whisky and dealt in the contraband plumes of the egret.</p>
+
+    <p>The boys were up and off at daylight, for they had agreed to
+    do two days' work in every twenty-four hours till they caught
+    the canoe they were chasing. Johnny had talked with Tiger about
+    the Osceola trail, until he felt he could follow it
+    blind-folded, and little time was lost in studying as they
+    poled and paddled that day.</p>
+
+    <p>Soon after their start in the morning Dick had said, as he
+    threw his weight on the paddle, which he was using as a
+    pole:</p>
+
+    <p>"Are you game, Johnny, to camp to-night where we jerked the
+    venison?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I kin stand it if you kin. Them squaws took two days,
+    though, 'nd I ain't lookin' ter beat Injuns much with a
+    canoe."</p>
+
+    <p>It is doubtful if the boys could have made the camp, for
+    darkness came before they were in sight of it, had not Dick
+    said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Johnny, isn't that a light over there toward
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page91"
+       id="page91"></a>[pg 91]</span> the land? I've seen it two or
+       three times. Do you s'pose it's a fire in the woods?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't see it," said Johnny. "Yes, I do, now," adding
+    excitedly an instant later: "Don't you 'member th' big bend in
+    th' trail jest after we left th' camp we're lookin' fer? That
+    fire ain't in th' woods. It's at our old camp, 'nd Charley
+    Tommy built that fire, sure as shootin'."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick was faint with excitement, and could scarcely hold his
+    paddle.</p>
+
+    <p>"We must get there soon as we can," said he.</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure!" said Johnny. "Only let's go quiet 'nd s'prise
+    'em."</p>
+
+    <p>If Charley Tommy had been a white man the plan would
+    probably have been successful. As the boys approached the camp
+    they moved more and more slowly, until Dick laid down his
+    paddle and Johnny did all the work. There was not a sound that
+    Dick could hear, and when the canoe was within a hundred feet
+    of the fire he could see Ned Barstow resting his elbow on a log
+    near it, while the Indian lay beside a palmetto, apparently
+    asleep. But as the canoe continued to approach, Charley Tommy
+    lifted his head, took a swift look around, and, half rising,
+    gazed keenly out over the water toward the boys in the canoe.
+    Further concealment was impossible, and Dick called out:</p>
+
+    <p>"Hello, the camp!"</p>
+
+    <p>Ned sprang to his feet, and looking across the water in the
+    direction from which the dream voice
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page92"
+       id="page92"></a>[pg 92]</span> seemed to have come, was
+       silent until he saw the shadowy outline of a canoe, when he
+       spoke in a voice that trembled with emotion:</p>
+
+    <p>"Dicky boy, is that you?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, Neddy!" And soon the reunited chums had grabbed and
+    hugged one another till both were breathless. Then they began
+    asking and answering questions, sometimes by turns and
+    sometimes together, till they were breathless again.</p>
+
+    <p>"How did you come to recognize my voice so quickly?" asked
+    Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Because I was thinking of you, Dick, and wondering when we
+    could take the trips we planned in that camp in the North. Now
+    those wonderful dreams have come
+    true!"</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page93"
+       id="page93"></a>[pg 93]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER VIII</h3>
+
+    <h3>OLD DREAMS REALIZED</h3>
+
+    <p>There was a long council around the camp-fire that night,
+    and it was settled that Ned and Dick were to take the light
+    canoe with their own stores and start off by themselves on the
+    hunting and exploring tour of which they had dreamed for years.
+    Johnny was to go on an alligator hunt with Charley Tommy.
+    Johnny thought the Indian could stand the work about two
+    months, after which they would go to Chokoloskee and sell the
+    hides. Ned paid the Indian for his time and made him a present,
+    in addition, of an outfit of clothing from hat to shoes,
+    without any objection from Charley. But when Dick came to
+    settle with Johnny there was trouble. For Johnny refused to
+    take any pay and said that if Dick paid him for coming to where
+    Ned was he would have to pay Dick for carrying him to where
+    Charley was. Ned had to chip in before Johnny could be
+    persuaded to take the pay he had earned. Ned had a better
+    equipment than Dick and a much larger lot of stores. These he
+    shared with Johnny, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page94"
+       id="page94"></a>[pg 94]</span> so that the boy was provided
+       with more luxuries than are often carried on an alligator
+       hunt.</p>
+
+    <p>When the boys were about to start away in the morning,
+    Johnny told them that Tommy wanted to go to Osceola's camp for
+    a day or two, and he proposed that the boys come with them.
+    Johnny said that if they went to the Indian camp with Tommy the
+    Indians would talk and the boys could learn a lot of Seminole
+    in two or three days, enough to pull them through in their
+    visits to other camps. The chance was too good to be lost, and
+    the long, heavy Indian canoe was followed down the Glades by
+    the light Canadian canoe of the boys.</p>
+
+    <p>Ned and Dick were pretty husky youths, and as their canoe
+    didn't weigh more than one-fourth that of the one just ahead of
+    them, they thought they were in for a picnic. Very soon they
+    changed their minds. Sometimes they could paddle, but generally
+    they used their paddles as poles. They had one oar for pushing,
+    which helped them a little. A light push sent the canoe
+    forward, but when the push ended so did the motion. It took a
+    stronger push to start the Seminole canoe, but the stroke was
+    much longer, and when the stroke ended the motion continued.
+    The boys were game and wouldn't admit that it tired them to
+    keep up. But when a strand of heavy saw-grass had to be crossed
+    they found trouble to burn. The round, heavy wooden cylinder of
+    Seminole make slid slowly through the tall, stiff, saw-edged
+    mass. But the light canoe was thrown
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page95"
+       id="page95"></a>[pg 95]</span> back from each stroke by the
+       elastic grass. Dick never liked to be beaten, so he went
+       overboard and floundered along the trail ahead of the canoe,
+       dragging it by the painter, while Ned got out and pushed
+       from behind the stern. The sharp, serrated edges of the
+       grass cut their faces and lacerated their hands. No air was
+       stirring at the foot of those tall spears, and Dick thought
+       of his hours in the fire room of the Southern steamer.
+       Sometimes a big, deadly cotton-mouth, the ugliest snake in
+       the world, swam in front of Dick as he struggled forward,
+       but though his flesh quivered he said nothing lest he make
+       Ned nervous. Then occasionally a poisonous brown moccasin
+       rose out of the mud which the canoe stirred up, and, with
+       uplifted head and open mouth, threatened Ned as he stumbled
+       behind the craft, but he was silent about it lest he worry
+       the chum who was new to the country. The saw-grass strand
+       was only two hundred yards across, although it seemed a mile
+       to the boys, who made light of it when they reached the
+       other canoe, but their bleeding hands, torn by the terrible
+       grass, told another story.</p>
+
+    <p>The canoes and cargoes arrived at Osceola's late in the
+    afternoon, and Ned and Dick saw their second Seminole camp. It
+    was the best camp in the Everglades, as Osceola himself was
+    perhaps the best specimen of the Florida Seminole.</p>
+
+    <p>The three buildings which constituted the camp consisted
+    merely of high roofs, beautifully constructed of palmetto,
+    which came within four feet of the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page96"
+       id="page96"></a>[pg 96]</span> ground at their outer edges.
+       Below this they were entirely open. These buildings were
+       nearly filled with tables, about four feet high, on which
+       the Indians slept at night and occupied as a floor during
+       the day. The buildings were placed about a round shed, under
+       which the cooking for the whole camp was done. The fire was
+       built in the usual Seminole fashion. Logs of wood were
+       arranged like the spokes of a wheel, and the fire built at
+       the hub. When the cooking was finished the logs were drawn
+       back a few inches and the fire went down to coals, but
+       continued to smolder. When the logs were brought together
+       again the fire blazed up.</p>
+
+    <p>Ned and Johnny made their bed on one of the tables and slept
+    well, but they kicked at dipping their hands in the family
+    stew, and broiled their venison and made their coffee over the
+    common fire. It was a good-natured camp, but the boys made life
+    a burden to the Indians for two days by their incessant
+    attempts at conversation in the Indian tongue. Some of the old
+    Indians were sociable, and the boys got along very well with
+    them, but the younger ones were shy and refused to talk until,
+    having put on the white man's clothes that Ned had given him,
+    Tommy took several of the young squaws and pickaninnies out in
+    an Indian canoe. The young Indians laughed so much at Tommy
+    that they began to forget their shyness, and when Tommy bought
+    for Ned a bright-colored Indian shirt that a squaw had just
+    made and the boy put it on, the Indians
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page97"
+       id="page97"></a>[pg 97]</span> gathered around him and made
+       fun, very much as white children would have done. One of the
+       squaws brought him a red handkerchief, such as many of the
+       Indians wore, and when Ned nodded and tied it around his
+       neck they all laughed. Another squaw motioned at Ned's hat,
+       and then at several Indians who were bareheaded. Ned nodded
+       again and tossed his hat aside. Then as a squaw pointed at
+       his trousers and afterwards at the bare-legged Indians about
+       him, Ned shook his head vigorously, and even the older
+       Indians joined in the laughter.</p>
+
+    <p>The children of the camp were shy things, and peeped out at
+    the strangers from behind trees and out of hiding-places, but
+    Dick was fond of all wild creatures and few of them could
+    resist his friendly advances. Soon every pickaninny in the
+    place was tagging after him. The older ones took him out in
+    canoes, which soon were capsized, and all hands swam back, each
+    accusing the other of having upset the craft.</p>
+
+    <p>When the boys went to the Osceola camp of Seminoles with
+    Tommy they found a people as stolid and taciturn as those of
+    any Indian tribe of which they had read. After four days,
+    during which all hospitality was extended to them, they left
+    behind them a kindly group of untaught native Americans, who
+    went out of their way to show friendliness to their guests.
+    Johnny nearly cried over the parting, and would have bartered
+    his hopes of the hereafter
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page98"
+       id="page98"></a>[pg 98]</span> to have been allowed to
+       accompany the boys, while Tommy, clothed again in his native
+       costume and in his right mind, preceded them for two miles
+       in his canoe to show them a blind, side trail which they
+       were to take. When they turned to take their last look at
+       him, the Seminole was standing in his canoe, leaning on his
+       long pole and looking fixedly at them.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/98.jpg"
+             name="fig98"
+             id="fig98"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/98.jpg"
+             alt='"THE SEMINOLE WAS STANDING IN HIS CANOE LOOKING FIXEDLY AT US"' />
+        </a>"THE SEMINOLE WAS STANDING IN HIS CANOE LOOKING FIXEDLY
+        AT US"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>For a few miles the trail was easy, but then became too dry
+    for paddles, and Dick pushed with an oar, while Ned used a pole
+    which he had brought along for use with a harpoon. As the trail
+    grew dryer, it became impossible to pole the canoe, and Ned
+    took the painter and, stepping into the nearly dry ditch in
+    front of the canoe, dragged the craft, while Billy got
+    overboard and pushed from behind. Sometimes Ned stopped to kick
+    something out of his path, and at last Dick called to him:</p>
+
+    <p>"What are you kicking, Ned?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Nothing but yellow-bellies and once in a while a brown
+    moccasin. I used to worry myself half sick over them, but after
+    seeing Chris Meyer wade through bunches of them in the Big
+    Cypress without paying any attention to them, I got ashamed of
+    being afraid, and now I don't mind moccasins much unless they
+    are cotton-mouths."</p>
+
+    <p>"But they have all got fangs, are all poisonous, and all
+    seem anxious to bite," said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"But their bite isn't fatal. Tommy told me that he had been
+    bitten six times, and when I asked if
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page99"
+       id="page99"></a>[pg 99]</span> the bites made him sick, he
+       said: 'Lilly bit, one moon.' I asked him about rattlesnake
+       bites, and he said: 'Make sick <i>ojus</i> (heap), think so
+       big sleep come pretty quick.' He told me that the moccasins
+       bit him while he was pushing his canoe and stepped on
+       them."</p>
+
+    <p>"Neddy, Johnny used to talk just as you do, and Mr. Streeter
+    said a lot more, but it makes me sick to hear it. I can feel
+    the little squirmy beasts under my feet every step I take."</p>
+
+    <p>About noon the boys struck a creek, where their paddles came
+    into play, and very glad they both were. For a time grass
+    troubled them, and their progress was slow, but the stream
+    gradually broadened and deepened, while its banks became
+    covered with trees and vines, and the very sound of their
+    paddles dipping into the clear water was a joy to them. Again
+    the brook widened, this time into a shallow bay, but a narrow,
+    deep channel remained, which soon led the boys into a tidal
+    river.</p>
+
+    <p>They were about to follow the current of the river when the
+    head of some strange animal was lifted above the surface of the
+    water near them, followed by a mass of water thrown high in the
+    air by a big tail, which flashed in sight for a moment. A line
+    of great swirls, like those made by the propeller of a
+    steamboat, led out in the bay and marked the course of the
+    fleeing creature. Ned and Dick forgot that they were tired, and
+    paddled furiously on the trail until they reached the end of
+    it. Another <span class="pagenum"><a name="page100"
+       id="page100"></a>[pg 100]</span> line of swirls showed where
+       the creature had gone, and once more they followed him.
+       Again and again they were led on until they had traveled a
+       couple of miles, when they lost the trail completely. While
+       they were trying to find it Dick saw the head of the thing
+       lifted for an instant, some two hundred yards away, at the
+       mouth of a little cove. When they reached the cove they
+       found the water clear and deep, and while drifting quietly
+       on its surface they saw resting on the bottom near them a
+       curious creature about ten feet long, with flippers like a
+       seal and a big, powerful tail set crosswise like that of a
+       dolphin.</p>
+
+    <p>"I know what that is," said Ned excitedly. "I've been
+    reading about the fauna of Florida lately, and this isn't a
+    fish. It's a very rare mammal, a manatee, or sea-cow. It's
+    perfectly harmless. I wonder if we could catch it. Let's try
+    it. I'll fix a lasso and throw it over the manatee's head when
+    it comes up to breathe."</p>
+
+    <p>"S'pose you get your rope over its head, what will happen
+    next to the canoe&mdash;and to us?"</p>
+
+    <p>"That's what I want to find out. Please paddle a little
+    nearer very quietly. He is beginning to rise," said Ned, who
+    had made a noose in the end of a harpoon line and was standing
+    in the bow of the canoe, ready to throw it the instant the
+    creature's nose reached the surface.</p>
+
+    <p>"I see our finish," said Dick as he held his paddle ready to
+    steady the canoe, which was already
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page101"
+       id="page101"></a>[pg 101]</span> endangered by Ned's
+       standing up in it. The next instant the manatee came to the
+       surface, and as the creature lifted its head Ned threw his
+       lasso over it. An upward stroke of the big tail of the
+       manatee sent a column of water in the air which half filled
+       the canoe and nearly capsized it, in spite of Dick's best
+       efforts. When the commotion subsided Ned had disappeared.
+       Dick looked wildly over the surface and then into the water,
+       and was just going overboard to search the bottom when Ned's
+       head appeared on the surface. At first the boy seemed
+       confused and swam away from the canoe, but turned when Dick
+       called to him. The canoe was half full of water, and as it
+       would have been difficult for Ned to get aboard without
+       capsizing it, he swam to the nearest key, while Dick paddled
+       the canoe to the shoal water beside it. As the boys stood in
+       the water bailing out the canoe and examining its cargo,
+       Dick said to Ned:</p>
+
+    <p>"What did your book say about the manatee being a perfectly
+    harmless animal? I'd sure hate to be spanked by that harmless
+    tail."</p>
+
+    <p>"So it is harmless, and if we can tire one out I'm not
+    afraid to go overboard and tackle him in the water."</p>
+
+    <p>"Neither am I afraid, and I'll go overboard with you, only
+    I'm afraid that by the time we've tired one of those things I
+    won't be able to swim at all."</p>
+
+    <p>Late that afternoon, as the boys were paddling through a
+    long narrow bay of many keys, they
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page102"
+       id="page102"></a>[pg 102]</span> became anxious, because for
+       hours they had not seen a bit of ground on which they could
+       camp.</p>
+
+    <p>"Looks as if we've got to sleep in the water," said Dick.
+    "If Johnny were here he would fix up a camp anywhere, and I'll
+    do the best I can. Let's keep on to that point where the
+    palmettos are. If we don't find land there we'll camp on
+    mangrove roots."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys were in luck, for under the palmettos on the point
+    was a regular Indian camping-ground, with logs for the
+    camp-fire in place and poles ready for stretching a canvas
+    covering, or rigging up mosquito bars.</p>
+
+    <p>It was the boys' first real camp together, the very camp of
+    which they had talked and dreamed for years in that far-off
+    Belleville, now more than a thousand miles away. Never before
+    was there so wonderful a supper as the boys enjoyed that night.
+    There was venison, superbly broiled by Ned; a perfect ash-cake,
+    built and baked by Dick, and a pot of gorgeous coffee, for
+    which both claimed credit. They lingered long over their
+    supper, and then talked for half the night as they lay on their
+    bed of palmetto leaves and watched the stars that looked down
+    upon them through the tops of the trees. From the deep water
+    that flowed past the point on which they were encamped came the
+    occasional snort of a dolphin, the crash of a whip-ray as he
+    struck the water after a leap high in the air, and the
+    splashing of fish as they pursued others or were pursued
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page103"
+       id="page103"></a>[pg 103]</span> by them. From the thicket
+       behind their camp came the snarling of wildcats, while in
+       the more distant woods the curdling cry of the panther, or
+       mountain lion, could be heard from time to time. A long roar
+       that rose and fell and seemed to come from all sides at once
+       was recognized by Ned as the bellowing of an alligator.
+       Sometimes they heard the beating of invisible wings as
+       flocks of birds flew over them, while the "Hoo! hoo hoo! hoo
+       hoo!" of talkative owls as they conversed lasted throughout
+       the night.</p>
+
+    <p>Ned was so anxious for another chance at a manatee that the
+    boys decided to camp where they were and hunt the creature
+    regularly.</p>
+
+    <p>"We'll leave all our stores in camp," said Ned, "because we
+    might get capsized."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, yes! We <i>might</i> get capsized! Is there a chance on
+    earth that we might <i>not</i> get capsized? We'll leave
+    everything in camp excepting the paddles and that lasso of
+    yours which did you so much good yesterday."</p>
+
+    <p>"You like to talk, Dick, but you know you wouldn't miss that
+    manatee hunt for a farm. We will have to put it off a day or
+    two, though, until we kill a deer and jerk the venison. We've
+    just eaten the last scrap of meat in camp. There's a trail
+    running back into the bushes that must lead to a meadow where
+    we can walk and probably find deer."</p>
+
+    <p>"All right. You'll take your rifle and I'll tag
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page104"
+       id="page104"></a>[pg 104]</span> on with the shotgun, just
+       to see that you keep out of mischief."</p>
+
+    <p>The trail which the boys followed did lead to a meadow where
+    there were plenty of deer tracks, but no deer. They waded and
+    tramped through the meadow to its farther side, where they
+    entered a wooded swamp. Here they started up a deer, at which
+    Ned took two snap-shots as the creature ran away. They traveled
+    in the swamp for an hour, when they came to another meadow, on
+    the farther side of which two deer were feeding. The wind must
+    have carried a hostile scent to the quarry, for they slipped
+    quietly into the swamp, and when the boys entered it were not
+    to be seen. Again the young hunters sought their game through
+    the swamp. They worked their way through thickets, among
+    tangles of roots and vines, and wallowed through
+    moccasin-infested pools of water and mud. In the excitement of
+    the chase the boys took no note of time or of the direction in
+    which they were traveling. It was late in the day when, with
+    clothing muddied and torn, the boys, exhausted and discouraged,
+    sat on a log in a swamp and decided to give up the hunt and go
+    back to camp. They turned back and Ned led the way while Dick
+    followed until they brought up against an impassable mangrove
+    swamp. Ned looked to the right and the left, and then turning
+    to Billy asked if he knew where camp was.</p>
+
+    <p>"No," said Dick.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page105"
+       id="page105"></a>[pg 105]</span>
+
+    <p>"Then we're lost."</p>
+
+    <p>"Of course. You're always lost in a swamp. Mr. Streeter says
+    so. He says you may lose your boat or your camp, but with a
+    rifle, matches and a little salt you can travel over all South
+    Florida.".</p>
+
+    <p>Ned looked so unhappy over their prospects that Dick took
+    the lead, saying:</p>
+
+    <p>"If we don't get out of this swamp pretty soon we'll have to
+    camp in it, and we'll need some daylight to fix up in."</p>
+
+    <p>At this moment a night heron lit on a branch near Dick, who
+    raised his gun and shot it.</p>
+
+    <p>"That's our supper, Ned. I wouldn't shoot a bird sitting
+    unless I was starving. Don't the woods look lighter over
+    there?" In a few minutes the boys were in an open prairie,
+    where Dick produced a waterproof match-box, which was well
+    filled, and a small bag of salt. A fire was soon built, the
+    heron dressed, broiled and eaten with only fingers for forks.
+    The boys washed down their dinners with water from a pool,
+    which they first examined for moccasins by the light of a
+    burning palmetto fan.</p>
+
+    <p>Ned slept with his rifle by his side, and Dick was awakened
+    in the morning by its discharge. He saw Ned sitting beside him
+    with the rifle in his hand, while a hundred yards away, on the
+    edge of the clearing, a buck lay on his back kicking. While the
+    boys were hoisting the carcass to the branch of a tree, Ned
+    said to Dick:</p>
+
+    <p>"I was in a blue funk yesterday afternoon. I want
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page106"
+       id="page106"></a>[pg 106]</span> you to promise to kick me
+       if I get scared that way again."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick laughed and replied:</p>
+
+    <p>"That would be all right, Ned, if I felt sure what you would
+    be doing while I was kicking you."</p>
+
+    <p>After breakfast, which consisted of venison, Dick suggested
+    that they go to work systematically to find their lost camp,
+    and proceeded to climb a tall palmetto that stood in the
+    clearing to take an observation. When half way up the tree he
+    slid back to the ground looking like a chimney-sweep. For the
+    outside of the palmetto, like most of those that grow on
+    prairies, had been turned into charcoal by the burning of the
+    prairie grass.</p>
+
+    <p>"Ned," said Dick, when the former had stopped laughing at
+    the blackamoor before him because he was out of breath, "I
+    guess it's your turn to kick me. Do you see that trail where I
+    stopped last night to build our camp-fire because I didn't know
+    the way to camp?"</p>
+
+    <p>"See it now. Didn't know it was there before, though."</p>
+
+    <p>"No more did I; but I saw it yesterday morning, and I took
+    special notice of this palmetto and made sure that I'd never
+    forget this prairie. Why, Ned, this is our own camping-ground,
+    and I could throw a biscuit from this prairie to our canoe. Now
+    you can kick."</p>
+
+    <p>After the boys had carried their venison to their camp, Ned
+    said:</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page107"
+       id="page107"></a>[pg 107]</span>
+
+    <p>"Dick, do you know how to jerk venison?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I've seen Johnny smoke it. Is that the same thing?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure! So while you're skinning the buck I'll lam into that
+    black mangrove log and build a fire under the little scaffold
+    of small poles there, which you hadn't seen, but which was
+    built to cure venison. Say, Dick, don't you want to hire out as
+    a scout?"</p>
+
+    <p>Dick grinned, but made no other reply, and they began the
+    work of jerking the venison. They cut it in thin strips and
+    hung it over the fire of the black mangrove, which is one of
+    the smokiest woods on earth. All day long they fed the fire and
+    watched the venison, while scores of buzzards sat around on the
+    trees and overlooked the work. Far into the night the boys lay
+    beside the fire, watched its curling smoke, and talked of that
+    camp in the snow in the North of the long
+    ago.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page108"
+       id="page108"></a>[pg 108]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER IX</h3>
+
+    <h3>THE CAPTURE OF THE MANATEE</h3>
+
+    <p>The manatee hunt began as soon as the venison had been
+    cured. The boys explored the waters about their camp, making
+    each day a longer trip and taking careful note of all the
+    waters they explored. They usually hunted through the forenoon,
+    and after dinner Ned mapped out the course they had taken while
+    Dick took a walk with the shot-gun and picked up an Indian hen,
+    or limp-kin, or a brace of ducks for supper. Within a week Ned
+    had made a good working chart of the country about them, both
+    land and water, and the boys had come to know their
+    surroundings as if they had been born among them. Nearly every
+    day they found and chased a manatee. Sometimes they found three
+    or four in a day, but the creatures always swam faster than
+    their pursuers and were still frisky when the boys were worn to
+    frazzles.</p>
+
+    <p>One morning a big manatee which they were chasing happened
+    to come up beside the canoe to breathe, when Ned splashed it
+    with his paddle and drove it under water before it could catch
+    its breath. The sea-cow had to come up again in a few seconds
+    and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page109"
+       id="page109"></a>[pg 109]</span> was once more driven below
+       the surface by Ned. Almost instantly the creature lifted its
+       head so far above the surface that Ned dropped his paddle
+       and seized the soft nose of the manatee with both hands.</p>
+
+    <p>"Look out!" yelled Dick, but he was the one to have looked
+    out. For, as the sea-cow threw down its head and tail, Ned was
+    dragged out of the canoe onto his upward-arching back. Then the
+    animal's back was curved downward and the flat tail thrown
+    violently upward into the air. As the stern of the canoe was
+    over the tail and Dick was in the stern of the canoe, both boy
+    and canoe went suddenly in the air with a few barrels of water
+    over and around them. When Dick came to the surface he saw his
+    companion being savagely tossed about by an angry monster that
+    seemed to be holding him between his jaws. Dick was terribly
+    frightened and swam as swiftly as possible to Ned's help, but
+    before he could reach him the boy had been tossed aside and the
+    manatee had disappeared.</p>
+
+    <p>"Are you hurt?" said Dick, as soon as he got enough breath
+    to speak.</p>
+
+    <p>"Course not! Manatees are harmless. Told you so before. But,
+    say, Dicky boy, why didn't you get there a minute sooner and
+    grab a flipper? He'd be our manatee now, if you had."</p>
+
+    <p>"More likely he'd have had us, Neddy. You didn't see what he
+    did to me with just one slap of his tail."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys collected their paddles and swam with
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page110"
+       id="page110"></a>[pg 110]</span> the canoe to shoal water,
+       where they lifted it, poured out the water and got
+       aboard.</p>
+
+    <p>On their next hunt the boys put a number of chunks of wood
+    in the canoe and when a manatee was started they paddled
+    quietly and tried not to frighten the creature by going too
+    near it at first. Then Ned took in his paddle and armed himself
+    with chunks of wood, while Dick paddled toward the quarry. When
+    the sea-cow lifted its nose out of water, for air, it was hit
+    or splashed by a chunk. The frightened animal dove quickly, but
+    came up again almost immediately for the air it had to have.
+    Another chunk hit its nose, but, confused and half strangled,
+    the manatee hardly moved until Dick had driven the canoe beside
+    it and Ned had landed on its back. Ned failed to grasp the
+    creature's nose with his right hand, but caught the manatee by
+    the flipper with his left and clung to it, although tossed off
+    of the back of the animal. But Dick was in the river a second
+    after his companion and was clutching the right flipper of the
+    manatee with one hand and reaching for its nose with the other.
+    The sea-cow threw its tail high in the air, then lashing it
+    downward, plunged, head-foremost, deep in the water. The boys
+    went under but hung on to the flippers, and Dick got a grip on
+    the creature's nose. Both of the boys were expert swimmers and
+    divers, and were prepared to stay under water as much as a
+    minute rather than release their quarry, but within half that
+    time the animal wanted to breathe and rose to the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page111"
+       id="page111"></a>[pg 111]</span> surface. After that the
+       boys had little trouble, and the manatee, which was a small
+       one, became almost tame. They swam with it to a shoal place
+       where, standing in water a little more than waist deep, they
+       petted and soothed their prize until it seemed quite
+       friendly. Suddenly, Dick exclaimed:</p>
+
+    <p>"What's become of the canoe? I capsized it when I went
+    overboard and haven't thought of it since."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'd forgotten it, too. It must have floated with the tide a
+    good ways down the river by this time. I'll swim down stream
+    and hunt it up, if you will stay here and take care of the
+    manatee, unless you think we had better turn it loose and both
+    go for the canoe. We will be in a bad fix if we lose it. If you
+    can take care of the manatee I can find the canoe." And Ned
+    swam away down the river.</p>
+
+    <p>Helped by the current he had swum a mile when the stream
+    spread out into a bay that was a mile long and nearly as wide,
+    which was filled with eel-grass and covered with moss. He soon
+    found one of the paddles, but in getting it became entangled in
+    the long grass, until he was in great danger of drowning. By
+    lying lengthways on the paddle, keeping his legs extended and
+    swimming with long over-hand strokes, he got out of the tangle.
+    He had been pretty well frightened, and swimming to the shore,
+    climbed up on some mangrove roots. After looking for a long
+    time, Ned made out the bow of the submerged little canoe
+    sticking out from a bunch of moss in the eel-grass. It was
+    about an eighth of a mile away
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page112"
+       id="page112"></a>[pg 112]</span> and he started for it,
+       swimming along the edge of the field of grass, but sheering
+       away constantly, as the treacherous current seemed striving
+       to sweep him within the clinging clutch of the swaying
+       blades of the rope-like grass.</p>
+
+    <p>When Ned got opposite the canoe he found that it was forty
+    feet within the field of grass. He dreaded to put himself again
+    within that deadly grasp, but the thought of Dick waiting for
+    him, alone with that strange beast, nerved him to make the
+    plunge. Again he lay on the paddle, keeping his feet quiet and
+    making his way slowly with his hands toward the canoe. At last
+    he reached the craft, but could do nothing with it. He could
+    not pull it and it refused to be pushed. He could touch the
+    bottom with his feet, but it was of soft mud and the thick
+    grass tangled him worse than ever. He got into the canoe and
+    lay on his back under the thwarts, with only part of his head
+    out of water. By rocking the canoe, with a short, jerky motion,
+    he got rid of some of the water and finished the bailing with
+    his hat. It was not easy to paddle out through the grass and
+    moss to the open water, but Ned accomplished it. Standing up in
+    the canoe, he searched for the other paddle and soon saw and
+    recovered it. He had now more than a mile to paddle against a
+    tide that was still strong, and he saw, to his alarm, that it
+    was nearly sunset. It was about midday when they tackled the
+    manatee, and Dick must have been alone with it for a good many
+    hours. Ned was so anxious that
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page113"
+       id="page113"></a>[pg 113]</span> he paddled furiously and
+       was glad enough when he found Dick standing in water
+       shoulder deep, hanging on to the flipper of the manatee, and
+       occasionally patting its nose with his hand.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/112.jpg"
+             name="fig112"
+             id="fig112"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/112.jpg"
+             alt='"HE FOUND DICK STANDING IN WATER SHOULDER DEEP, HANGING ON TO THE FLIPPER OF THE MANATEE"' />
+        </a>"HE FOUND DICK STANDING IN WATER SHOULDER DEEP, HANGING
+        ON TO THE FLIPPER OF THE MANATEE"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"Oh, Ned! I'm glad to see you," was Dick's greeting to his
+    chum. "A hundred times, I've almost let this beast go so that I
+    could swim down the river and look for you. If I hadn't heard
+    you coming a few minutes ago I'd have been off by now,
+    anyhow."</p>
+
+    <p>"What could you have done, swimming down a big river like
+    this, in the dark?"</p>
+
+    <p>"What could I have done here, or back in camp, without you,
+    Ned?"</p>
+
+    <p>Ned gave an amusing account of his adventures and made fun
+    of his fears.</p>
+
+    <p>"Now tell me what happened to you, in those long hours. Did
+    you get scared, too, Dick?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Most of my scare was about you, though I did have one or
+    two little troubles of my own. For a good while after you swam
+    away the baby behaved like a cherub. He let me put my arm
+    around him, as far as it would go, and when I rubbed his soft
+    mouth with my hand he seemed to like it. Then, suddenly he
+    lashed out with his tail, threw me off my feet and carried me
+    out into deep water. I don't quite know how I managed to turn
+    him around and get back with him into shoal water. I know I was
+    under water a good deal and got very much out of breath. I
+    guess, though, from the grip I kept on that baby's nose, that
+    he was short of wind himself. Anyhow,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page114"
+       id="page114"></a>[pg 114]</span> when we got back and I let
+       go, he lifted his head out of water and sniffed and snorted
+       like a cow with the consumption. Then, just as I was feeling
+       pretty good and thinking what a nice nurse for a manatee
+       baby I was and what an easy job it seemed, I got a terrible
+       jar.</p>
+
+    <p>"Something punched me gently in the back, and when I turned
+    my head I saw a monster that must have been twelve feet long,
+    and weighed a ton or two. It was Baby's ma! She poked her nose
+    all over him and even rubbed it against my arm, which was
+    around him, but I never flinched, though there ought to be some
+    stronger word than scared to fully express my feelings, when I
+    felt that big mouth against my arm. The great manatee mother
+    didn't seem to mind me a bit, as she swam around us two or
+    three times, but I squirmed a good deal when that tremendous
+    tail, which was moving so slowly, came opposite me, and I
+    wondered if it was going to mash me as flat as a sheet of
+    paper, or only knock me over the tops of the mangroves. But
+    that scare was nothing to the next one. After Ma Manatee had
+    gone, Baby and I had a quiet hour or so and I was getting
+    pretty tired and beginning to worry a lot about you, when
+    something happened to set me to worrying about myself. This is
+    a big, deep river, and there was enough going on to amuse me,
+    dolphins, turtles and tarpon coming up to blow as they passed
+    and small fish jumping out of the water most of the
+    time.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page115"
+       id="page115"></a>[pg 115]</span>
+
+    <p>"Sometimes a splash and the scattering of little fish when a
+    big one got after them startled me for a minute, but I got over
+    minding it much, when a big, big splash came and there was a
+    long struggle in the river near me. Perhaps I wouldn't have
+    minded it so much, but Baby got crazy again and I couldn't
+    soothe him. Next minute I didn't blame him, for I was 'most
+    crazy myself. Out from all the ruction in the water, there
+    came, swimming slowly toward us, a great leopard shark. I knew
+    him from the spots which covered his body, for he was so near
+    that I could have counted them. He was certainly over ten feet
+    long and looked as if he had plenty of room in his stomach for
+    both the baby and me. I remembered that Mr. Streeter had told
+    me that no shark in this country had ever attacked a human
+    being, so I braced up a little and pulled that splashing
+    manatee baby out toward the shark, and I splashed some myself
+    and acted as if I wanted to eat that Tiger of the Sea. Would
+    you believe it? He was scared silly and, though I was in a blue
+    funk myself, I laughed so that you might have heard me if you
+    had been listening. For behind that shark was a wake such as a
+    big motor boat would have made. After the shark had gone, I had
+    another worrying fit. You had been gone a long time, and the
+    thought kept coming to me that you might have met that shark.
+    Neddy boy, next time you go off alone on a long swim, I'm going
+    with you. Now what shall we do with the baby? The tide will
+    turn before long and I s'pose we could
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page116"
+       id="page116"></a>[pg 116]</span> get him to camp. He'd go
+       along all right, but it would be a mile swim, though we
+       could take turns at it."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'd rather swim all the way," said Ned, "than to climb into
+    this canoe once, from the river. But what's the use? There's no
+    grass at the camp and the water is too deep for an infant like
+    Baby. Why not tie him here for to-night? Then to-morrow we will
+    take him down to that big bay and make a nursery for him in a
+    shallow little cove that I saw there. It's full of nice manatee
+    grass and we can put stakes across the mouth, or pasture Baby
+    at the end of a rope. But what are we going to do with him,
+    after that?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't borrow trouble, Ned. That question will come up
+    later. The next thing for us to do is to tie this little beast.
+    So trot out that harpoon line."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick untied the harpoon line, which was kept lashed to a
+    thwart in the canoe, and, after getting overboard, carefully
+    fastened the painter of the canoe to a mangrove root. The boys
+    made a harness for the little manatee of one end of the line,
+    by making one loop around the body of the baby, just behind his
+    flippers, another around his tail and then connecting the two.
+    The other end of the harpoon line was then fastened to a
+    mangrove tree on the bank and the baby was turned loose. Dick
+    steadied the canoe while Ned climbed aboard, but when Ned tried
+    to steady it for Dick to get in it, there was a capsize. Dick
+    apologized for his clumsiness and Ned
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page117"
+       id="page117"></a>[pg 117]</span> complained that he hated to
+       get wet. The next attempt was successful and the boys were
+       soon eating venison and drinking coffee at their camp. They
+       were tired and talkative when they lay down for the night,
+       and both went to sleep in the middle of a sentence.</p>
+
+    <p>The boys hurried through their breakfast the next morning,
+    anxious to see their captive, which they found where they left
+    him, quite friendly and almost unafraid. Dick took the line in
+    the stern of the canoe, while Ned paddled from the bow. Baby
+    was tractable and allowed himself to be towed, even swimming
+    himself. He behaved best when his head was brought beside the
+    canoe and seemed to like the petting that Dick gave him. When
+    the baby had been tied in the little cove that Ned had
+    discovered, in such a way that he could range over the whole of
+    his nursery, the boys decided not to put a row of poles across
+    the mouth of it. Dick thought it was too much work and Ned said
+    it was no use, because Ma Manatee would knock the whole
+    business over the tree-tops with one gentle little whack of her
+    tail.</p>
+
+    <p>They paddled back to their camp and hunted over the prairies
+    behind it all the afternoon. Ned shot another buck, this time
+    in a very boggy swamp. It was not a big buck, but before they
+    got out of the swamp with it the boys had learned several ways
+    in which a deer should not be carried. First, one took the
+    carcass by the tail-end and the other by the head. The middle
+    of the body sagged down in the mud and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page118"
+       id="page118"></a>[pg 118]</span> pulled the boys after it.
+       Then the creature was slung on a pole, which they took on
+       their shoulders. This was better, but every time one
+       stumbled, which was most of the time, both landed in the
+       bog. Then Ned remembered what all boys should know, and the
+       legs of the buck were skinned up to the knee joints. With
+       these loose ends of skin, the legs were so tied together in
+       pairs as to form a loop through which the arms could be
+       thrust and the whole body of the deer worn like a coat.</p>
+
+    <p>By taking turns at toting the thing, the boys got their
+    venison to camp without very much trouble. While jerking it
+    they were very glad to lie around camp and rest, and gossip.
+    But their talk always came around to one subject&mdash;what to
+    do with their captive. Ned wanted to send him North to some
+    aquarium, but didn't quite see how to do it. Dick offered to
+    swim him down the rivers to the Gulf of Mexico if Ned would
+    sail him up the coast to Marco or Myers, for shipment by water
+    or rail.</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm really in earnest about this, Dick, because I know
+    father would like it so much. He is always looking out for
+    curiosities to send to museums or his collecting friends, and
+    this would be such a rare thing."</p>
+
+    <p>"Would your father stand for a good big bill to get Baby
+    north?"</p>
+
+    <p>"He'd stand for anything! What's in your noddle, Dick?"</p>
+
+    <p>"It can be done, easy. We're not many miles from
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page119"
+       id="page119"></a>[pg 119]</span> the coast, and I've been
+       wrecked on that coast, Neddy, so I remember it. We will
+       paddle down this river, and as many more as are necessary,
+       until we get to the Gulf. Then we'll paddle along the coast
+       to the shack of a fisherman whom I know. He's got a sloop
+       and all you've got to do is to offer him enough, to make him
+       hustle around for lumber and make a water-tight box big
+       enough for Baby to travel in. Then we will help him get the
+       infant aboard, start him for the railroad and go back to our
+       hunt. Has your father an agent in Myers who'd take your word
+       for the bill? Coz if he didn't the account would likely be
+       settled with a shot-gun."</p>
+
+    <p>"Agent? Why, dad will be there himself by that time. And if
+    he isn't, the agent is there all right, all right. So if your
+    pirate settles with me with a shot-gun, I'll settle with that
+    agent, same way."</p>
+
+    <p>As soon as the meat was cured, the boys started for the
+    coast in their canoe. On the way they stopped at the nursery
+    and found Baby almost glad to see them, and when Ned put half a
+    banana in his mouth, the little manatee seemed really grateful.
+    Ned even thought that when he pressed the baby's flipper
+    good-bye, the pressure was returned, at least that is what he
+    told Dick. The canoeists had trouble in avoiding the grass and
+    moss of the big bay, but two hours of paddling carried them to
+    the coast, where a strong on-shore wind was sending long
+    rollers up on the beach. Dick knew where
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page120"
+       id="page120"></a>[pg 120]</span> they were, and said that
+       they had come down Broad River, and that the fisherman's
+       ranch was only six or seven miles up the coast.</p>
+
+    <p>"We can walk up the beach to it and save time. The water is
+    too rough for the canoe," said Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't know about that. I've lived on the water some and
+    I've seen curious things done with canoes. Let's try it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Better try the waves with an empty canoe first. Then I'll
+    be with you."</p>
+
+    <p>The canoe was unloaded on a quiet bit of the beach which lay
+    behind a shoal and the boys by turns got into the canoe and
+    paddled out among the breakers. Then they went out together and
+    through it all the canoe rose to the waves like a duck. Then
+    they reloaded their canoe and started up the beach. At times
+    the wind was stronger and the waves bigger, but always the
+    canoe rode them with a gait like a rocking-chair. They paddled
+    easily, "taking the waves on the bias," as Dick observed,
+    heading a little off-shore to balance the push of the wind and
+    the waves.</p>
+
+    <p>The fisherman was at home, and Ned soon closed a contract
+    with him to carry Baby Manatee to Myers at Ned's cost and risk,
+    payment to be made in Myers by Mr. Barstow or his agent. The
+    man had just got in some lumber to build a skiff. This would
+    serve to build the box, and the charge for it would be five
+    dollars. The fisherman said he would need the help of his son;
+    that the charge for the two
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page121"
+       id="page121"></a>[pg 121]</span> would be four dollars a
+       day, and he "reckoned" it would take eight days, so the
+       contract was closed for thirty-seven dollars. He was ready
+       to start right off and catch the evening tide up Broad
+       River.</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't you want to make the box first?" said Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"Reckon not. 'Druther see the manatee 'fore I spile good
+    lumber. Manatees is mighty scurse in this country."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick flared up, and said to the fisherman:</p>
+
+    <p>"Do you mean that we've been lying about a manatee?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Course not, not lyin'; manatee's all right, only you ain't
+    much ust to 'em and it may be bigger'n you think, 'nd I'd hate
+    to make th' box too little."</p>
+
+    <p>The lumber was taken on board, the canoe unloaded and laid
+    on the deck of the sloop, the sails reefed and with her skiff
+    drawn close up under her stern the craft was soon flying down
+    the coast. When she reached the river the reefs were shaken out
+    and in little more than an hour anchor was dropped beside the
+    manatee cove. It was nearly dark and work was to begin the next
+    morning, but all hands wanted a look at the little manatee. The
+    fisherman and his son went in their own skiff while Ned and
+    Dick led the way in the canoe.</p>
+
+    <p>"Now I'll show you something worth seeing," said Ned, as he
+    took hold of the end of the line and pulled it all easily in.
+    As Ned sat looking at the broken end of the line, half
+    stupefied by the greatness of his surprise, the fisherman
+    laughed and said: <span class="pagenum"><a name="page122"
+       id="page122"></a>[pg 122]</span> "That sure was worth seem',
+       'nd I reckon I've saved you five dollars by not makin' that
+       box till I got here 'nd saw the critter."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'll keep the contract. It isn't your fault that the
+    manatee has got away."</p>
+
+    <p>"No, I reckon 'twan't anybody's fault, much. All I want out
+    o' you is four dollars for one day's work," and the fisherman
+    laughed again, adding a moment afterward:</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm 'most ashamed to take that much, but I reckon the
+    joke's been wuth it ter you."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned paid the four dollars and the boys paddled back to their
+    old camp for the night. On the way back Ned stopped paddling,
+    and turning back, said to Dick:</p>
+
+    <p>"Did that old fellow mean that he didn't believe we had
+    caught a manatee at all?"</p>
+
+    <p>"If I thought he did, I'd go back and punch his head."</p>
+
+    <p>"No, you wouldn't. He isn't to blame. He only thought what
+    everybody who hears of it and don't know us will think. I hope
+    he won't tell about it in Myers, so that it will get to Dad's
+    ears."</p>
+
+    <p>"I shouldn't think you'd care for that," said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, Dad enjoys a joke and I would likely hear of 'Ned's
+    manatee' pretty frequent for some
+    time."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page123"
+       id="page123"></a>[pg 123]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER X</h3>
+
+    <h3>HARPOONING FROM A CANOE</h3>
+
+    <p>Do you want to go for any more manatees?" asked Dick, the
+    next morning.</p>
+
+    <p>"Guess not. We're pretty well acquainted with the critters
+    already and if we tackled another it would likely be a bigger
+    one, and the sample we had was about all we could manage. But
+    the bay here is full of big fish. Suppose we get out the little
+    harpoon and pick up some drum-fish, channel-bass or a
+    whip-ray?"</p>
+
+    <p>When the boys started out for a day of harpooning, Dick sat
+    high up on the stern of the canoe with the paddle, while Ned
+    stood in the bow with the harpoon.</p>
+
+    <p>"Hadn't you better sit down in the bottom of the canoe to
+    paddle? The canoe feels wobbly to me," said Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"What's the matter with your nerves, Neddy? I'm not going to
+    capsize you. S'pose I practiced half a day with that papoose
+    for nothing?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Most of that practice was swimming, wasn't it? I don't want
+    any of that in mine
+    to-day."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page124"
+       id="page124"></a>[pg 124]</span>
+
+    <p>Ned harpooned several large drum-fish, and finally got a
+    channel-bass, after missing several.</p>
+
+    <p>"We've got a lot more fish than we can eat now. Let's go for
+    something big and have some fun. Hit that shark over
+    there."</p>
+
+    <p>"That shark could bite this canoe in two and then swallow
+    the pieces. I wouldn't mind that so much if we were in the
+    Glades, but I don't want to be set afoot so far from fresh
+    water. See that big whip-ray! It's a beaut;&mdash;paddle up to
+    it, Dick."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick paddled toward the fish, which was shaped like a
+    butterfly, with a back six feet broad, covered with beautiful
+    little white rings placed on a jet black background. The
+    graceful creature fluttered along the surface of the bay with a
+    bird-like motion, at a speed that soon took it nearly out of
+    sight of the boys. Dick followed it, as it zigzagged about the
+    bay, sometimes skimming on the very surface and then
+    disappearing in the depths for minutes at a time. Once it was
+    out of sight for five minutes, and Dick had just stopped
+    paddling, saying:</p>
+
+    <p>"Got to give it up. That big butterfly is the other side of
+    the bay by this time," when Ned saw the broad back of the
+    creature gliding beneath his harpoon, beside the canoe and a
+    foot or two under the surface. His quick side-throw was doubly
+    effective, for the harpoon was buried in the back of the
+    quarry, while Ned and Dick were buried in the water of the bay.
+    The center of gravity of the canoe's cargo of boys was at least
+    two feet above the gunwales of the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page125"
+       id="page125"></a>[pg 125]</span> craft, and when Ned's
+       side-thrust threw him out of balance, the canoe popped from
+       under him, and as Dick sat on the stern of the canoe and
+       quite outside of it, he was in the water as soon as his
+       chum. The whip-ray had darted away at high speed as soon as
+       the iron touched him, but before the line which was coiled
+       in the harpoon tub had run out, Ned had seized the tub,
+       which was floating near him when he came to the surface.</p>
+
+    <p>The end of the line was fast to the tub and when it was
+    reached Ned was hauled through the water by the fish. If Ned
+    had been built like a canoe, he would probably have caught the
+    whip-ray, but the drag of the boy in the water was too much for
+    the hold the iron had in the body of the creature, and the
+    harpoon tore out. The boys managed to rock the water out of the
+    canoe, but swamped it several times while trying to get in it
+    without going ashore. After they had succeeded, Dick took the
+    harpoon, while Ned sat in the bottom of the canoe with his
+    paddle.</p>
+
+    <p>"Now go ahead and harpoon your fish and I'll show you how to
+    keep a canoe trimmed. What you really need is a scow," said
+    Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"If I couldn't throw a harpoon over the side of a canoe
+    without going over the other side myself, I'd give up fishing
+    and try farming. Now just paddle softly in the wake of that big
+    fin. Know what it is? I thought not. Well, it's the bayonet fin
+    of the tarpon, my son, and if you'll paddle quietly and stay
+    inside the boat, you shall have the fun of your
+    life."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page126"
+       id="page126"></a>[pg 126]</span>
+
+    <p>The tarpon was tame, and Ned paddled within twenty feet of
+    it without frightening it, but Dick made a poor shot. The back
+    of a tarpon is narrow and a small mark for a harpoon when
+    thrown from behind the fish, and Dick's weapon grazed its side,
+    while the pole fell across the back of the tarpon, causing it
+    to give one wild leap and depart for regions unknown. Dick was
+    now out for tarpon, and paid no attention to smaller fish, many
+    of which came within striking distance. Tarpon were scarce that
+    day, and Dick's next chance was an hour in coming, and then the
+    fish happened to be headed for the canoe. The boy had not
+    learned the difficulty of throwing an iron through the coat of
+    mail of a tarpon excepting from abaft the beam of the fish, and
+    he drew in his harpoon with a beautiful four-inch scale fixed
+    on its point.</p>
+
+    <p>"Take the harpoon, Ned. I couldn't hit a house."</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, you could. You hit that tarpon. Only trouble was, you
+    didn't know where to hit it. Keep on practicing. You said I'd
+    have the fun of my life, and I'm having it."</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/124.jpg"
+             name="fig124"
+             id="fig124"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/124.jpg"
+             alt='"THE STRICKEN TARPON LEAPED SIX FEET IN THE AIR"' />
+             </a>"THE STRICKEN TARPON LEAPED SIX FEET IN THE AIR"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>Half an hour later Dick made a beautiful, long throw of
+    nearly thirty feet, and the stricken tarpon leaped six feet in
+    the air. For two hundred yards the frantic fish towed the canoe
+    in a straight line, at a high rate of speed, and then began a
+    series of leaps in the air. Some of these were long jumps which
+    barely cleared the surface of the water, while others were from
+    eight to ten feet vertically upward. The
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page127"
+       id="page127"></a>[pg 127]</span> tarpon then darted away in
+       a new direction, blistering Dick's hands as the line tore
+       through them. For a quarter of an hour the drag of the canoe
+       made little difference in the speed of the tarpon, but then
+       it began to slacken and Dick was able to pull the canoe up
+       beside the fish, which gave a leap and a sweep of its tail
+       that drenched both of the boys and, if the tarpon had been a
+       foot nearer, would have wrecked their craft. Again the
+       creature dashed away, getting back most of the line that
+       Dick had taken in. Once more the fish weakened, and the
+       canoe was drawn up beside it, and once more it sprang in the
+       air and dashed away. But with each fresh effort the tarpon
+       became weaker, until Dick said to Ned:</p>
+
+    <p>"He's about played out. Better take the gaff next time I get
+    near him and see if you can land him in the canoe."</p>
+
+    <p>"No," replied Ned, "he's your tarpon and you can gaff him
+    yourself. He'll capsize the canoe when he comes aboard and I
+    want to be ready to swim."</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:60%;">
+        <a href="images/126.jpg"
+             name="fig126"
+             id="fig126"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/126.jpg"
+             alt='"THE TARPON BEGAN A SERIES OF LEAPS"' /></a>"THE
+             TARPON BEGAN A SERIES OF LEAPS"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>Dick drew the canoe beside the tarpon and, dropping the
+    harpoon-line, held the handle of the big gaff-hook in both
+    hands, ready to strike. But the fish saw the uplifted weapon
+    and sheered away, swimming with renewed vigor, and Dick had to
+    work for another half hour before his quarry was quiet enough
+    for the blow. This delay was fortunate for the boys, since it
+    left the tarpon too tired to struggle. When Dick sank the steel
+    gaff deep in the throat of the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page128"
+       id="page128"></a>[pg 128]</span> Silver King and dragged it
+       over the side of the frail canoe, Ned sat in the bottom of
+       the craft with a hand on each gunwale, ready to balance the
+       boat or swim, as events might indicate.</p>
+
+    <p>The boys took a lot of the big silver scales as souvenirs
+    and then slid the body of the tarpon into the bay, where it was
+    soon devoured by a couple of wandering
+    sharks.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page129"
+       id="page129"></a>[pg 129]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XI</h3>
+
+    <h3>GHOSTS AND ALLIGATORS</h3>
+
+    <p>The boys spent a day exploring the bay to the east and
+    south, finding but a single creek, which lost itself in the
+    jungle after wandering a few miles.</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't believe we can get through this way," said Dick to
+    his chum, as they were resting, after an hour of hard work,
+    cutting away branches of trees and dragging the canoe. "Mr.
+    Streeter told me that the Indians say there is no creek between
+    the bays at the head of Broad River, where we are, and the
+    rivers south of it. Suppose we work our way to the mouth of
+    this river and then follow the coast down to Harney's, which is
+    the next river south of us and the longest one in South
+    Florida."</p>
+
+    <p>"All right, and we can explore that big creek running west
+    from the foot of this bay, which we saw yesterday."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys found the creek to be deep with swift water, but so
+    crooked that a snake would have had to slow up to get through
+    it. After two miles of paddling, which advanced them about half
+    a mile, they found themselves in a broad smooth-flowing river,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page130"
+       id="page130"></a>[pg 130]</span> the most beautiful stream
+       they had ever seen. The big trees on the banks were clothed
+       with airplants, draped with long, flowing gray moss and
+       garlanded with flowering and sweet-scented vines. Sometimes
+       an opening in the forest showed broad savannahs, or
+       prairies, or disclosed groups of tall palmettos or
+       magnificent royal palms, the grandest tree that grows. The
+       water was mirror-like, and the great trees, capped by a mass
+       of white clouds in the blue of the heavens, were repeated
+       below in a reflection that was perfect. The boys paddled for
+       a long time, silent as if in a dream, when Ned spoke in a
+       voice so low that his companion could scarcely hear what he
+       said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Does it make you think of Heaven, Dick?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Guess it does; only," added Dick, in a louder tone, "it
+    will make you think of the other place, pretty soon."</p>
+
+    <p>"What do you mean?"</p>
+
+    <p>"It's a deserted river. Only ghosts stay here. The
+    plantations are grown over, the houses rotting and little
+    sticks in the ground tell where the old owners are. The climate
+    is so bad that skull and bone notices grow on the trees. Then
+    things happen. People eat something and die, or fall out of
+    their boats and drown, or go out in the woods and stay till the
+    buzzards find them. Oh, but it's the peaceful, lovely Rodgers
+    River!"</p>
+
+    <p>"Why, where did you hear all that, Dick?"</p>
+
+    <p>"From Mr. Streeter. He talked a lot and I didn't
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page131"
+       id="page131"></a>[pg 131]</span> forget much that he said.
+       Then Johnny had heard the talk of convicts, and others who
+       ought to have been, and told me about them almost in a
+       whisper, for fear somebody would hear him."</p>
+
+    <p>"There's a rotting old shack, now, by that date palm. Are
+    you afraid of ghosts?"</p>
+
+    <p>"No, rather like 'em. I wouldn't mind camping with them for
+    a day or two, with you for company."</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:60%;">
+        <a href="images/130.jpg"
+             name="fig130"
+             id="fig130"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/130.jpg"
+             alt='"GROUPS OF TALL PALMETTOS, OR MAGNIFICENT TALL PALMS"' />
+        </a>"GROUPS OF TALL PALMETTOS, OR MAGNIFICENT TALL PALMS"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>The house looked too spooky and snaky to live in, and the
+    boys made their camp in the open, near a tamarind tree and, as
+    they observed later, beside an overgrown grave. An old barrel
+    under the eaves of the house was nearly full of rain water,
+    which they were likely to need, since their only supply of
+    fresh water was contained in a five-gallon can, which would
+    hold about two days' requirements. The rain water was good and
+    would have been better but for Ned's gruesome inquiry:</p>
+
+    <p>"You don't suppose it has been poisoned, do you, Dick?"</p>
+
+    <p>On their first afternoon the boys crossed the swampy jungle
+    in the rear of the old plantation and found themselves on a
+    typical South Florida prairie. On it were oases of
+    fire-blackened palmettos, little ponds, palmetto scrub and bits
+    of soggy meadow, in which they often sank to their knees, as
+    they plodded across them. There were tracks of wild animals in
+    the meadows and regular trails of alligators between the ponds.
+    Billy stopped beside one of the ponds
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page132"
+       id="page132"></a>[pg 132]</span> and grunted, as he had been
+       taught by Johnny, until a little 'gator showed his head.</p>
+
+    <p>"See that alligator, Ned? Let's go in there and fetch him
+    out."</p>
+
+    <p>"Not much do I go in that mud-hole, alligator or no
+    alligator."</p>
+
+    <p>"Then, just you watch me," said Dick, as he took off his
+    shoes and stockings.</p>
+
+    <p>"See here, Dicky boy, come out of there," said Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>But Dick kept on, wading all round the pond before he felt
+    the wiggle he wanted. Perhaps his toes were less tough than
+    Johnny's, or maybe he didn't manage them as well, for one of
+    them got in a baby 'gator's mouth. Dick couldn't suppress a
+    yell as two rows of needle-like teeth sunk into his flesh, and
+    he jerked his foot away so violently that he lost the chance of
+    bagging his game. Then Ned came floundering through the mud and
+    almost dragged him out of the pond.</p>
+
+    <p>"I mean to get that little alligator if it takes all day,
+    only I won't try him barefoot again," said Dick, as he slowly
+    drew his stocking over his aching toe.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick waded out into the pond again and for half an hour
+    explored with his feet for the reptile he was after, but all in
+    vain. Several times he thought he touched the creature with his
+    shoe, but could not be sure. Then he waded ashore and began
+    taking off his
+    shoes.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page133"
+       id="page133"></a>[pg 133]</span>
+
+    <p>"What are you going to do now, Dick?" said Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"Johnny waded barefoot into just such a pond as that and
+    brought out a 'gator. I told him then that what he could do, I
+    could. I'm plumb scared to go in that pond barefoot, but that
+    young Cracker, who's a year younger than I, waded right in
+    without stopping to think whether it was safe or not. If Johnny
+    was here he'd have that 'gator out of that pond, toes or no
+    toes, and that's what I'm going to do," and Dick waded barefoot
+    into the pond again and began feeling around in the mud with
+    his toes.</p>
+
+    <p>"If you feel that way about it, I'm with you, Dick," said
+    Ned, as he began to take off his shoes. But before he reached
+    the water the reptile had been caught, and Dick waded ashore
+    with the wriggling little alligator in his hand.</p>
+
+    <p>"There's a bigger one in there. He whacked me on the shin
+    with his tail, just after I caught the little one. Let's get
+    him."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys waded side by side, the length of the pond, several
+    times without finding another 'gator, although the occasional
+    roiling of the water showed that there were others in the pond.
+    They were about to give up the hunt when something struck Ned's
+    leg and, grabbing suddenly at the thing, he found that he had a
+    five-foot alligator by the head. He held the jaws of the 'gator
+    shut while Dick seized the hind legs of the reptile, and
+    together they carried the creature
+    ashore.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page134"
+       id="page134"></a>[pg 134]</span>
+
+    <p>"I wonder where that fellow was hidden," said Dick, after
+    the alligator had been safely tied. "My toes have felt in every
+    inch of the mud in the bottom of that pond. Maybe there's
+    another one. Let's get him," and Dick started into the
+    pond.</p>
+
+    <p>"Wait till I get some clubs and I'll be with you. There may
+    be a big 'gator in there who wouldn't be satisfied with a
+    toe."</p>
+
+    <p>It was well they had clubs when they went back in the pond,
+    for after a few minutes' searching, Dick struck something, and
+    the tail of a reptile came to the surface beside him. As he
+    grabbed it with both hands, and hung on with all his strength,
+    a long body curved upward from it, a big head was uplifted, and
+    two rows of ivory teeth gleamed from wide-opened jaws before
+    Dick's eyes. Before the boy could move or the beast strike,
+    Ned's club came crashing down on the reptile's head. As the
+    jaws closed and the head fell back, a second and yet more
+    furious blow fell upon it. As they dragged the stunned or dead
+    'gator out of the pond, Ned said:</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm going to round-skin this alligator and save the skull,
+    for mounting. I'll keep it in my den as a reminder of this trip
+    and of you."</p>
+
+    <p>"If it hadn't been for your club, it would have been more of
+    a reminder of me than it is now."</p>
+
+    <p>The alligator came to life a few times, while they were
+    skinning it, and had to be killed over again, and the tail did
+    some wiggling even after the spine had been severed. When the
+    skinning operation was <span class="pagenum"><a name="page135"
+       id="page135"></a>[pg 135]</span> over the boys went back to
+       camp, where they found an old kettle, in which they boiled
+       the skull of the alligator and cleaned it of flesh and
+       brains in preparation for mounting.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/134.jpg"
+             name="fig134"
+             id="fig134"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/134.jpg"
+             alt="HE HELD THE JAWS OF THE 'GATOR SHUT, WHILE DICK SEIZED THE HIND LEGS OF THE REPTILE" />
+        </a>"HE HELD THE JAWS OF THE 'GATOR SHUT, WHILE DICK SEIZED
+        THE HIND LEGS OF THE REPTILE"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"How did you sleep last night, Dick?" asked Ned, the next
+    morning.</p>
+
+    <p>"Didn't sleep at all. This place is sure bad medicine. First
+    the hoots of the owls and the snarls of the wildcats kept me
+    awake, then the booming of the big alligators worried me, and
+    after I did get to sleep, the ghost of that alligator that we
+    killed to-day shook his white teeth in my face, and I could
+    feel the man in the grave under me trying to push me off of it.
+    Let's get out of this river this morning, Ned."</p>
+
+    <p>As they paddled down Rodgers River, in the bright sunshine,
+    Dick's spirits rose and when they were off the mouth of the
+    river, headed down the coast and bound for Harney's River, two
+    miles distant, he took in his paddle and, calling to Ned to
+    hold steady, vaulted lightly from the canoe, without even
+    jarring it, and landed on a sandbank in water that was but
+    little above his waist. Stooping under the water he picked up
+    clams of several pounds weight each, with which the bottom was
+    paved, until clam-roasts for days had been provided for.
+    Getting back into the canoe was a ticklish operation, but was
+    accomplished without disaster, although a pailful or two of
+    water was taken
+    aboard.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page136"
+       id="page136"></a>[pg 136]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XII</h3>
+
+    <h3>HUNTING IN HARNEY'S RIVER</h3>
+
+    <p>The boys had chosen the last of the ebb tide for the trip
+    down Rodgers River, which gave them low water for their work on
+    the clam bar and a flood tide to help them up Harney's River.
+    They made a false start at the mouth of the river by taking a
+    channel that ran too far to the east and led them a mile or two
+    out of their course, before they discovered their mistake and
+    returned. After entering the channel, the course up the river,
+    which averaged east-northeast, was plain, there being but a
+    single branch to mislead them, in the first six miles. At the
+    end of these the lower section of Harney's unites with a branch
+    of Shark River to form Tussock Bay. This bay is a labyrinth of
+    channels and keys and opens into creeks large and small, and
+    water-courses shallow and deep, grass-choked and clear.</p>
+
+    <p>After exploring its mazes for miles, Dick and Ned found,
+    near the northeast end of the bay, a tiny key marked by two
+    tall palmettos, on which were the signs of an old Indian camp.
+    Here they roasted a mess of clams and spent the night. An
+    entire day <span class="pagenum"><a name="page137"
+       id="page137"></a>[pg 137]</span> was wasted in following
+       creeks that led nowhere and blind trails. That night they
+       slept again at the Indian camp and on the following day
+       found a small channel which, through twisting creeks and
+       crooked waterways, led to the broad waters of the upper
+       section of Harney's River, which they followed until they
+       were stopped by the Everglades. They made their camp by a
+       lime tree which was burdened with fruit, and went out from
+       it each day to hunt fish or explore and to study and chart
+       the country about them. The waters of the streams were all
+       flowing clear and fresh from the Everglades. The creeks were
+       alive with fish of many kinds, and their surfaces dotted
+       with the heads of edible turtles.</p>
+
+    <p>Alligators were abundant and otters could often be seen
+    sliding down the banks, or in families, playing together in the
+    water. Ned had seen a pet otter at Myers and wanted one for
+    himself. He had brought with him an otter trap, with smooth
+    jaws instead of the cruel teeth which are customary, and he set
+    it near an otter slide. The next day as the canoe approached
+    the point where the trap had been set the rattling of the chain
+    that held it told of the victim it had made. The hind leg of
+    the otter was held firmly by the trap, but he sprang fiercely
+    at Ned as he came near, and the sharp teeth snapped together
+    within a few inches of the boy's face as the short chain
+    straightened out. The boys went back to their camp, where Ned
+    made a cage out of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page138"
+       id="page138"></a>[pg 138]</span> box in which they kept most
+       of their stores, and then returned to their captive.</p>
+
+    <p>"How are you going to get him into the cage, Ned?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Hold his head down with a forked stick, take him round the
+    neck with my hand so he can't bite, take the trap off of his
+    leg and poke him in the cage."</p>
+
+    <p>"Ned! He'll eat you up. I'd rather tackle a wildcat."</p>
+
+    <p>"Just watch him eat me up. You stand by, when I've got a
+    good hold, and take off that trap quick as you can. Then I'll
+    drop him in the box and&mdash;there you are."</p>
+
+    <p>"No, we won't be there&mdash;not all of us. I wish I was the
+    otter. He'll have all the fun."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned got his forked stick and, after a long struggle, in
+    which Dick had to help with another stick, caught the otter's
+    neck in the fork and held the creature firmly to the ground.
+    Then putting his left hand around its neck he held the head
+    down in the mud, and with his right hand clutched the skin of
+    the animal's back.</p>
+
+    <p>"All right, Dick, take off the trap."</p>
+
+    <p>"Trouble's goin' to begin. Here goes," said Dick, and the
+    trap was removed.</p>
+
+    <p>Like a flash of light, as Ned lifted the little beast, it
+    thrust its head through the loose skin of the neck and turning
+    backward bit Ned's hand to the bone four times in something
+    less than a second. The <span class="pagenum"><a name="page139"
+       id="page139"></a>[pg 139]</span> otter would have been free,
+       but that Dick, who was looking for trouble, had it by the
+       neck with both hands and in spite of its biting, scratching
+       and struggling, it was dumped in the box and the door of its
+       cage closed.</p>
+
+    <p>"Been having fun! Haven't we?" said Dick, ruefully, as the
+    boys, scratched, bitten and bleeding, stood looking at each
+    other, after their victory. Ned's hand was disabled and so
+    painful that Dick paddled the canoe, with its cargo of boys and
+    pet otter, to their camp.</p>
+
+    <p>"Now, Ned," said Dick, "I'm the surgeon and you are to be
+    respectful and call me Dr. Dick. Let me see your left hand
+    first. I've got to decide whether to chop it off, or to try and
+    save some of it."</p>
+
+    <p>"You look as if you needed some fixing up yourself,
+    Dick."</p>
+
+    <p>"That will be all right. You shall have a chance at
+    me&mdash;if you survive the operation."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick got a bottle of carbolated vaseline from their stores,
+    tore up one of Ned's shirts and put the strips in boiling
+    water. He then washed Ned's wounds with warm water and soap and
+    dressed and bandaged them. His own injuries were less serious
+    than Ned's, although more numerous, and although he spoke
+    lightly of them, his companion insisted on their having as
+    careful treatment as his own. When the bandaging was over, Dick
+    said:</p>
+
+    <p>"We ought to have a yellow flag to fly over this hospital. I
+    wish we had a medical book to tell us
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page140"
+       id="page140"></a>[pg 140]</span> what we've probably got.
+       The only things I'm sure of are blood poisoning and
+       hydrophobia. Then there's enlargement of the spleen. I've
+       got all the symptoms of that."</p>
+
+    <p>"Your only danger is from melancholia, Dick. But what are we
+    to do with the otter? That box is too small for his
+    comfort."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm not losing any sleep over his comfort. I thought I'd
+    take him out of his cage every morning and lead him around the
+    camp for exercise until you were ready to begin his
+    education."</p>
+
+    <p>"It does not seem quite as easy to tame him as it looked
+    before we caught him."</p>
+
+    <p>"Guess you mean before he caught us."</p>
+
+    <p>"Shouldn't wonder if I did. Couldn't we build a cage of
+    poles, with some of these big vines woven in basket
+    fashion?"</p>
+
+    <p>"That would be all right. We could watch him day times and
+    you could put him back in the box every night for safe keeping.
+    I don't think he's an otter at all. He just fits the definition
+    of a white elephant."</p>
+
+    <p>On the day after his little difference of opinion with the
+    otter, Ned's left hand and wrist were so sore and stiff that he
+    could neither hold his paddle nor his gun. Dick, too, was
+    partially disabled by the soreness of his arms, but he managed
+    to get about in the canoe and shoot ducks enough for their
+    meals. They could not induce the otter to eat anything,
+    although it seemed much less fearful of them. The
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page141"
+       id="page141"></a>[pg 141]</span> leg which had been in the
+       trap was broken and appeared to trouble the animal, but they
+       could do nothing to help it. Dick did propose to take the
+       otter out of the cage and offered to set its leg if Ned
+       would hold the creature. On the second day their wounds
+       continued to be so troublesome that the boys stayed in their
+       hospital camp. As they sat that afternoon in the shade of a
+       lime tree, drinking limeade, Dick, the philosopher, began to
+       question Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't you pity all these folks about here, Ned? Crackers,
+    alligators, Indians, the whole ignorant lot of 'em. If they had
+    got hurt as we did, they would have gone right on about their
+    business. They'd never have found out that they were probably
+    suffering from appendicitis and microbes and ought to go to a
+    hospital and be carved up."</p>
+
+    <p>At this moment the bow of an Indian canoe glided silently
+    into the tiny cove in front of the camp. The boys recognized
+    one of the two bronzed, bare-legged Seminoles that stood so
+    erect in the canoe, as from Osceola's camp. His response to
+    Ned's greeting was a question.</p>
+
+    <p>"<i>Whyome</i> (whiskey), got him? Want him, <i>ojus</i>
+    (very much)."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned told them he had no <i>whyome</i>, but brought out
+    coffee and sugar and invited them to make a brew for
+    themselves. He also produced grits and venison. The Indians sat
+    down to a feast which lasted as long as any food remained in
+    sight. One of the Indians looked curiously at Ned's bandages
+    and smiled a <span class="pagenum"><a name="page142"
+       id="page142"></a>[pg 142]</span> little as he pointed to the
+       box that held the pet otter. Ned nodded and asked the
+       Indian, by signs, if he had ever been bitten by one of the
+       creatures. The Indian held out his hand and showed the scar
+       of a bite that must have nearly taken off his thumb. After
+       the Indians had gone Dick looked ruefully over the
+       diminished stores and exclaimed:</p>
+
+    <p>"There's going to be a famine in this camp if those Injuns
+    hit us again."</p>
+
+    <p>The next day the boys were very much better and ready for
+    work. Ned could not hold a paddle with his left hand, so they
+    took a trip into the Everglades, where the water was so shoal
+    that they used their paddles as poles and he could push with
+    one hand. They left their stores in camp, for which afterwards
+    they were glad, and pushed out several miles among the keys of
+    the Glades, where Dick got a shot at a deer which was running
+    from one key to another, but made a clean miss. They saw
+    several alligators and in the afternoon chased one with the
+    canoe. The boys could go faster than the 'gator, but the
+    reptile could turn more quickly. At last the canoe was right
+    behind the quarry and within a few feet of it.</p>
+
+    <p>"Give it to her!" yelled Ned, as he seized his paddle in
+    both hands and threw his weight upon it.</p>
+
+    <p>"Here goes!" shouted Dick, as he threw his weight on his
+    paddle, which, unfortunately, slipped from the point of coral
+    rock on which it first struck. Dick landed on his back in the
+    water, capsizing the canoe as he fell. When the young canoemen
+    had <span class="pagenum"><a name="page143"
+       id="page143"></a>[pg 143]</span> picked themselves up,
+       righted the canoe, and found the rifle, it was too late to
+       look for the missing alligator, and they plodded slowly home
+       to camp. They found their captive much tamer. He drank a
+       little water, although he refused to eat. His leg was badly
+       swollen and they were anxious about him, and with good
+       reason, for when they awoke in the morning he was dead.</p>
+
+    <p>Ned's last, reckless thrust with his paddle had broken open
+    his wounds and they became very painful. Dick dressed them
+    again and warned him that he wasn't to use his hand until he
+    had Dr. Dick's permission. They explored the creeks around
+    their camp in the canoe, Dick doing most of the paddling, while
+    Ned helped as well as he could, with his unhurt arm. The clear
+    water of these little streams abounded with baby tarpon and
+    other small fish, while often, in the deeper pools, turtles
+    could be seen scurrying along the bottom. Dick had never told
+    Ned of the turtle-catching that Johnny had taught him, so when
+    he said, very casually, "Ned, I think I'll go overboard and
+    pick up that turtle for supper," Ned replied:</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't be an idiot. You couldn't catch that thing in the
+    water in a thousand years."</p>
+
+    <p>"Just hold the canoe steady and watch me." And Dick, resting
+    his hands on the gunwales, threw himself overboard.</p>
+
+    <p>The splash frightened the turtle, which made off
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page144"
+       id="page144"></a>[pg 144]</span> up the creek, but the boy
+       was on his trail and, after a few futile grabs, had the
+       reptile in his hand.</p>
+
+    <p>"Think that will do for supper, Ned, or shall I pick up a
+    few more?" said Dick, as he put the turtle in the canoe.</p>
+
+    <p>"I'd like to know who taught you that, you rascal, playing
+    roots on your poor old chum, who never had your chance to see
+    the world."</p>
+
+    <p>While they were waiting for Ned's hand to get well, Dick got
+    out the fly-rod and cast-net that came with his canoe and spent
+    all his spare time trying to learn to throw the net. Johnny had
+    given him a few lessons, until he thought he had learned to
+    cast it. It was the kind of net which is used by the Florida
+    Cracker, to the knowledge of which he is born, which he can
+    cast when he leaves his cradle. The net was conical, six feet
+    long with a ten-foot mouth, lined with leaden sinkers. The top
+    of the net was closed, excepting for a small hole in which was
+    fitted a small ring, through which puckering strings led from
+    the mouth of the net to a 25-foot line, which was to be
+    fastened to the fisherman's wrist.</p>
+
+    <p>For casting, about half of the net is thrown over each wrist
+    and one of the sinkers held between the teeth. The net is then
+    swung behind the fisherman, thrown forward with a whirling
+    motion, the sinker in his mouth released at exactly the right
+    instant and the net falls in an almost perfect circle wherever,
+    within thirty feet, the fisherman wishes. That is the way the
+    net behaved when Johnny threw it. And
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page145"
+       id="page145"></a>[pg 145]</span> when Johnny arranged the
+       net on Dick's arms, told him just what to do and watched
+       him, Dick made some respectable throws, and thought he had
+       learned the game; but now, away from his teacher, when he
+       tried to cast it, net and leads went out in a solid mass
+       that never could have caught anything, though it might have
+       killed a fish by knocking it in the head. Dick, however, was
+       bound to learn, and practiced by the hour, without seeming
+       to make any progress, when suddenly the net began to go out
+       in circles and his casts became creditable. He was so
+       fearful of losing his new-found facility that he practiced
+       for the rest of that day, and lay down at night with what he
+       called the toothache in every muscle.</p>
+
+    <p>But from that day fish was on the bill of fare of the young
+    explorers.</p>
+
+    <p>When Ned's hand was well enough to be used a little, he
+    began by fishing, sitting in the bow of the canoe, with the
+    fly-rod, while Dick paddled. He caught several of the
+    big-mouthed black bass, often called in the South fresh-water
+    trout, and other small fish which they saved for the pan. Then
+    the line was carried out with a rush by a fish that twice
+    jumped one or two feet in the air.</p>
+
+    <p>"Got a tarpon, sure," said Ned, who had never taken one, and
+    he became most anxious lest the fish escape.</p>
+
+    <p>For nearly half an hour he carefully played the fish, which
+    never jumped again. When the tired fish was ready to be landed
+    Ned found that his prize,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page146"
+       id="page146"></a>[pg 146]</span> instead of a tarpon, was a
+       ten-pound fish which he did not recognize, but which he
+       afterwards learned was a ravaille.</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, it was mighty good fun, almost as exciting as if it
+    had been a tarpon," said Ned, who didn't know how foolishly he
+    was talking.</p>
+
+    <p>They were down the river bright and early the following
+    morning but, for the first hour, failed to hook any of the fish
+    that struck. Then the hook was snatched and instantly a silver,
+    twisting body shot ten feet up in the air. As it fell back in
+    the water, the reel began to buzz and Ned's fingers were burned
+    where the line touched them. Again and again the great fish
+    leaped high in the air, while the line ran low on the reel.</p>
+
+    <p>"Paddle, Dick, paddle all you know," shouted Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>But Dick was already doing his very best. The tarpon changed
+    his course, came back a little, leaped once more and again
+    started off. But Ned had got a good many yards of line back on
+    his reel, and was getting hopeful of landing his first tarpon.
+    He was beginning to lose line again, when the tarpon turned
+    around and, swimming straight for the canoe, leaped against Ned
+    with such fury that the craft was nearly capsized, and when Ned
+    had recovered from the shock his line was nearly out and the
+    fish headed for a little creek that was almost overgrown with
+    trees and vines. The first jump of the tarpon as he entered the
+    stream carried him up among the bushes
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page147"
+       id="page147"></a>[pg 147]</span> that hung over the water,
+       but fortunately the line did not catch in the branches and,
+       as the fish swam slowly up the little channel, the canoe was
+       close behind him. Ned held the point of his rod low, that it
+       might not catch in the bushes, but his heart was up in his
+       mouth every time the tarpon sprang in the air.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/146.jpg"
+             name="fig146"
+             id="fig146"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/146.jpg"
+             alt='"THE TARPON LEAPED AGAINST NED WITH FURY"' />
+             </a>"THE TARPON LEAPED AGAINST NED WITH FURY"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"It's no use, Dick, we've got to lose him. He isn't a bit
+    tired and the tangle is getting worse. Then if he turns back I
+    won't have room for the rod and you can't turn the canoe."</p>
+
+    <p>"Never say die, Ned. If he gets away from you, I'll go
+    overboard and pick him up."</p>
+
+    <p>"The creek's opening out into a big river, Dick. We may land
+    him yet."</p>
+
+    <p>The tarpon stayed in the big river, swimming a mile or so
+    and then turning back, while Ned put all the strain he dared on
+    rod and line and, excepting when the tarpon made a rush, Dick
+    held his paddle still and let the fish tow the canoe by the
+    line.</p>
+
+    <p>"We've got all the scales we want," said Dick, "and I move
+    we don't gaff another tarpon. When we have tired this one so
+    it's through jumping, let's turn it loose. We don't need it to
+    eat and I hate to feed sharks with such a beautiful
+    creature."</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure!" said Ned. "And if it is as tired as I am it will
+    give in pretty soon or die."</p>
+
+    <p>The tarpon grew weaker, his leaps lower and soon the canoe
+    was held close to him, while Ned even laid his hands on the
+    tired fish.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page148"
+       id="page148"></a>[pg 148]</span>
+
+    <p>"Think we can take him aboard, Dick?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I think you can swamp the canoe and break the rod, all
+    right."</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't mind swamping the canoe and we can take care of the
+    rod. If you'll take the rod now, I'll hang on to his jaw and
+    take out the hook, which I can see in the corner of his mouth.
+    Then, if you will look out for the rod and balance the canoe,
+    I'll slide that tarpon over the gunwale&mdash;"</p>
+
+    <p>"And we will all go overboard together," added Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"No, we won't, but just as soon as we have fairly caught him
+    and got him in the canoe, we'll slide him overboard again."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick took the rod, Ned removed the hook from the mouth of
+    the tarpon and hoisted its head over the gunwale. The canoe
+    canted over until water poured over its side, and the attempt
+    would have failed but for the tarpon which, with a blow of its
+    tail, threw itself up in the air and fell on top of Ned, who
+    had tumbled into the bottom of the canoe. The sight of Ned
+    hugging the big fish, which was spanking his legs with its
+    tail, was too much for Dick, who sat down on the gunwale of the
+    canoe in a spasm of mirth, and of course the craft was
+    capsized. Ned clung to the fish for a few seconds until his
+    captive had bumped him with its head and slapped him with its
+    tail a few times, when he was glad to let it go. He then joined
+    Dick, who was <span class="pagenum"><a name="page149"
+       id="page149"></a>[pg 149]</span> holding the rod with one
+       hand and clinging to the canoe with the other, as he swam to
+       the bank.</p>
+
+    <p>On the way back to camp Dick had several fits of laughter
+    that made him stop paddling for a minute at a time and caused
+    Ned to say:</p>
+
+    <p>"It's all right to laugh now, but that was my tarpon. I had
+    him safe in the canoe and if you hadn't tipped us all into the
+    river I'd have hung on to him."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm awful sorry, Ned, but if only you could have seen
+    yourself, you'd have had to laugh or bust. Besides, you had
+    your fun. You caught your tarpon and you wouldn't have done any
+    more if you had lain in the bottom of the canoe and let it
+    spank you all
+    night."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page150"
+       id="page150"></a>[pg 150]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XIII</h3>
+
+    <h3>EDUCATING AN ALLIGATOR</h3>
+
+    <p>The boys wished to explore the Whitewater Bay country, and
+    spent several days following to their sources streams that led
+    in that direction, until satisfied that no stream connected the
+    two regions. Returning to Tussock Bay, they crossed it and
+    entered a branch of Shark River, which led to Little Whitewater
+    Bay. As they neared the bay a loggerhead turtle rose near them
+    and Dick wanted to hunt it.</p>
+
+    <p>"We need the meat," said he. "We can smoke it and then it is
+    as good as jerked venison."</p>
+
+    <p>"We haven't time to smoke it. We are in a salt-water country
+    with only two or three days' supply of fresh water. We may not
+    find any more for a week. We've just got to keep moving. I wish
+    we had a keg of water. If we were to spill what we've got in
+    that canoe we would have to hike in a hurry, back to the Glades
+    or some other place where we knew there was fresh water."</p>
+
+    <p>On the eastern side of Little Whitewater Bay, the boys found
+    a straight and narrow creek which led to Whitewater Bay.
+    Paddling for six miles, east-southeast,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page151"
+       id="page151"></a>[pg 151]</span> across the bay, they were
+       fortunate enough to strike the narrow mouth of what soon
+       proved to be a broad river. They paddled long and late
+       without Finding the fresh water they looked for, and camped
+       on ground so wet that they had to cut branches to sleep on.
+       As they kept on in the morning, the river they followed
+       forked and they took the deeper branch. This in turn split
+       in two and again they followed the deeper branch. Near the
+       close of a day of hard work the stream they were following
+       opened out on a beautiful park-like prairie, while beside
+       the canoe was an ideal camping site fitted by Nature to that
+       end.</p>
+
+    <p>It was a circular bit of high ground, surrounded by big
+    trees whose spreading branches, draped in moss, shaded it on
+    all sides, while an immense growth of wild grape-vine canopied
+    it overhead. The water that flowed past the camp was pure and
+    sweet, fresh from the Everglades. There was heavy timber about
+    the camp and more than once during the night the boys heard the
+    tread of a wild animal. Once it seemed to be the step of a deer
+    in shallow water near the camp, then it was the soft footfall
+    of some catlike animal and when Ned raised himself on his elbow
+    to listen to a heavier tread, the "<i>wouf</i>" of the startled
+    beast told that Bruin had caught the offensive scent of the
+    white man's camp. As the boys lay awake and talked while they
+    watched the stars peeping through the canopy of vines above
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page152"
+       id="page152"></a>[pg 152]</span> them, they heard the
+       distant bellowing of a Bull alligator.</p>
+
+    <p>"Dick," said Ned, "do you s'pose we could find that 'gator?
+    He must be fifteen feet long, from the noise he makes. I'd like
+    mighty well to rope him. We could stake him out so he'd never,
+    never get away and he would live for weeks if it took us that
+    long to get him carried to Fort Myers. Dad would sure be
+    delighted and pay all the bills like a major."</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't you think he'd throw in new rifles with silver plates
+    and our names on 'em?"</p>
+
+    <p>"He sure would."</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, we haven't got the big alligator yet, but we'll hunt
+    for him to-morrow."</p>
+
+    <p>Just as Dick spoke the distant report of a gun was
+    heard.</p>
+
+    <p>"There goes your fifteen-foot alligator and both of our new
+    rifles with silver plates and our names on them.
+    Good-night."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys started out across the meadow in the morning on the
+    hunt for the big 'gator. They carried a rope for the 'gator and
+    Ned took his rifle to be ready for the bear that spoke to them
+    in the night. There was no more danger of their losing their
+    camp, for Ned had made a chart every night, of their course
+    during the day, until his memory had learned to map every scene
+    his eyes looked upon. As they crossed a bit of wooded swamp,
+    they heard the step of some heavy animal in a jungle near them,
+    but they could get no sight of the creature and the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page153"
+       id="page153"></a>[pg 153]</span> slushy mud through which it
+       had waded left no prints that inexperienced eyes could read.
+       They found little ponds from which small 'gators rose to
+       their calls, but none of a size worth thinking of. They saw
+       one big alligator sunning itself on a dry bank, and spent an
+       hour in creeping near it only to find that it was not over
+       ten feet long. As it grew late and they turned homeward,
+       Dick said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Ever since that otter of yours died I've wanted a pet in
+    camp. We need one for a watchdog. 'Most any night we might be
+    eaten up for want of one. Let's take home a young alligator and
+    I'll train it. These ponds are full of 'em."</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't want you to go wading in any more ponds, Dick."</p>
+
+    <p>"That's all right. Don't have to. There are 'gator caves all
+    round these ponds. You find one of 'em and I'll do the
+    rest."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys hunted around several ponds till Ned found a hole
+    in the bank of one, just under the surface of the water. Dick
+    handed Ned a pole, which he had cut in the last bit of woods
+    they had passed, and then made a noose on the end of the
+    harpoon line which he carried. He arranged the noose around the
+    hole in the bank and stood a little back of it holding the line
+    in his hands.</p>
+
+    <p>"Now, Ned, just poke that pole down in the mud, all around,
+    about fifteen feet back of this hole, and pretty soon you'll
+    punch something. Then, you'll see
+    fun."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page154"
+       id="page154"></a>[pg 154]</span>
+
+    <p>Ned poked around in the soft ground for awhile, then:</p>
+
+    <p>"Look out, Dick! Something is wiggling."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm all here. Let her come!"</p>
+
+    <p>Out came the reptile's head from the cave, straight through
+    the noose which tightened around the alligator's neck, as Dick
+    threw his weight back on the line. At first it tried to back
+    into the cave, but the line held it. Then it plunged into the
+    pond, but Dick soon yanked it out on the prairie. It scuttled
+    over the prairie like a great lizard and when the boy jerked it
+    back it ran toward him, but he side-stepped quickly out of
+    reach of that open mouth. When the reptile became a little
+    quiet, Dick dragged it to the pole which Ned had left sticking
+    in the ground and walking twice around it had the alligator's
+    head fast to the pole. Then stepping quickly up to the creature
+    he seized it by the head, holding its jaws firmly together with
+    both hands.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:60%;">
+        <a href="images/152.jpg"
+             name="fig152"
+             id="fig152"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/152.jpg"
+             alt="OUT CAME THE REPTILE'S HEAD FROM THE CAVE" />
+             </a>"OUT CAME THE REPTILE'S HEAD FROM THE CAVE"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"Now, Ned, if you'll tie these jaws together, he'll be
+    gentle as a lamb and we'll have a real pet that won't get away
+    like a manatee or die like an otter."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'll tie it, and bully for you, Dick, boy! You did that in
+    great shape. I shouldn't wonder if it made a pretty good pet,
+    and I don't care how big its mouth is, it couldn't have a
+    bigger bite than that otter of ours."</p>
+
+    <p>The 'gator was less than five feet long and quite babyish in
+    its ways, but it gave Dick a lot of trouble as he was leading
+    it toward their
+    camp.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page155"
+       id="page155"></a>[pg 155]</span>
+
+    <p>"Just boost him up on my back, Ned. He's only a baby and
+    wants to be toted."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned found it a pretty vigorous baby when he tried to boost
+    it and he got some spanks from its tail that made him think of
+    his tarpon of a few days before. Finally Ned stood in front of
+    his companion, and with his help the reptile was dragged up
+    Dick's back with its forepaws on his shoulder. Dick hung onto
+    the paws, in spite of the sloshing about of his pet's tail for
+    about a quarter of a mile, when he dumped it on the ground and
+    addressing it, said:</p>
+
+    <p>"There! You uneasy little cuss, you've got to walk. I don't
+    mind your wiggling your tail, but you tickle my ribs with your
+    hind claws and you pound my head with your hard old jaws. Now
+    come along straight, or instead of being toted you'll get a
+    lickin'."</p>
+
+    <p>When they reached camp Dick staked the pet out with a line
+    long enough to let it get into the river when it chose. He took
+    the rope from its jaws, leaving them free, and the 'gator never
+    took advantage of it by trying to bite. At first the pet got
+    very much excited when he was dragged out of the water and up
+    on land, but after awhile he got used to it and seemed to
+    almost enjoy it. Dick caught fish for his pet which always
+    refused to eat them. Then Dick cut the fish in pieces and while
+    Ned held the little 'gator, stuffed them in its mouth and then
+    held its jaws together till it swallowed its
+    food.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page156"
+       id="page156"></a>[pg 156]</span>
+
+    <p>"See the baby 'gator sit up, Ned," said Dick one day, after
+    he had been training it for some time. "I'll have him eating
+    with a fork and drinking from a cup in a week."</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/156.jpg"
+             name="fig156"
+             id="fig156"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/156.jpg"
+             alt="SEE THE BABY 'GATOR SIT UP, NED!" /></a>"SEE THE
+             BABY 'GATOR SIT UP, NED!"
+    </div><span class="pagenum"><a name="page157"
+       id="page157"></a>[pg 157]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XIV</h3>
+
+    <h3>ENCOUNTER WITH OUTLAWS</h3>
+
+    <p>One day, just after the boys had returned from an
+    unsuccessful hunt for deer and Dick was at his usual occupation
+    of training his pet, they heard the sound of oars, and a skiff,
+    rowed by a man who looked like a product of the swamp, landed
+    beside the camp.</p>
+
+    <p>"Kin you fellers let me have a little salt to save my hides?
+    'Gators are pretty thick 'nd my salt's gi'n out."</p>
+
+    <p>"We have only about a bushel of salt, but you can have half;
+    yes, we can spare you three-quarters of it. We only use it for
+    specimens and there'll be enough left for us," said Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"That's mighty kind o' you, 'nd I won't fergit it, tho' that
+    won't be any use t' you, bein's ye ain't likely t' see me
+    ag'in."</p>
+
+    <p>"Why not? You go to Myers, I suppose. We might meet you
+    there and we'd be glad to see you."</p>
+
+    <p>"Thar's other folks 'd be glad t' see me thar, perticiler
+    the sheriff. Ain't you fellers skeered, now yer know yer
+    talkin' t' an
+    outlaw?"</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page158"
+       id="page158"></a>[pg 158]</span>
+
+    <p>"Not much," laughed Ned. "If you are an outlaw you have
+    probably had all the trouble you want."</p>
+
+    <p>"You bet I hev."</p>
+
+    <p>"Then you aren't looking for any more. So what is there to
+    scare us?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Not a blame thing. But you boys is plucky. There's men 'd
+    fight shy o' staying 'round here."</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, it doesn't worry us. We didn't suppose there was any
+    one around here, though, and we wondered who it was we heard
+    shooting last night and we are glad to find out. Did you get
+    any big alligators?"</p>
+
+    <p>"'Twasn't me shootin'. I didn't shoot las' night. Say!
+    You've gotter look out! I know them fellers. One on 'em's bad
+    and you boys ain't safe. I'm goin' ter hang 'round, 'n if you
+    smell trouble jest fire two shots 'nd trouble'll cum a-humpin'
+    fur them fellers,"</p>
+
+    <p>"All right and much obliged, and if anything does come that
+    we can't manage we'll remember you, sure."</p>
+
+    <p>Whenever the boys passed a pond on the prairie they stopped
+    and grunted till the young 'gators came to the surface. One day
+    Dick fired a shot near enough to splash one that had come up,
+    but in ten minutes the reptile had forgotten his scare and
+    again answered the call. Dick was disposed to wade in the pond
+    and catch the little 'gator, but Ned coaxed him out of the
+    notion and proposed that they find a cave and rope another
+    'gator to cheer up Dick's pet, which he said was getting
+    lonesome. This pleased <span class="pagenum"><a name="page159"
+       id="page159"></a>[pg 159]</span> Dick and the boys spent
+       half a day finding an inhabited cave, when they secured its
+       occupant with no trouble excepting that, as the alligator
+       came out of his hole, Dick slipped on the muddy turf and was
+       dragged into the pond. The 'gator was soon brought out on
+       the prairie and its jaws tied. It was larger than the one
+       first captured, and Dick didn't try to carry it on his back,
+       but led and dragged it the entire distance.</p>
+
+    <p>As the boys approached their camp they saw a skiff, with two
+    rough-looking men in it, just being pushed from the bank. Ned
+    called to the men, but received no reply, and the skiff was
+    rowed rapidly away.</p>
+
+    <p>"That spells trouble," said Ned. "Those are the fellows that
+    our outlaw warned us against."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys found their stores in some confusion and a lot of
+    them had disappeared, and with them had gone Ned's rifle, which
+    he had left in camp. Ned was quite too angry to speak and
+    walked quickly to the canoe, followed by Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"What are you going to do, Ned?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Going to get that rifle."</p>
+
+    <p>"All right. I'm with you."</p>
+
+    <p>"Dick, I'm going alone. It's a fool's errand and I don't
+    want you mixed up in it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Maybe it is a fool's errand, I guess it is, and that's the
+    very reason I'm going with you, Ned. You know I'm going, that I
+    wouldn't miss going with you for the world and you haven't any
+    right to ask me <span class="pagenum"><a name="page160"
+       id="page160"></a>[pg 160]</span> to be a sneak and crawl out
+       of the trouble, for it is trouble and probably big
+       trouble."</p>
+
+    <p>"Why, Dick, boy, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, and
+    I'm sure glad to have you with me, only you must let me manage
+    when we find those fellows."</p>
+
+    <p>"Of course you'll run the thing and I won't interfere,
+    unless it becomes mighty necessary, which is quite some
+    likely."</p>
+
+    <p>As they got into the canoe Dick said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't you want the shotgun?"</p>
+
+    <p>"No. Got better weapons than that."</p>
+
+    <p>"Glad of it. You'll need 'em."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys paddled rapidly down the narrow river for several
+    miles before they came up to the men they were seeking, who
+    were then just getting out of the little skiff into a larger
+    one which had a canvas cover and was evidently used as a
+    camp.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick guided the canoe beside the larger boat and Ned spoke
+    quietly to one of the men, who was scowling at him.</p>
+
+    <p>"You know what I have come for. I want my rifle."</p>
+
+    <p>"What rifle? I don't know anything about your rifle."</p>
+
+    <p>"I mean the rifle you stole from our camp this afternoon. I
+    want it and I'm going to have it."</p>
+
+    <p>"See here," said the man, who was purple with rage, as he
+    picked up a rifle, "I'll blow the top of your head off if you
+    tell me I lie."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page161"
+       id="page161"></a>[pg 161]</span>
+
+    <p>"You lie," said Ned calmly. "You are a liar, a thief and a
+    coward. Now give me that rifle. I am not going to ask you for
+    it many more times."</p>
+
+    <p>"I won't give it to you and I don't know what keeps me from
+    blowing your head off. I believe I will yet."</p>
+
+    <p>"I can tell you why you don't. Because you know there would
+    be a hundred men on your trail who would never leave it while
+    you were alive. Because you wouldn't dare show your face to
+    man, woman or child, white, black or red, in Lee County or
+    anywhere else. Because your own partner would be the first to
+    give you up."</p>
+
+    <p>"He would, would he?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, he would!" said the man referred to. "Don't be a fool,
+    but give the kid his gun, or I will."</p>
+
+    <p>The rifle was handed to Ned and the boys paddled back to
+    their camp. On the way Dick said:</p>
+
+    <p>"I was scared stiff, Ned, when that fellow took up his rifle
+    and I saw how mad he was. Weren't you a little bit frightened
+    yourself?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Not then. I'm a good deal scared now to think of it."</p>
+
+    <p>As the boys that night sat leaning against a log which they
+    had made soft with masses of long gray moss, watching the dying
+    out of the fire which had cooked their supper, another skiff
+    touched at their bank, bringing the man to whom they had given
+    the salt and also carrying the carcass of a fine
+    buck.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page162"
+       id="page162"></a>[pg 162]</span>
+
+    <p>"There, boys, better smoke what yer can't eat by termorrer.
+    I'll show yer how."</p>
+
+    <p>"We know how and we're very much obliged. But we must pay
+    for it, you know."</p>
+
+    <p>"I can't take a cent and it makes me feel bad t' have yer
+    talk about it. Have yer seen them fellers yit?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, yes. They called on us and we returned the call. We
+    didn't happen to be at home when they called, though," said
+    Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"They come here t' your camp?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes. They certainly came."</p>
+
+    <p>"'nd you not here?"</p>
+
+    <p>"No."</p>
+
+    <p>"What did they take?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Stole a rifle," said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"I'll git it back. Don't yer worry, I'll git it back and
+    I'll start now," and the outlaw rose from the log on which he
+    was sitting.</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't go. We got the rifle back."</p>
+
+    <p>"How did yer do it?"</p>
+
+    <p>Dick told the story of the recovery of the rifle. The outlaw
+    sat for a minute looking down at the ashes of the fire, and
+    then, speaking very slowly and with emphatic little nods
+    between the words, said:</p>
+
+    <p>"And them's th' fellers I thought needed lookin' arter."</p>
+
+    <p>There was silence for some time and then Ned
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page163"
+       id="page163"></a>[pg 163]</span> spoke in a voice that was
+       low from suppressed feeling.</p>
+
+    <p>"My friend, I don't know your name. I don't know what you
+    did. I don't ask it. But I believe you are too good a man to be
+    living the life of an outlaw. Now, can't something be done to
+    help you? If some men of influence worked for your pardon,
+    couldn't it be got?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Reckon not. It's bin tried. I'll tell yer jist how 'twas. I
+    killed a man. He worried me 'nd threatened me 'nd tried ter
+    kill me with a knife, 'f I'd shot him then, nobody'd said
+    nuthin', but I waited 'nd then I got scared, thot he'd kill me,
+    'nd one day I shot him. I was put in th' pen, then I was sent
+    t' the chain gang 'nd set t' boxin' trees f'r turpentine. Saw a
+    man flogged day I got thar. Sed I'd never git whipped if work
+    would save me. I was the strongest man in the gang. Boxed more
+    trees 'n anybody. More I did, more I had t'. I don't say I was
+    whipped. If I was I didn't deserve it. If I was 'nd ever see
+    th' man that did it I'll kill him. Know how turpentine gangs is
+    guarded? Boy sits up on platform with rifle 'nd gives orders.
+    S'pose yer sassy to him or he just wants fun with yer. When
+    Cap&mdash;that's th' man that whips&mdash;comes 'long, boy sez
+    feller's bin shirkin'. Then feller's tied t' tree 'nd Cap beats
+    him till feller begs t' be killed. I don't want t' hurt anybody
+    'cept one feller, but I ain't goin' back t' no chain gang. If
+    the sheriff <span class="pagenum"><a name="page164"
+       id="page164"></a>[pg 164]</span> holds me up, 'nd sez 'Come
+       back or I'll shoot,' I'll say 'Shoot!'"</p>
+
+    <p>The boys were very silent after the outlaw's story and when
+    he left them they shook hands warmly with him and asked what
+    they could do for him; ammunition, food, clothing, money,
+    anything they had was at his service.</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't want nuthin'. You've give me more'n you'll ever
+    know," said the outlaw gruffly.</p>
+
+    <p>But the gruffness was a bit tremulous and there were tears
+    in the man's voice.</p>
+
+    <p>The outlaw got in the way of spending his evenings with the
+    young explorers and Ned pumped him dry of his knowledge of the
+    Everglades, the Big Cypress and the lesser swamps of South
+    Florida. He made charts from lines traced in the dirt to show
+    rivers, bays, prairie land and swamps. Ned learned of hidden
+    creeks that connected waters thought to be completely separated
+    by land and of others that could be connected by a short
+    carry.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page165"
+       id="page165"></a>[pg 165]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XV</h3>
+
+    <h3>DICK AND THE BEAR</h3>
+
+    <p>Dick wanted a bear and the outlaw showed him a near-by swamp
+    where several of the creatures lived. Day after day Dick waded,
+    wandered and watched in that swamp with the rifle, while Ned
+    tramped in another direction carrying the shotgun, making maps
+    of the country, and picking up occasionally a duck or Indian
+    hen for dinner. Sometimes Dick got sight of a bear, but Bruin
+    was shy and kept well out of range. One day, while sitting in
+    some thick woods, hoping that a bear would wander near him,
+    Dick heard a loud tearing sound that seemed to come from the
+    top of a little group of young palmettos. He crept as slowly
+    and silently as possible near the trees and saw a bear sitting
+    in the top of a palmetto, tearing away the outer husk of the
+    bud of the tree which is the cabbage of the Cracker and often
+    serves as his bread. While Dick was creeping nearer to get a
+    surer shot, Bruin tore out the bud and, with the cabbage in his
+    mouth, dropped from the top of the tree to the ground,
+    alighting on its fore shoulder. Dick didn't know that this was
+    the way bears in that country
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page166"
+       id="page166"></a>[pg 166]</span> usually came down a tree
+       when in a hurry, and supposed the bear had met with an
+       accident and was killed. He changed his mind the next
+       instant when the creature came racing toward him. Dick and
+       the bear were about ten feet apart when they saw one
+       another. The bear had to turn quickly to keep from running
+       over Dick, and Dick had trouble to keep from punching the
+       bear in the ribs with his rifle when he fired at it.</p>
+
+    <p>No one was hurt on this first round and the bear thought it
+    had escaped and so did the boy. Dick churned a cartridge from
+    the magazine to the barrel of his rifle and watched closely the
+    undergrowth through which the bear was running, hoping for
+    another shot. Just as the splashing in the marsh grew
+    indistinct and Dick realized that his last chance had gone, he
+    got one glimpse of the bear as it sprang upon a log that lay
+    across its path. Dick threw his rifle to his shoulder with the
+    quick motion of the sportsman who takes a woodcock on the wing,
+    and fired. The bear, which was distant more than a hundred
+    yards, disappeared and it seemed to the boy scarcely worth
+    while to follow it. It was only the notion to look for the mark
+    of his bullet on some tree near the log that induced him to
+    wallow through the swamp to where he had last seen the bear. To
+    his amazement he found a piece of bone and some fresh blood on
+    the log. He had no thought now of abandoning the trail. He
+    followed it through swamp and jungle, sometimes losing it where
+    the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page167"
+       id="page167"></a>[pg 167]</span> ground was hard or where it
+       crossed the path of an alligator. Often when he became
+       fearful that he had lost the trail a smear of blood on root
+       or leaf told him that he was on the track. From former hunts
+       and the study of Ned's maps, he knew the general lay of the
+       land, but he stopped often and noted his course, for he
+       meant to follow that trail and camp on it if necessary until
+       he lost it finally or found the bear. The animal seemed to
+       know all the bad stretches of marsh and thorny bits of
+       jungle and, as the hours passed and night drew near, without
+       his getting a sight of his quarry, he consoled himself with
+       the thought of what Mr. Streeter had told him:</p>
+
+    <p>"A man is never lost in the swamp so long as he knows where
+    he is himself."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick knew he wouldn't starve. There were always birds to be
+    shot, alligators which he could kill with a club, and palmetto
+    cabbage which he could dig out with his knife. He had his
+    matches in a watertight box, a little bag of salt in his
+    pocket, the swamp water was fresh, and what more could a
+    hunter-boy ask for? He felt so cheerful that he began to
+    whistle, which brought him bad luck, for he stumbled over a
+    root which caught both feet and threw him head-down into a deep
+    pool of mud. He was half strangled before he got out and was
+    looking down shudderingly into the morass out of which he had
+    crawled, when he missed his rifle and knew he had got to get
+    back into the mudhole. It was so deep
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page168"
+       id="page168"></a>[pg 168]</span> that he laid a branch
+       across it to cling to, before venturing in. A big moccasin
+       crawled from under a root beside the pool of mud as Dick
+       stepped in it and the boy shut his teeth tight as he forced
+       himself to wallow through the slimy, snaky mass from which
+       his flesh recoiled.</p>
+
+    <p>He was waist-deep in that broth of mud when his feet found
+    the rifle and he stooped down into it and groped around among
+    roots that felt like living, squirming reptiles before he
+    recovered the weapon. When he had scraped the most of the mud
+    off of himself and out of the rifle it was too dark to follow
+    the trail and Dick walked to a near-by thicket where he hoped
+    to find better ground for a camp. He was peering into a dark
+    recess in the thicket when a fierce growl within a few feet
+    startled him terribly, but told him that he had found his
+    bear&mdash;or another one. Dick was about to run, when a
+    picture of Ned facing the outlaw formed itself in his mind and
+    after that the bear couldn't have kicked him out of its path.
+    As the boy's eyes became accustomed to the gloom he saw the
+    bear lying within six feet, with jaws half open, and eyes fixed
+    upon him. Dick believed the bear was dying, since he failed to
+    spring upon him, but he thought a bullet would make things
+    safer and he raised his rifle. He pointed the weapon at the
+    animal's head, but it was too dark to see the sight of the
+    rifle, the brain of the creature was small, and Dick,
+    remembering that a bear with a sore head is likely to be cross,
+    dropped the muzzle of his
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page169"
+       id="page169"></a>[pg 169]</span> weapon to the fore shoulder
+       of the beast, and fired. The bear scarcely moved, but its
+       eyes closed and Dick was prudently waiting before touching
+       it, when he heard the distant report of a gun and knew that
+       Ned was worried about him. He fired an answering shot and
+       then, finding a bit of dry ground beside the body of the
+       bear, decided to eat his supper the next morning and lay
+       down to sleep with his head on his new bear robe.</p>
+
+    <p>At daylight he heard the report of Ned's gun and fired his
+    rifle in reply. The bear was so heavy that Dick had trouble in
+    handling it and before he had finished skinning it the report
+    of a gun within two hundred yards showed that Ned was out
+    hunting for him and had taken the right course.</p>
+
+    <p>"Hope you didn't worry about me," was Dick's greeting as the
+    boys met.</p>
+
+    <p>"Nope, didn't worry after you answered my shot, but I was
+    mighty envious of you, for I knew you had got hold of
+    something. I didn't believe it was a bear. Were you scared,
+    Dick?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, I was, a heap, but I pulled through," and Dick told
+    his chum of the thought that braced him up.</p>
+
+    <p>Ned tried to speak roughly, but his voice trembled and he
+    looked affectionately at his companion as he said:</p>
+
+    <p>"See here, Dick, boy, you can cut out all that outlaw talk.
+    The gun business was all bluff and you know it as well as
+    I."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page170"
+       id="page170"></a>[pg 170]</span>
+
+    <p>"You looked pretty white, Neddy, for a fellow who didn't
+    think he was taking any risk. But if you'll tell me now, honest
+    Injun, that you didn't think there was any danger when you
+    faced that convict and called him a liar, a thief and a coward,
+    why I'll never speak of it again. I noticed that your pet
+    outlaw, who said the fellow was a murderer, three deep, didn't
+    seem to think that you had done anything so very amusing in
+    giving that fellow the lie and all the rest of it."</p>
+
+    <p>"I see you are round-skinning your bear for mounting. I'm
+    glad of that. Some day I'll see it in your house and we'll be
+    talking about last night."</p>
+
+    <p>"That skin is for you. I want you to have it stuffed and put
+    where it can watch your alligator."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm not going to take all the trophies of this trip. You
+    can bet your life on that."</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't get slangy, Neddy. You aren't used to it and it isn't
+    becoming. Besides, we may never get these little souvenirs out
+    of the wilderness."</p>
+
+    <p>By which remark Dick proved himself to be a prophet.</p>
+
+    <p>The trail of the bear had been roundabout and had brought
+    Dick within less than a mile of the camp. The buzzards were
+    gathering and Dick remained to guard the meat while he finished
+    removing the skin and cleaning the skull. Ned made two trips
+    with good loads and then, taking all they could carry, the boys
+    returned to camp, leaving a big feast for the bird
+    scavengers.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page171"
+       id="page171"></a>[pg 171]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XVI</h3>
+
+    <h3>IN THE CROCODILE COUNTRY</h3>
+
+    <p>One evening while Dick had one of his alligator pets sitting
+    up on his tail, teaching him to sing, as he told his chum, Ned
+    said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Crocodiles are a lot more interesting than alligators and
+    the Florida crocodile is nearly extinct. All that are left are
+    in a little strip of land near Madeira Hammock, which is only a
+    mile or two wide and eight or ten long. Let's go down to
+    Madeira Hammock and catch some to look at. We can turn them
+    loose after we are through with them."</p>
+
+    <p>"Mr. Streeter says there is no way to get through to Florida
+    Bay, where Madeira Hammock is, by water from Whitewater
+    Bay."</p>
+
+    <p>"Your outlaw says there is, only you have to tote your canoe
+    some."</p>
+
+    <p>"He isn't my outlaw. I don't sit up nights making maps with
+    him, and anyhow we can't tote the canoe through a mangrove
+    swamp, and that's what we're up against if we go that way."</p>
+
+    <p>"But our outlaw&mdash;the outlaw, if you like&mdash;says we
+    can find little creeks up toward the Glades that will take us
+    almost through."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page172"
+       id="page172"></a>[pg 172]</span>
+
+    <p>"All right. We'll start in the morning. I wish we'd cured
+    about a ton or two less of that meat. We'll have to make a lot
+    of trips across the carries. You don't see any way to take my
+    alligators along, do you?"</p>
+
+    <p>Two days were spent in following creeks that led to nothing
+    and then one was found with a deeper channel which led them for
+    miles, after which it broke up into several little waterways,
+    which were almost without current and so shallow that the boys
+    had to wade and drag their canoe. Their progress was slow, and
+    they slept on a bed of brush which had lumps and knots to
+    bruise every soft spot on their bodies. Their next trouble was
+    a strip of mangrove swamp which a cat couldn't have crawled
+    through. After following along the mangroves for an hour they
+    found a creek which entered it. As they followed this creek it
+    grew wider and deepened. There was a slight current that flowed
+    with them; the water was brackish, and they knew it led to the
+    Bay of Florida and that the Madeira Hammock was near.</p>
+
+    <p>The mangrove gave place to a better growth, the soil became
+    richer and vegetation more luxuriant. Soon they had to cut away
+    vines and branches to clear the way for the canoe, but they
+    counted their troubles over. They were paddling gaily ahead
+    when they saw in front of them a branch that stretched across
+    the creek about a foot above the water. They had met plenty of
+    similar obstructions, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page173"
+       id="page173"></a>[pg 173]</span> but this was different.
+       There was a big wasps' nest on the branch and the air was
+       filled with flying little pests. It was impossible to get
+       around the nest and it was doubtful if there was another
+       creek that would take them through.</p>
+
+    <p>"Let's get some dry palmetto fans and make torches. Then we
+    can burn and smoke the wasps out," said Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"Dunno as I want to wade up to that nest and set it afire.
+    Ouch!" said Dick, who had sat down on what he thought was a
+    stump, but had turned out to be an ants' nest. "Holy smoke!
+    Don't these things bite? I don't believe wasps are in it with
+    them. Anyhow, I'm going to find out."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick took the oar that was used to pole the canoe and wading
+    straight toward the nest struck it a blow that most fortunately
+    knocked it to the water, while a second blow sent it under the
+    surface. A few of the outlying insects stung the boy and he had
+    a dozen little lumps to show for a day or two, but he had
+    captured the fort and drowned the garrison and the canoe passed
+    in peace.</p>
+
+    <p>The creek emptied into a wide bay on the high bank of which
+    the boys camped. It was part of the Madeira Hammock, the most
+    beautiful native forest they had seen. At daylight a large
+    crocodile was floating on the bay near the camp, but sank out
+    of sight as the campers showed themselves. From the bay the
+    canoeists entered a deep river with high banks on which were
+    growing madeira, wild sapadillo,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page174"
+       id="page174"></a>[pg 174]</span> palms of several kinds and
+       other varieties of trees. In the sides of the high banks at
+       the water line the boys saw holes which they believed to be
+       the caves of crocodiles. In the mouth of one the water was
+       muddied and Dick cut a long pole which he poked into the
+       hole. At first he felt something seize the pole, but could
+       not afterward find the creature. He then took the pole on
+       the bank and thrust it into the ground where he thought the
+       reptile was most likely to be. When he had worked thirty
+       feet back from the bank he felt something move and the next
+       instant Ned, who had stayed in the canoe at the mouth of the
+       cave, was nearly capsized by the rush of a great beast
+       nearly the size of the canoe.</p>
+
+    <p>"Why didn't you grab it, Ned? What is the use of my driving
+    game to you, if you let it slip through your fingers?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Perhaps you think that was one of the alligator babies
+    you've been nursing. You didn't see the big head with the tusks
+    running out of the top of it."</p>
+
+    <p>"No, but I mean to see the next one. It'll be your turn to
+    do the punching while I rope the critter."</p>
+
+    <p>"If you had got your rope on that one and held on, you'd be
+    in his cave now, inside the owner's tummy."</p>
+
+    <p>The next crocodile was not far away and the hunters saw it
+    crawl into its cave. Dick stood on the bank over the cave and
+    arranged the noose on the end of the harpoon line around the
+    mouth of <span class="pagenum"><a name="page175"
+       id="page175"></a>[pg 175]</span> the cave, while Ned paddled
+       the canoe a few rods down the stream. Dick had the line fast
+       to his wrist, but Ned wouldn't punch it until it had been
+       made fast to a chunk of wood instead.</p>
+
+    <p>"What difference does it make?" grumbled Dick. "If the chunk
+    goes overboard I follow it. See?"</p>
+
+    <p>Ned hit the crocodile on his first poke and Dick had his
+    hands full from the start. He would have been dragged into the
+    river within a dozen seconds, but for Ned's coming to his aid.
+    The crocodile was as quick as the alligators had been slow.</p>
+
+    <p>"If he digs round as fast on land as he does in the water
+    there's goin' to be a circus when we get him out on the bank,"
+    said the panting Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"And you wanted to be tied to his mammy by the wrist. This
+    is only an infant. It isn't nine feet long."</p>
+
+    <p>But it was, and a foot over that, yet when they got the
+    reptile on the bank and drew its head close to a sapling, they
+    tied a piece of the line around its knobby head without any
+    trouble. From that moment the crocodile was tame, and soon Dick
+    was handling him fearlessly, although Ned warned him that if he
+    didn't keep out of the way of that tail he'd be knocked
+    endways. But Dick sat on his back, pulled his tail and tried to
+    lift him on his own back without the crocodile showing
+    displeasure in any way.</p>
+
+    <p>"Ned, this thing is a peach. Why not send him to your
+    father? He could be taken to New York
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page176"
+       id="page176"></a>[pg 176]</span> in a baby carriage or led
+       like a puppy dog. There would be no such trouble as there
+       would be with a manatee. He's a curiosity, too."</p>
+
+    <p>"If it was the big one I believe it would be worth trying.
+    That fellow must be as big as they come. I wish we had fixed
+    for him."</p>
+
+    <p>"It isn't too late. Let's lay for him to-morrow."</p>
+
+    <p>The crocodile hunters camped beside their captive and Dick
+    spent the afternoon trying to educate it. He talked of taking
+    the string off of its jaws, but Ned stopped that.</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm afraid he might eat the wrong thing, by mistake, and
+    then I'd have to go home alone. I suppose I could take the
+    crocodile along in your place. Your mother might like him as a
+    kind of souvenir."</p>
+
+    <p>"But see how gentle he is and how mild his eye. He doesn't
+    whack around with his tail like an alligator and I think he
+    likes to have me sit on his back."</p>
+
+    <p>"That's only his slyness. Look at him now." For the
+    crocodile, thinking itself unobserved, was crawling slowly
+    toward the bank of the river. When it reached the end of its
+    tether and could go no farther, it lay down and, lifting its
+    head, looked all around as innocently as if it never dreamed of
+    escaping, but had just moved a little way to get a better view
+    of the scenery.</p>
+
+    <p>Every hour or two of the next day the boys called
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page177"
+       id="page177"></a>[pg 177]</span> at the cave of the big
+       crocodile, but never found him in.</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, we'll go at it again to-morrow," said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"We will be doing something else to-morrow. We've got to
+    hike out of here, and keep moving, too. Last drop of water has
+    just gone into the coffee pot," and Ned turned the empty water
+    can upside down.</p>
+
+    <p>"Hope you can find the creek that leads to the fresh-water
+    country. I don't believe I could. We came through too many
+    twisty, narrow places. We sure don't want to be three or four
+    days finding it. I'm awful thirsty now."</p>
+
+    <p>"You must stop thinking about it. I believe I won't try for
+    that creek. It's a regular Chinese puzzle up among the
+    mangroves, and I'm not a bit sure I could follow our trail back
+    to fresh water. I'd rather take chances of that river that
+    leads more to the east. I know it can't go through to our bay,
+    but it must lead up to the Everglade country where the
+    mangroves won't be so bad. We may have to do some toting, but
+    we will be sure to find water by to-morrow night or the next
+    day at the worst. But I won't go that way unless you think
+    best. It's too serious a thing for me to decide alone."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, I'm with you Ned. I might live till day after to-morrow
+    without water, but I wouldn't have a ghost of a chance beyond
+    that, and we might be <span class="pagenum"><a name="page178"
+       id="page178"></a>[pg 178]</span> three days in your Chinese
+       puzzle country. Wow! but I'm thirsty."</p>
+
+    <p>"Say that again, Dick, and I'll confiscate your coffee. I'm
+    going to save half of it for breakfast, anyhow. So go slow.
+    You're on allowance now. We will have breakfast before
+    daylight. I want to start as soon as we can see. It's a lot
+    cooler before sun-up."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'll wake easy. I'll be so thirsty&mdash;Oh! excuse me, I
+    forgot. But Ned, would you mind if I took my crocodile along in
+    the canoe? He wouldn't take up much room and I could sit on his
+    back. I could lead him across any carry and I've grown quite
+    fond of him."</p>
+
+    <p>"You had better stop talking nonsense and get some sleep.
+    You may need it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, I know. 'Most anything may happen. You'd feel bad to
+    think you had refused a poor boy's dying request&mdash;and he
+    your chum, too. Can't I have my little pet crocodile?"</p>
+
+    <p>When the sun rose the young explorers had already paddled
+    several miles and were in a labyrinth of little bays from which
+    they followed channel after channel until each one shoaled down
+    to a few inches in depth. Finally they found one that deepened
+    as they advanced, although its banks came nearer together and
+    the branches of big trees closed over it.</p>
+
+    <p>"This is all right. Fresh water soon," said Dick
+    joyfully.</p>
+
+    <p>But he was soon to be disappointed. For the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page179"
+       id="page179"></a>[pg 179]</span> little creek ended in a
+       round shallow pond, a hundred yards across and entirely shut
+       in by thick bushes. Dick became very blue and even Ned was
+       discouraged.</p>
+
+    <p>"I hate to go back for miles and begin all over again, just
+    when we are so far along in the right direction. We can get
+    through these bushes and walk a mile or two, and perhaps climb
+    a tree and see what the country looks like," said Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"I'd rather do anything than go back," replied Dick. "Let's
+    paddle round the edge of this pond and see where the bushes are
+    thinnest."</p>
+
+    <p>They paddled along the shore of the little lake, finding the
+    water so shallow that it barely floated the canoe, until just
+    where the bushes seemed thickest it deepened to several feet,
+    and parting the bushes disclosed a deep but very narrow creek
+    through which the water slowly flowed. There was no room to
+    paddle and for more than a mile the boys dragged the canoe by
+    taking hold of overhanging branches. Sometimes they could lift
+    branches that crossed the creek over the canoe as they passed.
+    Sometimes they had to lie down in the canoe to get under the
+    obstructions and often they had to stop to cut away limbs of
+    small trees. They were finally stopped by the trunk of a large
+    tree which had fallen across and completely blocked up the
+    creek. Just beyond it two palmettos had fallen in the stream,
+    one of which lay lengthwise in the channel. It would have taken
+    days to <span class="pagenum"><a name="page180"
+       id="page180"></a>[pg 180]</span> remove the obstructions and
+       the young explorers explored the swamp near them to find a
+       possible carry. They found that a hundred feet behind them
+       the woods were thinner and they could cut a path through
+       which they could carry the canoe and stores.</p>
+
+    <p>"This is going to take all the rest of the day," said Ned,
+    "and it will be a dry camp after a heap of hot work. What do
+    you say to leaving this till to-morrow, and putting in this
+    afternoon hunting for the best route and looking for fresh
+    water?"</p>
+
+    <p>"That's me," replied Dick. "Let's hike in a hurry. Only
+    don't you lose your way. We have got to get back to the canoe
+    and you're the guide."</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't you worry about that. You may have to go slow, but I
+    won't lose myself and I will bring you back to the canoe," said
+    Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>Instead of following the creek, Ned bore off to the north
+    where the woods seemed more open and soon reached a stretch of
+    dry, open prairie. On the border of it stood a tall mastic tree
+    with a lightning-blasted top and many branches which made it
+    easy to climb. Ned was soon in the top of the tree making a
+    mental map of the country round about.</p>
+
+    <p>"It is all right now," said he as he climbed down. "I can
+    see the open Everglades within four or five miles, and there is
+    something that looks like a slough that is only half as far
+    away. We'll leave the creek in the morning and cut our path
+    this way, instead of around those trees. It won't be
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page181"
+       id="page181"></a>[pg 181]</span> as much work, either. We
+       can do some of that work to-night and camp right here. Then
+       in the morning, at daylight, we will start out with the
+       canoe on our shoulders and tramp till we find water to float
+       it."</p>
+
+    <p>"But how about water to drink? I need it worse than the
+    canoe."</p>
+
+    <p>"Where there's water for the canoe, there will be water for
+    you. It's Everglade water from now on."</p>
+
+    <p>"I wish it would begin this minute. There's a little
+    mud-hole that looks pretty wet. Do you think that might be
+    fresh?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Only way to find out is to try it." A minute later Dick
+    called out.</p>
+
+    <p>"Come here, Ned, it's muddy, but it's fresh. Oh, isn't it
+    good!"</p>
+
+    <p>As Ned approached the pool Dick, who was lying on the
+    prairie beside it, lifted his face from the water of which he
+    had been drinking, and was turning to speak to his companion
+    when the head of a great alligator, with wide open jaws, was
+    thrust violently out of the pool, just touching the boy's face.
+    Dick fell back on the prairie and scrambled away from the pool.
+    It was a minute before he spoke and then he said to Ned:</p>
+
+    <p>"Let's get back to work. I don't want another drink for a
+    month. It makes me sick to think of it."</p>
+
+    <p>The slough was farther away than Ned thought and the road to
+    it lay through a marsh. Often they
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page182"
+       id="page182"></a>[pg 182]</span> sank to the waist and
+       wallowed for rods, carrying the canoe which seemed to weigh
+       a ton, or dragging it beside them. Moccasins were plentiful,
+       but the boys were too tired to be worried by them. They had
+       to make two more trips to carry their cargo, and on the last
+       one, as Dick was staggering under a load of smoked meat and
+       a heavy, salted skin, he was heard to say:</p>
+
+    <p>"I wonder why I killed that bear. I will never kill another
+    one."</p>
+
+    <p>There was dry ground beside the slough, under some willow
+    trees, and the explorers were glad to rest there for the night.
+    A duck flew down by the willows as if seeking to camp with them
+    and he succeeded, for they had him for
+    supper.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page183"
+       id="page183"></a>[pg 183]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XVII</h3>
+
+    <h3>AMONG THE SEMINOLES</h3>
+
+    <p>The young explorers had found an uncharted route from the
+    Bay of Florida to the Everglades and the work before them was
+    now easy.</p>
+
+    <p>The water was deeper than was needed to float their canoe,
+    and the grass too light to trouble them. They sheered off and
+    avoided all bands of saw-grass unless they found trails across
+    them. The Glades were dotted with little keys of bay, myrtle
+    and cocoa plum. These were small and usually submerged. A few
+    larger keys were covered with heavier timber, pine, oak,
+    mastic, palmetto and other woods. In these, deer were plentiful
+    and bear and panther sometimes found.</p>
+
+    <p>The boys went to several keys before they found one with dry
+    land enough for a camp. It had been used for camping by the
+    Seminoles for many years and was the only bit of land above the
+    surface of the water for miles. On it were piles of turtle
+    shells, while scattered about were bones of deer and alligator
+    and skulls of bear and smaller animals. A cultivated papaw
+    which some Indian had planted
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page184"
+       id="page184"></a>[pg 184]</span> within a few years, stood
+       twelve feet high and was filled with great melon-like
+       papaws, each one of which weighed from five to ten
+       pounds.</p>
+
+    <p>"Better than cantaloupe," said Dick as he finished half of a
+    big one as a preliminary to his supper, "but what's this you
+    are giving us for coffee?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Coffee's out," replied Ned. "The fellows that took the
+    rifle cleaned out most of the coffee."</p>
+
+    <p>"Why didn't you make 'em give it back when you had 'em on
+    the run?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Reckon I was glad to get out of it as easy as I did. Then I
+    had said enough unkind things to them for one time."</p>
+
+    <p>"Sorry you think you were unkind. Your feelings must be a
+    good deal torn up. But you haven't told me what I'm drinking.
+    Tastes something like the sassafras tea I used to get dosed
+    with when I was a kid. It's pretty good, though."</p>
+
+    <p>"It's something like it. It's made from the leaves of the
+    sweet bay tree, which grows on all these islands and all over
+    this country. Sweet-bay tea is all you're going to get to
+    drink, excepting water, from now on."</p>
+
+    <p>"What is that fruit that looks like a big stubby pear on
+    that curious-looking tree there?" inquired Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Custard apple."</p>
+
+    <p>"Does it taste like custard?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, if the custard has been mixed with
+    turpentine."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page185"
+       id="page185"></a>[pg 185]</span>
+
+    <p>The explorers made little progress the following day.
+    Bunches of thick saw-grass turned them back. They found shallow
+    water where for long distances they had to paddle slowly to
+    avoid little pillars of coral rock that came close to the
+    surface and endangered their fragile canoe. Most of the
+    afternoon was vainly spent in searching for a camping site.
+    They found a key where the water was shoal and made a bed of
+    poles and branches. Both of them chose to sleep on the bed they
+    had made. Whether this was simply politeness or because both
+    were afraid of rolling out of the canoe nobody else knows. The
+    poles and branches sagged under their weight until both were
+    wet. Then such a deluge of rain as is seldom seen outside of
+    the tropics fell on them. They got out in the dark and tied
+    their canvas sheet over the canoe. They didn't need it for
+    themselves. They were already as wet as they could be.</p>
+
+    <p>In the morning they dried themselves&mdash;so Dick
+    said&mdash;by rolling into the water and sloshing around. They
+    made a cold lunch of smoked bear, cold hominy, or grits as it
+    is called in Florida, and water, choosing to wait for breakfast
+    until they should find land enough for a fire. During the day
+    they saw high trees to the eastward and made for them. Here
+    they found a Seminole camp of several families.</p>
+
+    <p>As they landed from their canoe they saw several
+    pickaninnies, for Seminole children are not
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page186"
+       id="page186"></a>[pg 186]</span> called papooses like
+       children in other tribes of Indians, watching them from
+       behind trees and boats. The squaws whom they met were
+       equally shy and kept their faces hidden. Ned spoke to
+       several of them, but they gave no sign that they even heard
+       him.</p>
+
+    <p>"They don't like your looks," said Dick. "Let me speak to
+    the next one."</p>
+
+    <p>The next one was a young girl and Dick was very confident,
+    as he addressed her, with his very best smile. But he was
+    turned down as badly as his chum, for the girl didn't see him
+    at all. At the camp they found one old Indian and several
+    squaws. The Indian welcomed them with a grunt and the
+    question,</p>
+
+    <p>"<i>Whyome</i> (whiskey), you got um?"</p>
+
+    <p>"<i>Whyome holowaugus</i> (bad), no got um," replied Ned.
+    The Indian grunted again and conversation ceased. Dick was
+    sitting on the edge of the table which serves also as floor in
+    a Seminole camp, when he heard a low growl just over his head.
+    He looked up and saw, crouched on a shelf within four feet of
+    him, a full-grown wild-cat, or bay lynx, which seemed disposed
+    to spring at him. Dick tried to keep from showing how much he
+    was scared, but he asked Ned to find out if the wild-cat would
+    bite. To Ned's question, the Indian nodded emphatically and
+    replied,</p>
+
+    <p>"Um, um, <i>unca, ojus</i> (yes, heap)." Dick moved away,
+    but the creature fascinated him and he came
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page187"
+       id="page187"></a>[pg 187]</span> back. Dick never could
+       resist the temptation to play with wild animals and he put
+       out his hand to the wild-cat, saying:</p>
+
+    <p>"If that Injun can tame that beast, I can."</p>
+
+    <p>"That Injun understands you, just as well as I do. He only
+    pretends he doesn't so as to make us try to talk his confounded
+    lingo."</p>
+
+    <p>A half smile stole over the stolid face of the Indian,
+    either on account of what Ned was saying or because Dick's hand
+    was slowly approaching the wild-cat. The paw of the lynx
+    flashed out and back so quickly that it could scarcely be seen,
+    but the blood began to flow from several deep, parallel cuts on
+    the back of the boy's hand. Dick still held out his hand,
+    scarcely moving a muscle, while Ned called out:</p>
+
+    <p>"Come away, Dick, that beast'll scratch out your eyes."</p>
+
+    <p>"Wonder what it would do if I cuffed it?"</p>
+
+    <p>The Indian appeared to understand this, for he spoke sharply
+    to the lynx, and going up to it patted its head and stroked its
+    body lightly. He then motioned to Dick to do the same. To
+    Dick's great delight the wild-cat not only allowed him to
+    stroke it, but even purred as well as a wild-cat can.</p>
+
+    <p>"Ned, I've got to have that cat. I've given up all my other
+    pets because you didn't want them in the canoe, or there wasn't
+    room. Now Tom will take care of himself and won't need any
+    toting. Shouldn't wonder if he'd feed himself,
+    too."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page188"
+       id="page188"></a>[pg 188]</span>
+
+    <p>"That's what I'm most afraid of.</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't worry. I won't let him eat you. Ask old
+    Stick-in-the-mud there what he wants for his beastie."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned talked with the Indian and reported to Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"He says he will sell for one otter skin like that one in
+    the canoe."</p>
+
+    <p>"How could he see that skin from here? Tell him it's a
+    whack. Only he must make Tom go with me if there is any trouble
+    about it."</p>
+
+    <p>"He says wild-cat go with you, you brave boy, not afraid of
+    him. Says somebody get scared, he eat 'em up."</p>
+
+    <p>"Ned, you old hypocrite, you made that up."</p>
+
+    <p>"Honest Injun, I didn't. I told it straight, just as I got
+    it. That Indian likes you."</p>
+
+    <p>"Why don't he talk white man lingo to me, then, instead of
+    his old gibberish that he can't possibly understand himself?
+    Ask the old snoozer what's cooking in that pot. It smells bully
+    and I'm hungry."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned turned to the Indian and pointing to the steaming pot,
+    said:</p>
+
+    <p>"<i>Nar-kee?</i> (What is it?)"</p>
+
+    <p>"<i>Lock-a-wa.</i> (Turtle.)"</p>
+
+    <p>"<i>Esoka bonus che.</i> (I want some.)"</p>
+
+    <p>"<i>Humbuggus cha.</i> (Come eat.)"</p>
+
+    <p>The boys took turns with the big, wooden, family spoon and
+    found the mess very good. There was another kettle of which the
+    Indians ate freely into <span class="pagenum"><a name="page189"
+       id="page189"></a>[pg 189]</span> which Dick dipped his
+       spoon. He made a wry face as he swallowed the portion he had
+       scooped up and said to Ned:</p>
+
+    <p>"Tell your copper-faced friend that he had better give that
+    swill back to the pigs he stole it from."</p>
+
+    <p>"Be careful, Dick, he understands."</p>
+
+    <p>"Then let him say so in a decent language and I'll apologize
+    for hurting his feelings, but I won't say that stuff is fit to
+    eat, not if I am tied to the stake."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick spent one afternoon getting acquainted with the Indian
+    children, in which he succeeded so well that when he came back
+    to the camp streaming with water, the whole bunch, although
+    they were quite as well soaked as he, followed him screaming
+    with laughter, quite like white children.</p>
+
+    <p>"What is the trouble?" inquired Ned as soon as the
+    youngsters gave him a chance to be heard.</p>
+
+    <p>"Only the usual thing. These Indians don't know how to
+    manage their roly-poly canoes and I'm afraid I'll be drowned
+    before I get 'em taught."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick had found a big family canoe that looked as if it
+    couldn't capsize and had made signs to an Indian boy to go out
+    in it with him. Before they were fairly afloat all the
+    pickaninnies belonging to the camp had piled into the craft.
+    From the smallest squab to the biggest boy, the Indian children
+    danced about in the canoe without disturbing its equilibrium.
+    The boy in the stern, standing on the extreme point of the
+    craft, set his pole on the coral
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page190"
+       id="page190"></a>[pg 190]</span> bottom and threw his weight
+       back upon it until his whole body stood out almost parallel
+       with the water behind the canoe. Dick stood on the tiny deck
+       on the bow of the boat, but with every thrust of his pole
+       the canoe wabbled till the pickaninnies balanced it. But
+       Dick improved with practice and as he grew confident, threw
+       his weight on the pole in true Seminole fashion. He would
+       have pulled through with credit, but for the slipping of his
+       pole on a point of coral rock, when he fell heavily in the
+       water, capsizing the craft as he went overboard. At first
+       the boy was alarmed for the safety of his cargo of children,
+       but soon saw that they were as much at home in the water as
+       on land and were quite capable of caring for themselves.
+       After Ned had heard what had happened he called the
+       attention of the squaws to the ducking of their babies
+       without causing the faintest gleam of interest to cross
+       their stolid faces.</p>
+
+    <p>After another day of eating with the Seminoles and sleeping
+    on their tables, Dick announced that Tom and he were tired of
+    Injuns and wanted to light out. The whole Indian family saw
+    them off, even the squaws coming half way to the canoe from
+    their camp. Dick carried Tom on his shoulder and the lynx
+    stepped into the canoe as if it had always owned it and curled
+    up on the canvas of the tent.</p>
+
+    <p>"Where do you want to go, Dick?"</p>
+
+    <p>"What's the use of asking me? You have been talking
+    Everglades and Big Cypress in a steady
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page191"
+       id="page191"></a>[pg 191]</span> streak, for two days to
+       that old Injun. You must have a map of his brain by this
+       time."</p>
+
+    <p>"We can go through the Everglades to Lake Okeechobee, out
+    through the canal and down the Caloosahatchee, but the
+    Everglades will be much the same as we have seen, only more and
+    worse saw-grass and so harder work. If we go to the east we
+    will pretty soon come out at the coast which we want to avoid.
+    I think we had better strike across to the prairies and the
+    border land between the Everglades and the Big Cypress Swamp.
+    Bear, deer, panther and wild turkey are to be found in that
+    country, and we won't have to hurry so much to get through in
+    the time we talked of for the trip. What do you say?"</p>
+
+    <p>"The woods for me, every time. Then I think it would be
+    better for Tom's health. I am afraid he would get melancholy if
+    we kept him on the water too much. Let's put in a big day's
+    work and get somewhere. I can stand sleeping in the water once
+    in a while, but don't like it as a regular thing."</p>
+
+    <p>They put in their big day's work without getting very far.
+    They struck shoal water in the morning where little pillars of
+    coral, rising almost to the surface, threatened to tear a hole
+    in their canoe. When they got overboard and waded, the same
+    sharp points of coral hurt their feet and bruised their shins.
+    During the afternoon they held their course, as best they
+    could, for a tall palmetto, which, lifting its head above a
+    waste of water and grass, gave promise
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page192"
+       id="page192"></a>[pg 192]</span> of land enough for a camp
+       beneath it. They dragged the canoe through a narrow strand
+       of saw-grass, but were turned westward by a heavier band of
+       the same obstacle, and finally made their camp for the night
+       on a bushy little submerged key, where Ned lay on top of the
+       canoe and was kept from sleeping by the fear of rolling over
+       into the water, and Dick lay on a bed of brush that soon
+       settled into the water with him. At first Tom climbed a
+       little tree, but didn't seem pleased with his quarters. He
+       looked at Dick's bed for a moment and turned in for the
+       night with Ned in the canoe. Good progress was made on the
+       following day, for the boys were tired of trying to sleep on
+       the water and meant to find land enough for a camp before
+       another night. They found much open water, most of the grass
+       was light and the few strands of saw-grass they encountered
+       were easily avoided. They saw few keys and all of those were
+       submerged. So again when night came there was no dry land
+       for a camp and the bed of branches was built up in the
+       shallow water. About midnight Ned, noticing that his
+       companion was restless, said to him:</p>
+
+    <p>"Dick, can you sleep any more?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Sleep any more?" said the indignant Dick. "I haven't slept
+    any, yet."</p>
+
+    <p>"Then let's get out of this and paddle the rest of the
+    night. It's full moon, paddling isn't half as hard as trying to
+    sleep on that bed and we may get
+    somewhere."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page193"
+       id="page193"></a>[pg 193]</span>
+
+    <p>"Good thing, and I move that we keep paddling till we get to
+    those woods you talked about, if it takes a week. Tom votes
+    with me. Motion carried."</p>
+
+    <p>About the middle of the forenoon they saw a clump of
+    palmettos on a key, for which they headed at once, where they
+    found ground which had been often camped upon. Dick climbed a
+    tree and could make out a forest near the horizon, in the west.
+    A few more hours' work would see them out of the Glades, but
+    they chose to rest for the remainder of the day.</p>
+
+    <p>"There goes your pet. That's the last of him," said Ned,
+    pointing to the lynx in the top of the tree, which Dick had
+    climbed.</p>
+
+    <p>"He'll come back all right. If he doesn't I'll go up and
+    fetch him by the scruff of his neck."</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:60%;">
+        <a href="images/193.jpg"
+             name="fig193"
+             id="fig193"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/193.jpg"
+             alt='"THERE GOES YOUR PET."' /></a>"THERE GOES YOUR
+             PET. THAT'S THE LAST OF HIM"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>Dick was right, for when the wild-cat saw the stores broken
+    into for dinner he came down for his portion of meat and then
+    curled up for a nap on his canvas in the canoe. Tom tolerated
+    Ned, but never permitted any familiarities from him, while Dick
+    could handle him as he chose and the lynx only smiled, in his
+    own fashion.</p>
+
+    <p>To reach the woods they were aiming for the boys left the
+    Indian trail they were on and, after forcing their way through
+    a strand of saw-grass, found themselves on a prairie, bounded
+    on the west <span class="pagenum"><a name="page194"
+       id="page194"></a>[pg 194]</span> by a heavy growth of
+       cypress, oak and other heavy timber, while the prairie
+       itself was made beautiful by picturesque little groups of
+       palmettos which were scattered through
+       it.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page195"
+       id="page195"></a>[pg 195]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XVIII</h3>
+
+    <h3>DICK'S WILDCAT AND OTHER WILD THINGS</h3>
+
+    <p>The Everglades had been crossed and that great region of
+    romance was no longer a mystery to our explorers, who found a
+    dry, shaded site for their camp on the border of the swamp
+    which they planned to explore and there fitted up for a long
+    stay. They stretched their canvas, tent fashion, and gathered
+    grass and moss for their beds. A round, deep pool of clear
+    fresh water was just beside the camp, and after one rattlesnake
+    and a few moccasins that claimed squatter's title had been
+    killed they felt that nothing was lacking. In the evening the
+    distant gobbling of a turkey told the hunters what would be the
+    first duty of the next day. When they started out on the hunt
+    prepared to be gone for one or more days Dick was troubled for
+    fear Tom might not understand his long absence and skip out. He
+    had a long talk with the lynx and told Ned that he thought Tom
+    would be good. Then he got out two days' rations for the
+    animal, which it ate up at once. There was more dry land in
+    this swamp than in those farther south to which they had become
+    accustomed, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page196"
+       id="page196"></a>[pg 196]</span> traveling was better, or
+       rather, less bad. Yet to persons with less experience than
+       the young explorers it would have seemed to be as bad as it
+       was possible for it to be. For half a day the boys tramped
+       and waded in the swamp without finding the game they were
+       looking for. They had found other birds, some of which they
+       would have shot for their dinner had they not been afraid of
+       frightening the wary turkeys, which they believed were not
+       far from them. Alligators were plentiful, large and small,
+       but the boys were not hunting for hides and Dick said that
+       Tom was all the pet he cared to have charge of for the
+       present. Early in the afternoon they sat down to rest under
+       a big tree and were eating their lunch of smoked meat and
+       cold hoe-cake when a turkey gobbler lit on a branch of the
+       tree under which they were sitting. The turkey was in plain
+       sight and less than twenty feet from them, but Dick's
+       shot-gun was resting against a tree fifteen feet from its
+       owner, while Ned's rifle lay on the ground five feet from
+       his hand. Both kept as quiet as graven images, for they knew
+       that at the motion of a hand the big bird would take flight.
+       If Dick's gun had been within five feet he would have jumped
+       for it, trusting to be ready with it to cut down the turkey
+       before it could get out of sight among the trees. But a run
+       of fifteen feet made his chances too small and he waited to
+       see what Ned would do. Ned's rifle lay just out of his
+       reach, and before he could lay his hand on it the
+       <span class="pagenum"><a name="page197"
+       id="page197"></a>[pg 197]</span> bird would be on the wing
+       and quite safe from anything he could do with a rifle. At
+       last Ned began to push himself inch by inch toward the
+       rifle, while Dick sat silent and breathless with excitement.
+       Very slowly Ned progressed until his hand touched the rifle.
+       Before he could move it the fraction of an inch, the turkey
+       saw the trouble in store for him and was off. Ned grabbed
+       the rifle and took a harmless snapshot at the bird, while
+       Dick rushed for his gun and sent after the turkey, which was
+       then a hundred yards distant, a shower of shot which could
+       never have overtaken it.</p>
+
+    <p>"Next time I eat I'm going to feed myself with one hand and
+    hold my gun in the other," said Dick. "I think I'll stay home
+    to-morrow and keep camp. Tom will go hunting with you. He's got
+    sense and he always keeps his weapons handy."</p>
+
+    <p>"Keeps 'em too handy for me. I don't like the way he looks
+    at me sometimes. He acts as if he wanted to feel of my ribs to
+    see if I am fat enough for his purposes. I reckon I'm the one
+    to keep camp. My rifle was right at my elbow, but I didn't seem
+    to know enough to use it. Dick! Look at that hole in that tree
+    and all those insects around it. It's a bee-tree. There's a
+    barrel of honey there that belongs to us!"</p>
+
+    <p>"Do you s'pose the bees know that it belongs to us, or will
+    they make trouble for us?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Of course they'll make trouble. You can't rob a hive
+    without being
+    stung."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page198"
+       id="page198"></a>[pg 198]</span>
+
+    <p>"I'm going to keep camp to-morrow, just as I told you, and
+    let Tom go with you. Wonder how he'd like to climb that
+    tree."</p>
+
+    <p>"We will chop down that tree to-morrow and likely get stung
+    a lot, but you know, Dick, you wouldn't stay away for a
+    farm."</p>
+
+    <p>"Better not try me. I wish I had a sheet-iron jacket and
+    stove-pipe pants. Let's go home. I want to see Tom and tell him
+    about it. I'm afraid he's lonesome."</p>
+
+    <p>But Dick didn't tell Tom anything, for when they got back to
+    camp Tom had gone. Dick scarcely tasted his supper and his
+    sleep was restless and troubled. He woke with a scream, from a
+    terrible nightmare in which a wild beast had him by the throat
+    and was crushing him to death under his tremendous weight. He
+    was happy when he woke to find that his dream was true. For Tom
+    had come home and showed his joy at the sight of Dick by
+    leaping on the boy's chest and licking his face and neck. Even
+    Ned rejoiced that Tom had returned and stroked his back, which
+    for once the lynx graciously permitted.</p>
+
+    <p>"You are glad that Tom has come back, aren't you, Ned?" said
+    Dick as he laid his face against the soft fur of the wild-cat
+    whose purring sounded so like a low growl.</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, yes. I'm glad. 'Course I am. Only wish all of 'em would
+    come back, the two alligators, the crocodile and the dead
+    otter. Then we'd start a
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page199"
+       id="page199"></a>[pg 199]</span> menagerie and I'd tell
+       fearful stories of man-eaters while you went into their
+       cages with a big whip in one hand and a small cannon in the
+       other."</p>
+
+    <p>When the boys started for the bee-tree they carried a bundle
+    of dry palmetto fans, an axe, and a bucket for the honey.</p>
+
+    <p>"Shall we tote the guns?" asked Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"What's the use? Don't either of us know how to use 'em.
+    Better leave 'em with Tom."</p>
+
+    <p>But the guns did not stay with Tom, or rather Tom did not
+    stay with the guns, but quietly followed the boys as a pet dog
+    might have done. He stepped daintily from root to root and
+    walked along fallen logs and the branches of trees which he
+    climbed, easily keeping up with the bee hunters, without
+    muddying his paws, while they wallowed in mud which was usually
+    knee-deep and occasionally a foot more. Before tackling the
+    tree they built a fire some fifty yards away, which they made
+    smoke by putting on rotten wood and wet moss. They intended to
+    hide in this smoke if the bees attacked them while they were
+    chopping down the tree. The palmetto leaves were to be kept
+    until the tree had fallen and were then to be made into smoky
+    torches, under cover of which the boys hoped to secure the
+    honey. They took turns in slinging the axe and resting, yet the
+    exercise and the bees together kept them pretty well warmed up.
+    For, after a while the bees began to take notice of the
+    knocking at their door and occasionally a few of them dropped
+    down <span class="pagenum"><a name="page200"
+       id="page200"></a>[pg 200]</span> and stung the chopper and
+       the looker on, quite impartially. The art of wood-chopping
+       has to be learned before one is born. The children of
+       back-woodsmen can sling an axe as soon as they can stand.
+       Boys born as near New York City as Dick and Ned were, never
+       can learn. They think when they go up in the Adirondacks and
+       chew down some trees with an axe, that they are chopping
+       wood, but their guides who lie around smoking their pipes
+       while the sportsmen sweat over the task, know better and
+       slyly wink at each other while they praise aloud the skill
+       of their employers.</p>
+
+    <p>When the boys stopped work and went back to their smudge to
+    give the bees a chance to rest, and to find out if mud really
+    drew the poison out of the little lumps that covered them, the
+    tree had been cut nearly half through. Any Nature-lover would
+    have known that a beaver had been at work, while everyday folks
+    would have suspected a saw-mill.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick missed Tom and at first was troubled, but finally
+    discovered him sitting on a branch behind a tree around which
+    he could look without making himself conspicuous.</p>
+
+    <p>"Shall we wait till to-morrow to finish the job?" asked
+    Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"Not much. By to-morrow my face will be so swollen that I
+    can't see and the rest of me so sore that I can't move. Let's
+    make a big smudge at the foot of the tree. I'd rather be
+    smothered by <span class="pagenum"><a name="page201"
+       id="page201"></a>[pg 201]</span> smoke than stung and
+       poisoned to death by those little beasts."</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/200.jpg"
+             name="fig200"
+             id="fig200"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/200.jpg"
+             alt='"A FEW OF THE HOMELESS BEES LIT ON THE COMB"' />
+             </a>"A FEW OF THE HOMELESS BEES LIT ON THE COMB"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>The smudge worked and the bee hunters had no more trouble
+    until the tree fell, when they got into the thickest of the
+    smoke they had made. This did not save them altogether, for the
+    bees were very numerous and very mad and a few dozen of them
+    got far enough in the smoke to leave their marks on their
+    enemies. When the insects had quieted down and were gathered in
+    bunches on logs and stumps, looking stupidly at the wreck of
+    their home, the boys made another smudge near the hole in the
+    fallen tree which led to the home of the bees. They sounded the
+    hollow tree and found it only a shell where the honey was
+    stored and a little work with the hatchet laid open the
+    storehouse of the insects. A few of the homeless bees lit on
+    the comb they had made, other bees gathered on the cypress
+    knees which abounded in the swamp and through which the great
+    cypress trees breathed, but their spirit was gone and they made
+    no attack on the destroyers of their home. Of the comb and
+    honey which the boys found in the tree they were able to carry
+    away less than half and they wondered if the bees would have
+    the sense to save what was left or if some wandering bear would
+    scoop it in for his supper.</p>
+
+    <p>As the young bee hunters started for camp laden with their
+    spoils, Tom stepped softly out of a nearby thicket, licking his
+    chops and apparently thinking
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page202"
+       id="page202"></a>[pg 202]</span> of the delicate lunch of
+       fat tree-rat he had just eaten.</p>
+
+    <p>"Dick," said Ned, as they were lazily resting against a log,
+    after a supper that was mostly dessert, having consisted of a
+    little smoked bear and a lot of honey, "something has got to be
+    done for the larder. We go for honey when we need meat. We let
+    Indian hens which we can get, escape on the chance of turkeys
+    which we can never bag. We are looking for deer that are miles
+    away and overlooking ducks that are trying to fly into the
+    pot."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm not overlooking much, Neddy, since that turkey biz.
+    I've got my gun in my hand this minute and here's a chance to
+    use it."</p>
+
+    <p>As Dick spoke he raised the gun to his shoulder and fired. A
+    little black creature, thirty yards away in the grass, sprang
+    into the air and fell to the ground. Both of the boys started
+    for it, but Tom was ahead and looked back upon them, growling
+    fiercely, with his fangs fixed in the throat of the dying
+    creature. Dick tried to coax the lynx to give up the creature
+    he had seized, but the animal was filled with the fierceness of
+    his race and even Dick dared not touch him. The creature which
+    the cat held in its claws was clearly a rabbit, little and jet
+    black, unlike anything which either of the boys had ever seen
+    before.</p>
+
+    <p>"I've heard of these little Everglade rabbits," said Ned.
+    "Tommy told me of a key in the Everglades
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page203"
+       id="page203"></a>[pg 203]</span> where there were plenty of
+       them. If we had time we might look it up."</p>
+
+    <p>"How much time have you got, Neddy?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Another month will use up the time I said I would be gone.
+    I left that word for Dad in Myers. Guess he's there now and
+    maybe my sister with him. He won't worry a minute till the time
+    I set is up, after that there'll be trouble."</p>
+
+    <p>"What kind of trouble?"</p>
+
+    <p>"'Most anything," laughed Ned. "Might be a lot of nurses out
+    looking for a lost baby."</p>
+
+    <p>"He won't be frightened about you if you're not quite up to
+    time, will he?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Not exactly frightened, but he will want to see me, and
+    I'll be glad enough to see him, and sis, too."</p>
+
+    <p>"I knew you had a sister, but you never talked about her
+    much."</p>
+
+    <p>"She's a nice child, alle samee. I think you're going to
+    like her. She's a little your style of foolishness."</p>
+
+    <p>"What's that?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, it isn't very bad. But you haven't had much to say
+    about your own self, lately. You never told me exactly what
+    took you around by Key West. Why didn't you come straight to
+    Fort Myers instead of taking the tiny little chance of finding
+    me in the big Everglades?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, I'll tell you. You see, mother knew how much I wanted
+    to go with you on this hunt and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page204"
+       id="page204"></a>[pg 204]</span> she begged me to let her
+       foot the bills. Of course I couldn't stand for that, you
+       know, and&mdash;"</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, Of course not, you stuck-up little donkey," interrupted
+    Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"So I started as a stowaway on the Key West
+    steamer&mdash;"</p>
+
+    <p>"You cheeky little imp! Did they put you in command of the
+    ship when they found you?"</p>
+
+    <p>"No, only put me in the fireroom, shoveling coal in the
+    furnace."</p>
+
+    <p>"But that's not boy's work. What business&mdash;"</p>
+
+    <p>"Hold on, Ned, wait till I get through. The captain was
+    bully. So was everybody else. I went to him soon as we were
+    outside Sandy Hook and asked for a job. I was independent about
+    it. I believe I offered to swim ashore if he didn't happen to
+    have a job for me. He gave me an easy one, for a boy, but I
+    struck and asked for a man's work, and got it&mdash;in the
+    fireroom. But I pulled through, Neddy, and made good, though
+    once or twice I did have to call myself hard names and think
+    how you'd have hung on, if you'd been in my place. Yes,
+    everybody was good to me. One passenger wanted to pay for a
+    first-class passage for me and I had hard work to beg off,
+    and&mdash;but that's all."</p>
+
+    <p>"Dick, you mustn't talk that way about me. You make me
+    ashamed. I wouldn't have stuck it out in that fireroom for one
+    day. Now how about your time for the trip? Will a month suit
+    you?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, that's all right. I wrote mother from Key
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page205"
+       id="page205"></a>[pg 205]</span> West and told her the hunt
+       would be a long one without any chance to mail a letter and
+       that she was not to worry because there wasn't a show of
+       danger in the whole business. Of course mothers do worry a
+       little when there isn't any reason."</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, mothers do worry, foolishly. Pity yours couldn't know
+    how faithfully Tom looks after you. She'd be so relieved."</p>
+
+    <p>On the day after cutting down the bee tree the boys were
+    glad to stay quietly in camp. Ned's neck and arms were badly
+    swollen and Dick's eyes could scarcely be seen. Both of them
+    lay awake nearly all night, but it was uncertain whether this
+    was due to the pain of the stings or the quantity of honey they
+    had eaten.</p>
+
+    <p>Tom shed his fierceness soon after he had disposed of the
+    rabbit and again became friendly to Dick, who, even while he
+    petted him, explained that he could never quite trust him
+    again.</p>
+
+    <p>Every evening turkeys could be heard in the swamp near the
+    camp. Every morning they had departed. One morning Ned said to
+    Dick:</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm turkey hungry and I'm tired of shilly-shallying. The
+    way to get anything is to get it. Let us get a turkey. We'll
+    start out for it now and come back after we have got it, and
+    not before."</p>
+
+    <p>"All right, Neddy, we goes for it, we gits it and we comes
+    back when we gits it and not afore."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys started out with their usual equipment of weapons,
+    salt, matches and axe. They crossed
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page206"
+       id="page206"></a>[pg 206]</span> the swamp without finding
+       the bird they sought and then, as they were hungry and
+       tired, Dick shot a fat young ibis and broiled it for their
+       dinner. After dinner they crossed the meadow to a narrow
+       strip of woods, beyond which, on a wide stretch of prairie,
+       they saw three bunches of turkeys. The bunch nearest them
+       appeared to be a hen turkey with her family, each member of
+       which was about as large as its mother. They were a long
+       rifle-shot away, and a shot, if it missed, would send every
+       turkey to cover for the day. The same thing would happen if
+       either of them set foot on the prairie.</p>
+
+    <p>"Our best chance," said Ned, "is to wait for them at the
+    edge of the prairie. It's getting late and pretty soon they'll
+    be looking for places to roost among these trees. They may come
+    right here. Anyhow, by spreading out we will cover quite a
+    stretch of woods. It may be too late for the rifle but the
+    shotgun ought to do something."</p>
+
+    <p>"That means that you're tired of my society, Neddy. So I'll
+    go and hide myself on the edge of the prairie, a little further
+    off than you can hit anything, in case of you mistaking me for
+    a turkey."</p>
+
+    <p>Soon after Dick had reached his station, the turkeys began
+    to feed toward the woods. Two of the bunches went to the
+    opposite side of the prairie. The hen turkey with her grown-up
+    family fed slowly toward Dick's hiding place, but, when just
+    out of range, appeared to become suspicious and turned toward
+    Ned. Slowly she walked, darting her
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page207"
+       id="page207"></a>[pg 207]</span> quick-moving head in every
+       direction as she searched trees and bushes for hidden
+       enemies. The younger turkeys put much faith in the wariness
+       of the old lady and stalked fearlessly behind her. Ned
+       waited for a chance which he thought couldn't be missed and,
+       avoiding the mother turkey, shot down one of her brood.
+       Instantly the flock was in the air, following its leader
+       down along the edge of the forest. This brought them
+       directly over Dick, who neatly cut down another member of
+       the family. While Ned was dressing the turkeys and building
+       the fire for the broiling of one of them, Dick was climbing
+       a young cabbage palm and cutting the bud from its top.</p>
+
+    <p>"Couldn't tell this palmetto cabbage from big fresh
+    chestnuts, by the taste," said Dick. "I'm going to roast that
+    other turkey at the camp to-morrow with his whole inside
+    crammed full of chestnut stuffing."</p>
+
+    <p>While the turkey hunters were eating their breakfast of cold
+    turkey a doe, followed by a fawn which was still in the spotted
+    coat, walked out on the open prairie within fifty yards of them
+    and gazed at them without a sign of fear.</p>
+
+    <p>"They know we wouldn't shoot a doe or a fawn," said Ned.
+    "That's what makes them feel so safe."</p>
+
+    <p>"Wonder if they would have felt as safe last night, before
+    we got those turkeys?"</p>
+
+    <p>On their return Tom, met the turkey hunters a quarter of a
+    mile from their camp and they
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page208"
+       id="page208"></a>[pg 208]</span> wondered whether he had
+       heard them coming, or happened to be strolling that way. He
+       looked so earnestly at the turkey which Dick was carrying
+       that the boy said to him:</p>
+
+    <p>"See here, Tom, that's my turkey and I won't stand for your
+    laying a paw on him. So you had better be good unless you are
+    looking for a mix-up with me." Tom looked cowed, but showed his
+    friendly feelings by walking beside Dick, rubbing against his
+    legs and purring in his half-growling
+    fashion.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page209"
+       id="page209"></a>[pg 209]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XIX</h3>
+
+    <h3>A PRAIRIE ON FIRE</h3>
+
+    <p>"Dick," said Ned as they rested against a log, having their
+    regular after-dinner, heart-to heart talk, "we had better
+    <i>hiepus</i> (light out), if we mean to get to the coast and
+    bring up at Myers on time, besides taking in all we want to on
+    the way. We know the Harney's River route like a book and we've
+    been over the Indian trail to Lawson's River, so we've got to
+    find some new way out. There is a chain of salt-water lakes
+    between the Everglades and the rivers of the west coast and we
+    must get into them. I have made a pretty fair chart of the
+    country and can tell how far across the swamps and prairies it
+    is to almost any point, but how much of that distance is easy
+    water and how much tough swamp or boggy prairie is what I don't
+    know, but what we have got to find out. We have explored the
+    country right around here pretty well and now let's put in a
+    day working the canoe through the grass to the south, then leg
+    it westward till we strike salt water."</p>
+
+    <p>"That sounds well," replied Dick, "and then, you know, if
+    your charts don't pan out straight, you can
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page210"
+       id="page210"></a>[pg 210]</span> always ask Tom or me.
+       Wonder if you half appreciate your privileges, having us
+       along to take care of you."</p>
+
+    <p>The young explorers "lit out" as proposed and, after a day
+    of hard work and easy work, of open water and thick saw-grass
+    and of clear channels and half dry meadows, camped beside a
+    little slough on the border of a swamp, in the jungle of which
+    it soon lost itself.</p>
+
+    <p>The first excitement of the new camp came in the night when
+    Tom, who was sleeping, as usual, beside Dick, sprang up with a
+    fierce cry, which they had never before heard from him, and
+    dashed into the woods near the camp. There came from the woods
+    the battle cries of warring animals, but soon all became quiet
+    and the cat came back, but he growled at intervals throughout
+    the night.</p>
+
+    <p>"What got into you, Tom?" said Dick to the lynx the next
+    morning, after he had looked him over in vain for marks of a
+    fight. "Was it jimjams, or only a bad nightmare?"</p>
+
+    <p>Tom listened gravely and looked as if he could have
+    explained a good deal if only Dick had understood his
+    language.</p>
+
+    <p>Tom followed the boys through the swamp on the morning of
+    their first tramp, but when they struck a marshy meadow where
+    the water was knee deep and the mud as much more, with no trees
+    to make it pleasant for a poor cat, he looked reproachfully at
+    Dick and turned back toward the camp. At
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page211"
+       id="page211"></a>[pg 211]</span> the end of the meadow was a
+       dense thicket which Ned entered first. He had only advanced
+       a few steps when he turned back and held up his hand in
+       warning to Dick. The thicket in which they stood was on the
+       border of a big prairie of rich grass in which more than a
+       dozen deer, nearly all bucks, could be seen feeding, with
+       only their backs and antlers showing above the tall grass,
+       excepting when some buck of a suspicious mind lifted his
+       head high and gazed warily about him.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/210.jpg"
+             name="fig210"
+             id="fig210"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/210.jpg"
+             alt='"ALL BEYOND THE DARK MEADOW WAS A LIVING MASS"' />
+             </a>"ALL BEYOND THE DARK MEADOW WAS A LIVING MASS"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"Isn't it us for the big luck, Neddy?" whispered Dick. "When
+    I ate that very last bit of turk this morning I wondered when
+    I'd get another meal and Tom asked me in confidence if we meant
+    to let him starve. And now, just look. There's venison enough
+    for the rest of the trip."</p>
+
+    <p>"It don't belong to us yet. You want to be mighty cautious.
+    You can sneak up to that tree with the rifle and wait till that
+    nearest buck shows up in good shape and then drop a bullet
+    somewhere around his fore-shoulder. Don't fire at his head
+    unless you have to. The brain is a mighty small mark, and
+    you're not playing to the gallery down here."</p>
+
+    <p>"Ned Barstow, what are you talking about? Take your own
+    rifle and shoot your own buck. If you don't I'll let out a yell
+    that will scare the whole bunch to Kingdom Come. I don't run to
+    you with my gun, whenever I find game, and ask you to shoot it.
+    You mean well, Neddy boy, but sometimes you get
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page212"
+       id="page212"></a>[pg 212]</span> mistaken. I'm afraid I
+       didn't begin this trip right. I ought to have given you a
+       lickin' every day, just to keep you in your place."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned crawled out to the tree with his rifle and watched for
+    his chance. The nearest buck was within easy range, but the
+    grass hid his body and when the creature, scenting his enemy,
+    threw his head high in the air Ned sent a bullet through his
+    brain. As the boys were dragging the carcass to the woods where
+    they proposed to skin and cut it in two for carrying to camp,
+    Dick said to Ned:</p>
+
+    <p>"Do you know what hypocrite means?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I s'pose so, but what are you trying to get at?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Hypocrite means a fellow who tells his friend that the only
+    way to shoot a buck is through the body, coz the head is too
+    small to be hit, and then goes out himself and sends a bullet
+    plumb through the center of the brain of the beast."</p>
+
+    <p>"But Dick, I couldn't see the shoulder."</p>
+
+    <p>"Neither could I. You can't sneak out that way."</p>
+
+    <p>A strong wind from the northwest sprang up while the boys
+    were finishing their supper of broiled buck's liver and they
+    built a wind-break to protect them while they slept. The wind
+    became a gale, but they slept soundly, soothed by its roaring.
+    They were rudely wakened by the crashing of some wild animal
+    through the brush of their wind-break and, sitting up, saw that
+    the whole western sky was lit up and all beyond the dark meadow
+    was a lurid mass <span class="pagenum"><a name="page213"
+       id="page213"></a>[pg 213]</span> of flame. The roar of the
+       fire mingled with that of the gale, while, as the swirling
+       columns of flame bent to the earth and swept the meadow, the
+       crackling of the grass was like the rattling of musketry or
+       the spitting fire of a hundred Catlings. Soon the air became
+       filled with sparks and cinders, and thick with smoke.</p>
+
+    <p>"We've got to mosey, Ned. Reckon there isn't any time to
+    waste, either. Shall we take the meat?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Got enough to do to take care of our own."</p>
+
+    <p>There was plenty of light, but the flickering shadows of the
+    trees caused by the wavering flames made the steps of the boys
+    uncertain as they fled from the flames that were following so
+    fast. Ned fell headforemost into a thicket of the terrible
+    Spanish bayonet and it was only the excitement of the hour that
+    made the pain bearable. They floundered across the narrow swamp
+    and into the marshy meadow often waist deep in the mud and more
+    than once both of them fell flat in the water of the marsh. The
+    narrow belt of timber which they first crossed checked the fire
+    and although tongues of flame crossed it and a few trees took
+    fire, while live coals were scattered broadcast over the marshy
+    meadow, the fire died out without crossing the belt of woods
+    that first stopped it. The boys crossed the marshy meadow to
+    the swamp which they first entered when they left their camp
+    the previous morning. As Ned's Spanish bayonet wounds kept him
+    from sleeping, the boys sat up and talked till
+    daylight.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page214"
+       id="page214"></a>[pg 214]</span>
+
+    <p>In the morning the wind had gone down and a few burning
+    trees and little columns of smoke were all that was left of the
+    great fire of the night.</p>
+
+    <p>"If you will go on to camp, Ned, I'll go back and get that
+    venison. It must be well smoked. Hope it didn't burn up. Give
+    my regards to Tom. If he isn't good tie him up."</p>
+
+    <p>"Guess I'll go with you, Dick. These stickers hurt worse
+    when I keep still. Then you will need help to carry the
+    venison. I hope the buzzards haven't got at it. We can leave
+    our guns here."</p>
+
+    <p>"No, thank you. My gun goes with me. I have had trouble
+    enough from not having it handy."</p>
+
+    <p>They found the hide of their buck had been destroyed by the
+    fire, but the venison had only been roasted and partly smoked
+    and they made their breakfast on it. The outsides of the
+    palmettos, on the prairie where Ned shot the buck, were still
+    burning and the trees looked like big sticks of charcoal, but
+    palmetto trees get used to that and are seldom harmed by it,
+    though it does spoil their beauty. The boys walked out in the
+    ashes of the grass of the meadow and were sorry they did, for
+    it made them look like the burnt ends of matches. When they got
+    back to camp Tom came out and sniffed at Dick and then, instead
+    of rubbing against his legs, went back and lay down. Dick spent
+    the rest of the day working over Ned's face and body with
+    tweezers, pulling out bits of thorns. When he got through the
+    boys were about equally
+    tired.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page215"
+       id="page215"></a>[pg 215]</span>
+
+    <p>Ned's wounds were so painful that for several days the
+    explorers stayed around the camp and Dick amused himself and
+    his chum by worrying a family of young alligators that lived in
+    a pond near the camp. He grunted the little ones to the surface
+    until they were tired of being fooled and refused to respond
+    and he drove the largest one out of its cave in the bank until
+    the reptile refused to play any more and would not come beyond
+    the mouth of his cave. Then Dick cut a pole leaving a bit of a
+    branch sticking out like a barb at the end and poked that in
+    the hole till the alligator grabbed the end of it. Dick now
+    pulled good and hard, the barb caught in the reptile's lower
+    jaw and the boy soon had him out of his cave and up on the
+    prairie. The 'gator was lively and Dick had to chase around the
+    prairie a lot after him and finally get Ned to help before he
+    could tie it. Tom didn't approve of the new member of the
+    family, but he made no trouble while the camp was awake. The
+    alligator became very restless at night and got in the habit of
+    thrashing around almost constantly. In the morning his tail was
+    seen to be raw and bleeding and day by day it grew worse. Tom
+    was suspected, but always denied having had anything to do with
+    it, with an expression of such injured innocence when accused
+    that Dick had to believe him. One night, however, a heavy blow
+    was heard, accompanied by a yowl from Tom and followed by some
+    sort of scrimmage. In the morning Tom had a mussed-up look and
+    the reptile <span class="pagenum"><a name="page216"
+       id="page216"></a>[pg 216]</span> had a number of fresh
+       wounds. As the camp was moved that day and Ned continued to
+       object to taking an alligator in the canoe the reptile was
+       turned loose. He walked with dignity out on the prairie
+       until he was near the slough, when he scuttled hastily to
+       the water and plunged in.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/216.jpg"
+             name="fig216"
+             id="fig216"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/216.jpg"
+             alt="THE BARB CAUGHT IN THE REPTILE'S LOWER JAW" />
+             </a>"THE BARB CAUGHT IN THE REPTILE'S LOWER JAW"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>The new camp was in a little glade on a creek which the
+    explorers had followed for about three miles west from the
+    Everglades. They paddled through the creek till it melted in
+    the meadows; they poled their canoe along the channel which the
+    grass concealed; they dragged it by hand under bushes which
+    covered it, until the little glade opened to them and showed
+    enough dry ground for a camp and several shallow streams
+    winding around clumps of bushes, but always stretching out
+    toward the west. At daylight the young explorers were again on
+    the move, dragging the canoe along twisting streams not deep
+    enough to float it, until they struck a larger stream in a
+    heavier growth. The little streams disappeared, the water grew
+    deeper, but the jungle became worse, and every yard of their
+    path had to be carved out with their knives.</p>
+
+    <p>"This doesn't look very hopeful," said Dick as they stopped
+    the heavy work for a few minutes' rest. "Hadn't we better go
+    back a ways and hunt up a more open trail?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Not on your life," replied Ned. "We are on the right track
+    and we've got to fight it through. The only thing I'll stop for
+    is a mangrove swamp, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page217"
+       id="page217"></a>[pg 217]</span> and I'll try mighty hard to
+       get around that. But we won't find any mangrove swamp to
+       trouble us."</p>
+
+    <p>"You seem to know just what we're going to find on this
+    trail, if you call it a trail."</p>
+
+    <p>"I know what we ought to find, and that's better."</p>
+
+    <p>"Why is it better?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Because then we'll know if we're on the right track."</p>
+
+    <p>"All right, Neddy, I quite agree with you. I only wanted to
+    know that you were sure of your ground."</p>
+
+    <p>The trees became heavier in a narrow belt along the stream,
+    but open sky could be seen beyond them.</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't you want to walk across to that open place, Ned, to
+    find out what kind of country it is?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I know now. It's open prairie or swamp and the next big
+    water we strike will be the salt-water lakes. We will probably
+    come to a fresh-water river first and that pretty soon."</p>
+
+    <p>"Conceit's good for the consumption, Neddy. What do you want
+    to bet on finding that river in an hour?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I'll eat my hat if we don't find it in a quarter of a mile.
+    I won't bet on the time, because at the rate you're working it
+    may take three weeks to get there."</p>
+
+    <p>"Ned, you're a wizard, for there is the river."</p>
+
+    <p>The river flowed gently between high banks, densely wooded.
+    The waters were alive with fish, and long-legged wading birds
+    of the heron family <span class="pagenum"><a name="page218"
+       id="page218"></a>[pg 218]</span> stalked over the shallows
+       in the stream. An hour's paddling brought the canoe to the
+       mouth of the river, where camp was made. The water beside
+       the camp was fresh, but the salt-water bays spread out for
+       miles before them.</p>
+
+    <p>"Everything is easy now," said Ned. "These bays are in the
+    Ten Thousand Islands and lead to the head waters of the rivers
+    of the coast. We may get tangled up in these keys, aground on
+    the flats or cornered up in some of the bays and perhaps lose a
+    few days, but we're safe to get out without hard work or
+    trouble of any
+    kind."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page219"
+       id="page219"></a>[pg 219]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XX</h3>
+
+    <h3>DICK'S FIGHT WITH A PANTHER</h3>
+
+    <p>"I've always noticed, Ned, that when everything looks simple
+    and easy, it is a good time to expect trouble."</p>
+
+    <p>"Not this time, Dick."</p>
+
+    <p>But it was this time, and that night Ned had his last
+    care-free sleep for weeks.</p>
+
+    <p>"How long shall we camp here?" asked Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Better stay here for a week or two. We can hunt in the
+    woods back of us and explore all these bays. This may be the
+    last fresh water we will find on the trip, so we don't want to
+    leave it till we are ready to pull straight through to
+    Myers."</p>
+
+    <p>In the morning the boys started across the woods on the bank
+    of the stream, hoping to find a buck on the prairie beyond
+    them. When they reached the prairie they saw three deer near
+    its farther end, about half a mile away. They went back in the
+    woods and started to work their way around the prairie to its
+    farther end where the deer were. It took them some hours to get
+    where the deer had been, only to find that they had gone. They
+    saw them again on a smaller prairie and once more tried to
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page220"
+       id="page220"></a>[pg 220]</span> get near the creatures by
+       creeping through the woods. When the hunters were as near
+       the game as they could go without getting out of cover the
+       animals were yet a hundred and fifty yards distant. One of
+       them was a fine buck and Ned watched it, rifle in hand, for
+       many minutes, hoping it would come nearer. As the deer fed
+       they sometimes came nearer and his hopes rose, only to sink
+       into his boots when they turned away. At last he gave up
+       waiting for a better chance and fired. The buck threw up his
+       head, looked around for a moment and trotted quietly away,
+       entirely unharmed, followed by the other deer.</p>
+
+    <p>"It isn't our day, Dick," said Ned, ruefully, as he watched
+    the disappearing animals.</p>
+
+    <p>"Here goes for something to eat, anyhow," replied Dick, as
+    he dropped a curlew that was flying over them. After broiling
+    and eating the bird, together with some hoe-cake which they had
+    in their pockets, the boys resumed their hunt for deer. They
+    saw several more during the afternoon, but ill luck followed
+    them and they finally set out for camp empty-handed.</p>
+
+    <p>As the boys were passing through a thick clump of trees on
+    the bank of the river, about two hundred yards from their camp,
+    Ned was suddenly held back by a clutch on his shoulder, and
+    turning his head, saw Dick's face upturned and his eyes fixed
+    on the large branch of a big tree just before them. As Ned
+    looked upward he saw the form of a huge
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page221"
+       id="page221"></a>[pg 221]</span> panther, or mountain lion,
+       crouching upon the limb and apparently about to spring upon
+       him. The animal was within ten feet, every muscle was tense,
+       his long tail was waving slowly and Ned stood motionless,
+       charmed by the living beauty of the beast, until he heard
+       Dick's whisper in his ear:</p>
+
+    <p>"Shoot, Ned!"</p>
+
+    <p>The hypnotic spell was broken and Ned slowly raised his
+    rifle to his shoulder, while the panther crouched lower and
+    waved his tail more quickly. In another second it might be too
+    late, and once more Dick whispered:</p>
+
+    <p>"Shoot, Ned! Quick!"</p>
+
+    <p>The bullet struck the beast and the next instant Ned was
+    knocked down by the body of the brute. He was unharmed,
+    however, for Dick had jumped between them and it was in Dick's
+    arm that the panther's teeth were set and Dick's shoulder and
+    side that were being raked by its cruel claws. In an instant
+    Ned's clasp knife was being driven into the body of the beast
+    whose throat Dick's hand was clutching in a feeble effort to
+    keep from his face those long, sharp fangs.</p>
+
+    <p>Bullet and knife had done their work and the panther was
+    dead. But Dick was unconscious and covered with blood which was
+    flowing from deep gashes in his arm and a side that was torn
+    from shoulder to waist. Ned half carried and half dragged the
+    unconscious Dick a few yards to a level piece of dry ground and
+    examined his wounds. <span class="pagenum"><a name="page222"
+       id="page222"></a>[pg 222]</span> Bad as they looked, there
+       was no spouting of blood from an artery, or heavy flow from
+       a large vein. With simple bandaging and care the boy would
+       get well, and Ned's relief was so great that he was almost
+       happy. He removed what the panther had left of Dick's shirt,
+       which was sodden with blood, and tearing off his own,
+       bandaged the wounds from which blood was still flowing. He
+       then filled his cap with water from the river and sprinkled
+       Dick's face, but failed to bring him to consciousness. He
+       was wondering what next to try when Dick opened his eyes and
+       smiled weakly.</p>
+
+    <p>"Did he hurt you, Neddy?"</p>
+
+    <p>"No, he didn't hurt me, thanks to you, Dicky boy. Now I'm
+    going to bring the camp here, in the canoe. Can you get along
+    without me for half an hour?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure. Don't forget Tom."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned didn't forget Tom. He thought so much of him that he
+    took his rifle with him when he went to move the camp. For he
+    was without a shirt and was stained with Dick's blood and
+    therefore very doubtful how the lynx would behave. But Tom
+    merely sniffed at him and when the canoe was loaded stepped
+    aboard as coolly as if his passage had been paid for. When the
+    canoe landed at the new camping ground Tom took a few steps
+    toward Dick and then suddenly sprang into the woods and away,
+    as if witches were after him. Ned was surprised at first, but
+    remembered that Tommy, the Seminole, had once said to
+    him:</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page223"
+       id="page223"></a>[pg 223]</span>
+
+    <p>"Wildcat eat 'coon, panther eat wildcat," and he ceased to
+    wonder why Tom had run away.</p>
+
+    <p>Ned stretched the canvas over Dick, built a camp fire, got
+    out a clean shirt for himself and tore up another for bandages.
+    He washed Dick's wounds, which had ceased to bleed, with warm
+    water and soap and put fresh bandages on them. After he had
+    gathered a lot of moss and made a soft bed for the invalid, he
+    picked up Dick's gun and walking a few steps down the river
+    bank, shot a curlew that sat on a branch by the stream and was
+    young enough to make a broil or stew for the invalid.</p>
+
+    <p>"Been breaking the law, have you, Neddy?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I'd break anything, to get you some nice chicken broth such
+    as I am going to make now."</p>
+
+    <p>At daylight Ned saw that Dick was sleeping quietly and
+    taking the shotgun started out in search of a breakfast suited
+    to a sick boy. When he returned, an hour later, he had a brace
+    of ducks, a little brown Florida rabbit and a 'possum. Dick was
+    awake when he returned and when offered his choice of the game
+    for his breakfast chose all of them. Ned stewed the rabbit and
+    broiled a duck, giving Dick a little of each, but the 'possum
+    looked fat and greasy and he kept it for himself.</p>
+
+    <p>"Dick," said Ned after breakfast, "shall I roll that beast
+    into the river, or do you want his skin?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Want it, of course. I've got no hard feelings against
+    him."</p>
+
+    <p>"Want him skinned for mounting or a
+    rug?"</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page224"
+       id="page224"></a>[pg 224]</span>
+
+    <p>"Rug, I guess. Think I'll enjoy walking on him."</p>
+
+    <p>The big cat was nearly eight feet long, including his tail,
+    and was so heavy that Ned found skinning him a hard job. After
+    he had finished he had to cut a stout stick for a lever, before
+    he could get the carcass into the river. The bad luck of the
+    hunters seemed to have run out, and game began to come to them.
+    Ducks flew over the river beside the camp and plovers often lit
+    on a bank near them. Ned went out for deer and came back in an
+    hour with half a buck on his shoulders. When he approached the
+    camp he saw Dick sitting up and tossing bits of hoe-cake to a
+    'coon that was watching him with some suspicion from a distance
+    of three or four yards.</p>
+
+    <p>"You ought to have seen him, Ned. I had him half tamed. He
+    took little bits of wet hoe-cake that I threw him and rolled
+    them up into balls with his funny little hands before he ate
+    them. In an hour more I'd have had him eating out of my
+    hand."</p>
+
+    <p>"He'll come back to-morrow, Dick. You've got a way with you
+    that wild things understand."</p>
+
+    <p>"It's only that I really love them and they know it."</p>
+
+    <p>The 'coon did come back the next day while Ned was out
+    exploring the bay in the canoe and, although he did not eat out
+    of Dick's hand, he came within a few feet of him and showed
+    very little fear. When Ned returned, the 'coon scrambled to the
+    top of a little tree and looked down on the boys in a friendly
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page225"
+       id="page225"></a>[pg 225]</span> way. Day by day the 'coon
+       became more intimate with Dick, even to eating out of his
+       hand, but always scampered away when Ned came back. On the
+       third day, as Ned came in from an exploring trip, instead of
+       the 'coon he found his old friend Tom, the lynx, sitting
+       beside Dick with the air of a trained nurse.</p>
+
+    <p>"Bully for you, Tom; I'm glad to see you back," said
+    Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm not glad he's come back, the murderer. He has killed my
+    'coon."</p>
+
+    <p>"You remember what my Indian said. 'Panther eat wildcat,
+    wildcat eat 'coon.' Shall I shoot him, Dick?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Shoot Tom? Well I guess not. He didn't know any better. I'm
+    awful sorry the 'coon has gone, but I'd hate worse to lose
+    Tom."</p>
+
+    <p>"How did it happen?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I was feeding the 'coon, and had just put out my hand to
+    rub his head when he jumped in the air and started for that
+    tree like a streak of lightning. He never got there, though.
+    Something was after him like two streaks of lightning. I didn't
+    know it was Tom till it was all over. That wasn't very long,
+    either. If there had been any time I'd have had Tom by the ears
+    or tail and taught him a thing or two."</p>
+
+    <p>"Glad you didn't have time, Dick. I'm afraid Tom might have
+    taught you a few things. Don't
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page226"
+       id="page226"></a>[pg 226]</span> you think you had better
+       get over what one cat has done to you before you tackle
+       another?"</p>
+
+    <p>"But Tom isn't that kind of a cat, Ned. I'm not afraid of
+    his hurting me much. He might scratch me a little at first, but
+    he'd be sorry for it, soon as he had time to think it over.
+    Wouldn't you, Tom?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Cats are cats, Dick, and I don't think it's safe to leave
+    you alone with that wildcat. You are too weak to help yourself
+    if he really tackled you."</p>
+
+    <p>"But he won't attack me. So what's the use of talking about
+    things that aren't going to happen? You are a good boy, Neddy,
+    but you've got your limitations and you can't appreciate
+    Tom."</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:60%;">
+        <a href="images/226.jpg"
+             name="fig226"
+             id="fig226"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/226.jpg"
+             alt='"THE COON SCRAMBLED TO THE TOP OF A LITTLE TREE"' />
+             </a>"THE COON SCRAMBLED TO THE TOP OF A LITTLE TREE"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>Ned spent much of his time coddling the invalid. He paddled
+    out in the lakes and among its keys. He explored the waters and
+    the woods and brought Dick wild grapes with much character and
+    cocoa plums with little; sea-grapes with juice that had the
+    taste of claret and the color of blood; figs, of which Dick
+    said: "De breed am small, but de flavor am delicious"; wild
+    sapadillos that were sweet as honey, but chewed up into a solid
+    ball of soft india rubber; and mastic berries that were
+    delicious to the taste, but stuck like a porous plaster to the
+    roof of the mouth. He got out the rod and caught mangrove
+    snappers from under the banks and sheephead from their hiding
+    places among sunken logs and snags. He dove for turtle that he
+    never got and hacked at young palmettos for buds that he did
+    get.</p>
+
+    <p>Days followed days and though Dick grew better
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page227"
+       id="page227"></a>[pg 227]</span> he didn't grow strong. Ned
+       got anxious and told his chum that he was going to take him
+       to a doctor. Dick laughed and said:</p>
+
+    <p>"You are my doctor. I've great confidence in you and don't
+    care to make a change."</p>
+
+    <p>"Glad to hear it. Your doctor, in whom you have such
+    confidence, desires to consult with his brother physicians in
+    Fort Myers regarding your case, and you will light out with him
+    to-morrow."</p>
+
+    <p>The next morning a little canoe with a cat couchant in the
+    bow, a young invalid comfortably reclining amidships and a
+    husky youth in the stern started down the river and into the
+    salt-water lakes. The first day's run was a short one and the
+    camp was made on a bit of high ground covered with thin grass
+    and shaded by a group of palmettos. It was bordered about with
+    cocoa plums and sweet-smelling myrtle, on one of which
+    flourished an orchid, the vanilla bean, which made heavy with
+    its fragrance the whole camping site.</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"But there lurked a taint in the clime so blest,</p>
+
+            <p>Like a serpent coiled in a ring-dove's
+            nest"&mdash;</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>and as Ned stood dazed by the enchantment of his
+    environment, he was brought to earth with a jar by the whirring
+    of rattles almost under his feet. Every muscle of the boy was
+    tense with excitement as he stood motionless, knowing that
+    death, in a horrible form, was within striking distance of him.
+    The strange, paralyzing music of the dreaded
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page228"
+       id="page228"></a>[pg 228]</span> "King Snake" of the Indians
+       seems to come from all sides and until the threatened victim
+       can see the reptile the motion of a hand may be fatal. The
+       seconds seemed minutes to Ned as he waited and watched,
+       waited and watched, before he saw the fascinating, dreadful,
+       gently swaying head and the lightning play of the forked
+       tongue within easy striking distance.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/232.jpg"
+             name="fig232"
+             id="fig232"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/232.jpg"
+             alt='"HE SAW THE GENTLY SWAYING HEAD AND THE LIGHTNING FLAY OF THE FORKED TONGUE"' />
+        </a>"HE SAW THE GENTLY SWAYING HEAD AND THE LIGHTNING FLAY
+        OF THE FORKED TONGUE"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>He felt that if he jumped, the snake, so much quicker than
+    he, would sink the glistening white fangs of that wide-open
+    mouth deep in his flesh before he could get out of reach. He
+    compelled his quivering nerves to hold steady while he slowly,
+    inch by inch, moved away from the coils of the angry reptile.
+    When Ned was six feet from the rattlesnake he sprang back and
+    stood, almost fainting, quite out of reach of the reptile,
+    which continued to wave its head and jar its rattles, but with
+    less passion. The boy had often been told never to leave a
+    rattlesnake alive and he looked around until he found a stick
+    about five feet long, with which he returned to the field of
+    his fright. The rattler had uncoiled and was creeping away when
+    Ned rushed up and struck at him. The snake coiled like a flash
+    and striking back, sunk his fangs in the stick within a foot of
+    the hand of the boy. Again Ned struck, and the snake returned
+    the blow, both of them missing their marks. Then the stick fell
+    on the coils of the reptile and the back of the rattlesnake was
+    broken. After a few finishing blows Ned dragged
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page229"
+       id="page229"></a>[pg 229]</span> the six-foot creature by
+       the tail to the bank and was thrusting it into the water
+       when Dick called out:</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't you want to save the skin?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't want to save anything to remind me of it. I never
+    expect to get the frightful sight of the open jaws and white
+    fangs of that beast out of my dreams."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick rested in camp the next day with the lynx, while Ned
+    explored with the canoe, looking for the head of some river of
+    the west coast that led to the Gulf, or for enough dry land to
+    serve for a camp. Every water course that he followed, sooner
+    or later closed up on him. He paddled four miles to the west
+    through a long bay, only to find that there was no outlet on
+    the western end, excepting a narrow creek which he followed
+    until he could drag his canoe no farther. He followed floating
+    wisps of manatee grass, freshly torn up by the roots, hoping to
+    find the manatee which had spilled them, that he might follow
+    him to a channel which would lead out of the wilderness. He
+    discovered the manatee and was nearly swamped by the first dash
+    of the frightened creature. Then he lost track of the animal
+    after a long chase among the innumerable keys of the so-called
+    Ten Thousand Islands, and found that he was himself lost. He
+    paddled until it was dark and for an hour after that, when he
+    gave up hope of finding his camp that night.</p>
+
+    <p>He had a map of the country in his brain, but that was for
+    daylight use only. He was hungry, and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page230"
+       id="page230"></a>[pg 230]</span> that was nothing; but he
+       was parched with thirst from his long labor, and that was
+       everything. He had seen no dry land during the day, and it
+       was hopeless to look for it at night. It was never easy to
+       keep the canoe balanced; if he dozed for an instant he would
+       certainly roll it over. He had made up his mind to sentry
+       duty for the night when through the darkness there came to
+       him a gleam of light from a far-distant fire. As he
+       approached, it brightened and sent up a crackling flame, in
+       the blaze of which Ned saw the tall palmettos of his
+       camp.</p>
+
+    <p>"Were you worried, Dick?" he asked after the first warm
+    greetings were over.</p>
+
+    <p>"I sure was. I thought you couldn't get lost and wondered
+    what had happened to you. Tom was uneasy, too, and I reckon he
+    is out looking for you now. He went away in a good deal of a
+    hurry. I made a lighthouse out of those palmetto fans that you
+    cut for my bed, just on the chance of your having lost your
+    way."</p>
+
+    <p>Tom came home about daylight and lay down beside Dick, where
+    he grumbled and growled as if he were a man with a next-morning
+    headache.</p>
+
+    <p>When daylight came and Ned began to bestir himself, he
+    missed the cheery "Good-morning" of his companion, who was not
+    able to lift his head from his pillow of palmetto. His wan
+    smile went to Ned's heart, and the boy had to busy himself with
+    the fire to hide his emotion. Every hour of
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page231"
+       id="page231"></a>[pg 231]</span> that day he watched over
+       the invalid, and from time to time tempted him with bits of
+       broiled bird, heron soup and sips of hot tea made from
+       leaves of the sweet bay. Ned's acquaintance with sickness
+       was slight and his apprehension great, so that the night was
+       a sleepless one and the day that followed brought no relief
+       to his mind. Another day brought new anxieties. Dick was no
+       better, and Ned couldn't bear to leave him, for the
+       invalid's thirst was continuous, but now the supply of fresh
+       water was running low, and a trip back to the river was
+       imperative. He put the bucket, with what water was left,
+       beside Dick's bed and said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Dick, boy, I've got to go for some water. I'll have to be
+    away a few hours, but I'll get back the first minute it is
+    possible."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick put out his hand, and his smile was cheery, though his
+    voice was weak as he said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't you worry, Neddy. I'm all right for all day. I don't
+    need anything but amusement, and Tom will 'tend to that."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'm afraid to leave a big wildcat with you when you are so
+    weak. I am going to take Tom with me."</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't do it, Neddy. He'd only be in your way, and I do want
+    him for company. You don't understand Tom; he likes me and I
+    like him. Please don't take him away."</p>
+
+    <p>"Of course I won't take him away, Dick, boy, but you will
+    have to be very good and keep cheerful
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page232"
+       id="page232"></a>[pg 232]</span> and get strong and well to
+       pay me for leaving him."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned's apprehensions made the day a hard one for him. He was
+    afraid of capsizing the canoe and being unable to get back in
+    it. He imagined a tarpon jumping into it, a shark swimming
+    against it, or a porpoise smashing it. When he reached the
+    river of fresh water he carried the canoe up on the bank and
+    tied it to a tree while he walked along the river bank and shot
+    a few tender young birds for the nourishment of the invalid.
+    His nerves were so unstrung that he feared to go far lest he
+    lose his way, and was even apprehensive of failing to find on
+    his return the camp where his companion was awaiting him,
+    although the path to it was plain as a pikestaff. Ned's meeting
+    with Dick was a joyful one, for the boy was clearly better and
+    his voice stronger, although his first words were:</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't go away again, Neddy. You've been gone a year, and I
+    thought you were never coming back."</p>
+
+    <p>By careful economy the five gallons of water which their can
+    contained was made to last as many days for the three of them,
+    for Dick insisted that Tom must share the rations of food and
+    drink of the other members of the family. Each day Ned made a
+    little trip around the keys nearest the camp by way of doing
+    the marketing for his family, and returned when he had shot
+    enough birds for its daily needs. He was happy in the thought
+    of the invalid's increasing strength, but dreaded the necessary
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page233"
+       id="page233"></a>[pg 233]</span> trip for fresh water. Dick
+       surprised him by bearing the separation with cheerfulness,
+       and his voice was so much firmer and his strength so
+       obviously on the mend that Ned began again to plan for his
+       return to civilization.</p>
+
+    <p>On one of his marketing excursions Ned saw a skiff
+    containing two men about a quarter of a mile distant. He waved
+    his hat to the men and paddled toward them, but they rowed
+    away. He followed, but was unable to find them, and concluded
+    that they were outlaws, who did not care to extend their
+    acquaintance. After this he paddled about on the lookout for
+    some one who might help him to carry Dick to the outside world,
+    for he had given up the idea of attempting it by
+    himself.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page234"
+       id="page234"></a>[pg 234]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XXI</h3>
+
+    <h3>CONVALESCENCE AND CATASTROPHE</h3>
+
+    <p>Ned's hopes and plans were suddenly changed, and he no
+    longer hoped for help, but planned to take Dick to the coast
+    himself. For Dick was getting well. There was no doubt about
+    it. His appetite came back, until, instead of urging him to
+    eat, Ned waited for him to ask twice for food before giving it
+    to him. He was still thin and weak, but his spirits bubbled
+    over, and his laughter was on tap, ready to be turned on any
+    minute. He began to clamor for a move toward the coast, but Ned
+    was obdurate and refused to stir for a week. Then one day Ned
+    started out and paddled some miles toward the coast, examining
+    the shores of the keys and the mangrove-lined banks of the
+    salt-water rivers for a camping-ground. He could have made his
+    own camp on the overflowed meadows almost anywhere, but Dick
+    was still an invalid and Ned was always anxious about him. Six
+    miles from the camp, where he had left Dick with Tom, Ned found
+    a good camping site, marked by a freak palmetto with a trunk
+    that branched into two stems about midway up. The
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page235"
+       id="page235"></a>[pg 235]</span> ground was covered with
+       palmetto scrub, which Ned examined carefully for
+       rattlesnakes, after which he got out his fly-rod and caught
+       a mess of fish for supper. On his return to camp the lynx
+       sprang into the canoe, seized one of the fish and growled so
+       fiercely that Ned thought best to let him keep it.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:60%;">
+        <a href="images/234.jpg"
+             name="fig234"
+             id="fig234"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/234.jpg"
+             alt="NED FOUND A GOOD CAMPING SITE MARKED BY A FREAK PALMETTO" />
+        </a>"NED FOUND A GOOD CAMPING SITE MARKED BY A FREAK
+        PALMETTO"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"Fresh water is all out, Dick," said Ned that night, "so
+    I'll start at daylight and go back to the river and fill up.
+    I'll take it slowly and be here about noon. Then we can start
+    out and make easy work of being in the new camp long before
+    sun-down."</p>
+
+    <p>"Ned, I can paddle all right, and I'm going to help. I am
+    sick of being a baby."</p>
+
+    <p>"Go 'way, chile, you make me tired. Don't forget that I'm
+    your doctor," replied Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"Do you see any chance of getting to the coast?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes; pretty sure thing. I found a deep channel near the
+    camp with some porpoises playing in it, and I think it's near
+    the head of one of the big coast rivers. I am almost certain
+    it's Rodgers River."</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/236.jpg"
+             name="fig236"
+             id="fig236"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/236.jpg"
+             alt="THE LYNX SPRANG INTO THE CANOE AND SEIZED ONE OF THE FISH" />
+        </a>"THE LYNX SPRANG INTO THE CANOE AND SEIZED ONE OF THE
+        FISH"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>Ned was a tired boy when the day's work was done and the
+    young explorers were settled in the new camp, but a night's
+    sleep braced him up so that he agreed to his chum's plan to
+    make a dash for the coast, for Dick had said:</p>
+
+    <p>"What is the use of losing a lot of time in prospecting for
+    a soft spot for me to sleep? We can
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page236"
+       id="page236"></a>[pg 236]</span> be on the coast to-night
+       within sight of houses and help if we need it, which we
+       don't, for I'm going to do my share of the paddling. I know
+       that coast and you don't, so I'll naturally be boss."</p>
+
+    <p>When the little canoe had been loaded with all their stores
+    and trophies, and the boys were ready for their final trip, Tom
+    stepped gravely aboard, and seating himself in the bow, turned
+    to Ned with an expression which Dick translated as:</p>
+
+    <p>"I am here, you may start the engine."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned dipped his paddle deeply in the water, that with his
+    every stroke flowed more swiftly. The banks became well
+    defined, and although the stream was so crooked that it flowed
+    by turns to every point of the compass, its general trend was
+    to the west. The river broadened and the channel deepened, the
+    forest on the banks became more heavily timbered, and the boys
+    recognized the beautiful Rodgers River. Curlews and
+    water-turkeys watched them from the trees; herons flew lazily
+    up from the shoals as the canoe approached; porpoises, going
+    out with the tide, rolled their backs out of water and gave
+    sniffs of affright as they saw the canoe beside them. The fin
+    of a great shark, longer than their canoe, cut the water as its
+    owner swiftly pursued a six-foot tarpon, which escaped by
+    leaping in the air within thirty feet of the canoe, toward
+    which it was headed. Another clash of the shark brought its
+    huge body within its length of the boys, while the great mouth,
+    with its rows of serrated
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page237"
+       id="page237"></a>[pg 237]</span> teeth, razor-sharp, opened
+       wide to take in the tarpon, which leaped wildly ten feet in
+       the air, and turning, plunged head-down straight for Ned as
+       he sat in the canoe, paddle in hand. Dick started up from
+       his seat, while Ned tried to fend off with the paddle, but
+       the hard, pointed head of the big tarpon tore through the
+       bottom of the fragile canoe as if it had been paper. A
+       minute later the shattered canoe was floating down the
+       river, while everything sinkable had gone to the bottom.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/238.jpg"
+             name="fig238"
+             id="fig238"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/238.jpg"
+             alt="PORPOISES ROLLED THEIR BACKS OUT OF THE WATER" />
+             </a>"PORPOISES ROLLED THEIR BACKS OUT OF THE WATER"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>Tom, who had been asleep in the bottom of the canoe, was
+    swimming for shore, and Ned, who had not for a second lost his
+    presence of mind, was treading water and supporting the
+    unconscious Dick, who had been struck by the tail of the tarpon
+    as the big fish crushed the canoe. Even as the tarpon struck
+    the canoe Ned was reaching out for Dick, and the boys went down
+    together.</p>
+
+    <p>Then to Ned came the struggle for life&mdash;for two lives.
+    His only thought was of Dick. Dick mustn't drown; Dick's face
+    must be kept out of the water; he must get Dick ashore. He swam
+    high, wasting his efforts to keep Dick's head above the
+    surface. Strength goes fast when one struggles in the water,
+    and Ned was soon gasping for breath. As he struck out more and
+    more feebly for the bank, while the current swept him down the
+    stream, he sank lower and lower, until only his eyes were above
+    the surface and his lungs seemed bursting for want of air. A
+    great shark swept past him, and the wave
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page238"
+       id="page238"></a>[pg 238]</span> from the big fish rolled
+       over him. He felt his senses going, his muscles refused to
+       respond to the call of his brain. His grasp on Dick was
+       loosening, and the thought of this roused him to renew the
+       struggle. To save Dick he must save himself; he must
+       breathe; he must not exhaust himself, and above all his mind
+       must not wander. He was <i>so</i> tired; for himself he
+       would have given up the struggle and dropped into rest, but
+       for Dick&mdash;never! A great calmness came to him. He
+       rolled over with his head thrown back until all but his face
+       was under water. This floated clear of the surface as he lay
+       back and drew air into his smothered lungs in great gulps.
+       He began to kick out with his feet and was soon swimming on
+       his back toward the bank, making fair progress with little
+       effort. Some of his strength came back, and he found that he
+       was easily dragging Dick along, happily with his face
+       upward. Hope took the place of despair, and Ned felt that
+       now he could swim for hours. He saw the overhanging branches
+       of trees above him and knew he was nearing the bank. Then
+       suddenly he found himself aground on a shoal with water less
+       than knee-deep. He dragged the unconscious form of his
+       companion into the jungle on the bank, and a great wave of
+       thankfulness rolled over him as he felt the weak beating of
+       Dick's heart, which was followed by the familiar smile as
+       the boy opened his eyes.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/242.jpg"
+             name="fig242"
+             id="fig242"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/242.jpg"
+             alt="THE HARD, POINTED HEAD OF THE BIG TARPON TORE THROUGH THE BOTTOM OF THE FRAGILE CANOE" />
+        </a>"THE HARD, POINTED HEAD OF THE BIG TARPON TORE THROUGH
+        THE BOTTOM OF THE FRAGILE CANOE"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"Well, Neddy, what have you been doing now,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page239"
+       id="page239"></a>[pg 239]</span> and what are you going to
+       do? Last time I saw you a thousand-pound fish was dropping
+       on your head. Seems as if he hit me, too."</p>
+
+    <p>"Going to make a camp for the two of us, feed us, and get us
+    out of the wilderness. That's what I am going to do," replied
+    Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"You'll do it, all right; but what have you got to work
+    with?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Pocket-knife and some matches. First thing I'll make a fire
+    to dry you. Then I'll forage. You see, Dick, we've got to stay
+    right here until you get strong enough to travel. I can make a
+    palmetto shack big enough to keep the rain off in half a day.
+    The worst trouble will be fresh water, but I think I can fix
+    that. I know how to get things to eat. I have picked up a
+    couple of old cocoanuts, and I'll bring them to you in an hour
+    full of water. Then to-morrow I will start early and find that
+    old shack where we camped in the graveyard. You remember that
+    old kettle there? Well, I'll bring it here full of fresh water.
+    Then if you don't get well pretty quick I'll leave you plenty
+    to eat and drink and find my way to the coast. I can do it in a
+    day, and have your old friend, who don't believe we know a
+    manatee from a tarpon, up here with his boat the next day
+    sure."</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't do it, Neddy. I'd be thinking of a hundred things
+    happening to you, and the night would be pretty lonesome
+    without even Tom."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned started away from the river through a wooded
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page240"
+       id="page240"></a>[pg 240]</span> swamp, and before he had
+       gone a quarter of a mile struck a prairie on which several
+       deer were feeding. The animals seemed to know that he had no
+       weapon, for they showed no alarm until he had walked some
+       distance toward them. There were a number of small ponds
+       near him, and as Ned approached the nearest one a small
+       alligator slipped from the bank into the water. The boy had
+       provided himself with a short, heavy pole, and he waded
+       fearlessly in after the 'gator; but although the pond was
+       not thirty feet across and he explored every foot of it, he
+       could not find the reptile. He finally came across an
+       opening in the bank, in which he thrust his pole, when it
+       was promptly seized by the alligator. Ned tried to pull the
+       reptile within reach, but when the head came out of the cave
+       it was larger than he had looked for, and before he had made
+       up his mind to tackle it the creature had let go of the pole
+       and gone back in his cave. Then the boy got earnest and
+       determined to have that alligator if he had to crawl into
+       the cave after him. He sharpened a bit of branch that stuck
+       out beside the big end of his pole like the barb of a
+       harpoon, and again thrust it in the cave. Soon he had the
+       reptile fighting mad with his head out of the cave, when he
+       pushed the pole into his open mouth, and catching the barb
+       in the soft skin under the alligator's jaw, just as Dick had
+       done weeks before, hauled him out of the cave and dragged
+       him out on the bank. When a few yards from the pond the
+       reptile broke loose <span class="pagenum"><a name="page241"
+       id="page241"></a>[pg 241]</span> from the barb and started
+       back for the pond. Ned was after him like a tiger and struck
+       two or three smashing blows on the creature's head with his
+       pole, and then, as the reptile neared the water, threw
+       himself on its back and seizing its jaws held them together
+       while he turned the brute on its back. At first the
+       alligator lashed out with its tail, but soon became quiet;
+       and then Ned got out his knife and severed the spine of the
+       reptile.</p>
+
+    <p>The water of the pond was so nearly fresh that its taste was
+    only slightly sweetish, and after Ned had drank all he could
+    hold he filled his two cocoanuts for Dick. On his way to camp
+    he hunted up a young palmetto for the bud or cabbage which grew
+    in the top of the tree. The sharp edges of the great, tough
+    leaves tore his flesh as he climbed through them, and it was
+    only after more than an hour of hard work with his knife that
+    he secured the cabbage he was working for. By this time the
+    water he had drunk had oozed out through his pores. He was so
+    parched with thirst that he took a long walk back to the pond
+    and filled up again.</p>
+
+    <p>That night Dick and Ned had broiled alligator steak and
+    palmetto cabbage for supper. Both suffered so much for want of
+    water that Ned started out at daylight to find the old
+    abandoned plantation. Dick was pale and his smile so wan that
+    Ned's heart was sore at leaving him. He was too earnest to
+    think of trivial things, and he sloshed through the swamp
+    without thought of the swaying heads
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page242"
+       id="page242"></a>[pg 242]</span> of little speckle-bellies
+       in his path, or the great, ugly cotton-mouth moccasins that
+       moved slowly aside as he wallowed through their lairs. He
+       stopped long enough on the border of the prairie to find a
+       club, with which he fiercely pounded to death a rattlesnake,
+       upon whose coils he had nearly stepped when the locust-like
+       warning found its way to his consciousness.</p>
+
+    <p>After about three miles of tramping, during which he waded
+    waist-deep across two sloughs, the prairie opened upon familiar
+    ground, and Ned knew that he was opposite the plantation he
+    sought. In the decaying building he found an old bucket that
+    would hold three or four gallons, and a couple of quart cans in
+    which water could be boiled. From a tamarind tree he gathered
+    the half-dried fruit with its sweet acidity, and in the old
+    garden he discovered a few stalks of sugar-cane. He picked up a
+    rusty fish-hook and from an old net got a quantity of string.
+    Then filling his bucket with rain water, he started back to
+    Dick and the camp. The journey was a hard one, and though he
+    refused to drink a drop of the water, half of it was lost on
+    the way. The weight of it pressed him down in the mire of the
+    sloughs until he sank to the armpits as he held the heavy
+    bucket on his head. Dick laughed aloud with joy, even if it was
+    a bit hysterical, when Ned got home to camp.</p>
+
+    <p>"Been lonesome?" asked Ned after Dick had
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page243"
+       id="page243"></a>[pg 243]</span> drank a quart of water and
+       looked as if he wanted a gallon more.</p>
+
+    <p>"Not very. Tom has amused me," replied Dick, as he pointed
+    to a branch over his head. Ned looked up, and there was Tom
+    gazing benignly down upon him.</p>
+
+    <p>"Wonder if Tom is hungry?" said Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"Guess not. I tried him with a piece of alligator steak, and
+    he turned his nose up at that."</p>
+
+    <p>"What do you think he would say to a mess of fish?" and Ned
+    produced his fish-hook and line. Dick's eyes glistened.</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh! I am so hungry for some broiled fish."</p>
+
+    <p>Most Florida streams are alive with fish that are not fussy
+    about the tackle with which they are taken. Ned baited his hook
+    with a piece of alligator, which was promptly seized by a
+    salt-water cat. The cat-fish was given to the wildcat, which
+    grabbed it fiercely. Two mangrove snappers were the result of a
+    few minutes' fishing. Ned put some tamarinds in one of the
+    quart tins, which he filled with water and then stirred with a
+    stick of sugar-cane which had been peeled and split.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick perked up a good deal during his supper of broiled
+    fish, palmetto cabbage and tamarind water, after which Ned made
+    him a tin of tea from the leaves of the sweet bay. In the days
+    that followed Ned gathered oysters, which he found some
+    distance down the river, caught fish and killed several heron
+    and a young curlew with sticks. The
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page244"
+       id="page244"></a>[pg 244]</span> broils, roasts and stews
+       which he made would have done credit to a professional cook.
+       He wanted to set snares for rabbits and birds, but had to
+       give it up owing to the difficulty of making a snare which
+       would distinguish between Tom, whom he didn't wish to catch,
+       and the rabbits which he wanted.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick was improving, but so very slowly that Ned determined
+    to find his way to the coast and get help. He put it off, at
+    Dick's request, for several days, until they had been in camp a
+    week, when one afternoon it was agreed that Ned should start
+    early the next morning. Dick, who was feeling very blue at the
+    prospect of Ned's leaving him, was lying on his bed of moss
+    when suddenly he sat
+    up.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page245"
+       id="page245"></a>[pg 245]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XXII</h3>
+
+    <h3>THE RESCUE</h3>
+
+    <p>"Listen, Ned, listen! There is a motor-boat in the river.
+    Don't you hear it?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't hear it, Dick."</p>
+
+    <p>"But you must hear it. It's growing plainer every minute.
+    It's a four-cycle engine, and a fast boat, too. I can tell you
+    that. Who can it be? Do you suppose it is your father looking
+    for you?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I hear it now. No, it isn't Dad. My time isn't up for
+    several days yet. After that anything might happen, but until
+    then Dad won't lift a finger toward looking me up."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, Ned! It's coming nearer, nearer, nearer! There! It's
+    'round the bend. Of course, you see it now. How it is
+    coming!"</p>
+
+    <p>"You bet it's coming. You ought to see the water pile up
+    against the bow. It's a glass-cabin launch. There's a man
+    standing on top of the cabin. I think he sees us, for he is
+    pointing this way, and&mdash;the boat's headed straight for
+    us&mdash;hear that whistle, and&mdash;Dick, Dick,
+    boy!&mdash;there's a tall man and a girl standing in front of
+    the pilot-house, and&mdash;oh,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page246"
+       id="page246"></a>[pg 246]</span> Dick! it's too good to be
+       true, but it's Dad and Molly!"</p>
+
+    <p>"Molly?" said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, my sister, you know. Sometimes we call her Mary."</p>
+
+    <p>"I didn't know your sister's name was Molly. What does she
+    look like?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Just watch that girl who is waving her hat as if she was
+    crazy. That's Molly."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned was in the launch before it touched the bank, and Mr.
+    Barstow was holding his son by the hand, although neither
+    spoke, while Molly had her arms around Ned's neck and was
+    laughing, crying and talking by turns.</p>
+
+    <p>"You blessed, blessed Neddy! What did happen to you? We were
+    frightened, oh! so frightened."</p>
+
+    <p>"Ned," said Mr. Barstow, "your friend, young Williams, was
+    with you. I never saw him, but I hope no harm came to him."</p>
+
+    <p>"No, daddy; Dick will be all right, now you are here, but he
+    has been very, very sick, and I was dreadfully afraid he
+    wouldn't get well, and all his trouble came because he saved my
+    life without thinking of his own. Come right ashore and see
+    him."</p>
+
+    <p>"Shall I come, too?" asked Molly.</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure," replied Ned. "He wants to see you especially."</p>
+
+    <p>A moment later Mr. Barstow had one of Dick's hands in both
+    of his own.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page247"
+       id="page247"></a>[pg 247]</span>
+
+    <p>"My boy, my boy, what made you run away? The hue and cry is
+    out for you in Key West. Why did you never tell me that you
+    were Ned's nearest friend? Why didn't you tell Molly who you
+    were? Ned has talked to her for years about you. Come here,
+    Molly, and tell your friend Dick Williams what you think of him
+    for hiding his name from you."</p>
+
+    <p>But Molly didn't tell him just then. For Dick's strength had
+    been overtaxed, and when his eyes met Molly's he promptly
+    fainted.</p>
+
+    <p>When Dick had recovered, Ned invited his father and sister
+    to dine before going aboard the motor-boat, and as he was busy
+    preparing the meal and his father had much to hear from him,
+    the care of the invalid fell upon Molly, a duty which she
+    performed to the apparent satisfaction of her patient.</p>
+
+    <p>"Those oysters are lovely," said the girl as she speared
+    with a chop-stick a small one which had been roasted in the
+    shell.</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes. Ned waded through half a mile of mud to get them."</p>
+
+    <p>"I wondered how Neddy got so muddy. I was so glad to see him
+    that I just hugged him, and now I ought to be in a wash-tub.
+    Just look at me."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick obeyed her so literally that she added a moment
+    later:</p>
+
+    <p>"I mean look at the mud on my dress."</p>
+
+    <p>The broiled snappers were pronounced the finest fish ever
+    served, the palmetto cabbage better than cauliflower, and then
+    the girl asked:</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page248"
+       id="page248"></a>[pg 248]</span>
+
+    <p>"This white meat is pretty good. What is it?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Alligator."</p>
+
+    <p>"Really?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Really and truly. You said you liked it."</p>
+
+    <p>"I didn't know it was a reptile. Why didn't you tell me? I
+    wouldn't have eaten it if I had known."</p>
+
+    <p>"Ned wouldn't have liked it if I had told. He is my doctor,
+    you know, and I have to mind him."</p>
+
+    <p>"You don't need a doctor any more. What you want is a
+    nurse."</p>
+
+    <p>"That's so. I could mind her easy," said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, I meant a man nurse," said the girl.</p>
+
+    <p>Ned produced some joints of sugar-cane for dessert, and made
+    a can of after-dinner sweet-bay tea, and then began to ask
+    questions.</p>
+
+    <p>"Daddy, I want to find out whether you and Molly are crazy
+    or whether I am. You never saw Dick before. You said so half an
+    hour ago. Dick never saw you or Molly. He said so half an hour
+    ago&mdash;"</p>
+
+    <p>"But Ned&mdash;" interrupted Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"You keep still. I've got the floor. Now, Dad, you and Molly
+    rush up to this chap, whom you never saw before, and fall into
+    his arms&mdash;"</p>
+
+    <p>"Neddy Barstow, I didn't do anything of the kind. But I had
+    seen him and I did know him," said the girl.</p>
+
+    <p>"Now, there you go. How ever did you know this chum of mine,
+    who never saw you?"</p>
+
+    <p>"How did Dick save your life, Ned?" asked Mr.
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page249"
+       id="page249"></a>[pg 249]</span> Barstow in a voice that
+       wasn't quite as steady as usual.</p>
+
+    <p>"I can tell you," broke in Dick. "He didn't do it at all.
+    That's how."</p>
+
+    <p>"Dad, when our canoe was wrecked, we lost the beautifullest
+    skin of the biggest kind of a panther&mdash;eight feet from tip
+    to tip. Dick saw the panther first, when he was ten feet from
+    us, ready to jump. I fired at the beast, and he sprang for me,
+    but Dick jumped at the same time and got between us, so the
+    panther landed on him and I was saved. That's why he is sick
+    now. I s'pose that is what knocked his memory endwise, so he
+    don't remember anything about it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Mr. Barstow," said Dick, "I wish you would ask Ned who it
+    was that swam ashore with me when the big tarpon smashed the
+    canoe and knocked me out. Yes, and he almost lost his own life
+    in saving mine. Please ask him. I want to see if he has lost
+    his memory."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned tried to speak, but Molly had her arms around his neck,
+    saying nice things to him.</p>
+
+    <p>"See here, sis, doesn't part of this belong to Dick?" said
+    Ned, and got his ears boxed very promptly.</p>
+
+    <p>"Did not Dick tell you, Ned, that he came from New York to
+    Key West on the steamer with us, and that Molly and I got
+    acquainted with him, and that he then slipped away at Key West
+    so that we could not find him?" asked Mr.
+    Barstow.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page250"
+       id="page250"></a>[pg 250]</span>
+
+    <p>"Never told me a word. Dick, you gay deceiver, you pretended
+    to tell me everything, and you left out the most interesting
+    part. You probably thought I wasn't interested in Dad or
+    Molly."</p>
+
+    <p>"But, Ned, I never knew they were your father and sister
+    until just now. I told you everything that seemed worth
+    speaking of."</p>
+
+    <p>"Hear that, Molly? This young man says you didn't seem worth
+    speaking of. Can't you get even with him for that? Now, tell me
+    how you happen to be here, you and Dad. I told Dick that he
+    wouldn't move a finger for us till the time of my vacation was
+    up."</p>
+
+    <p>"You were all right about that, Neddy. He wouldn't budge an
+    inch, for I tried to make him start out and hunt you up, and he
+    refused until&mdash;Well, one day the boat that carries the
+    mail between Key West and Chokoloskee picked up, out in the
+    Gulf of Mexico, a broken canoe that everybody seemed to know
+    was the one you and Mr. Williams were out in. Then Mr. Streeter
+    made a night run to Myers, got Dad out of bed, and things began
+    to happen. Of course, I was coming, so I got into a few
+    clothes, skipped my breakfast and was aboard this boat barely
+    in time not to be left, for Dad was just plain crazy. But
+    before he came away he chartered everything in sight and told
+    the men not to leave an unexplored channel in the whole Ten
+    Thousand Islands."</p>
+
+    <p>Ned held out his hand to his father without speaking,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page251"
+       id="page251"></a>[pg 251]</span> but Dick looked at the girl
+       with more gratitude in his eyes than she could possibly have
+       deserved, although she seemed willing to accept a good deal
+       of it.</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, boys," said Mr. Barstow, "if you are ready we will go
+    aboard. I don't see much that you will care to take with
+    you."</p>
+
+    <p>"Nothing but Tom," said Dick. "Can't he go? He'll be
+    good."</p>
+
+    <p>"Of course he can. But who is Tom?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, he's nothing but a savage old wildcat," replied Ned.
+    "He'll probably eat us all up but Dick. He has eaten some of
+    him already."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, what a beauty!" cried Molly, when Tom, who had been
+    sitting in a tree over their heads, was pointed out to her.
+    Dick soon coaxed the lynx, which sat there looking suspiciously
+    at the strangers, down to his shoulder.</p>
+
+    <p>"Can't I pet him?" asked Molly.</p>
+
+    <p>"No!" said Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes," said Dick, and Molly stepped forward and laid her
+    hand fearlessly on the soft fur of the beautiful creature. Tom
+    began a low growl, but Dick talked soothingly to him, and in a
+    few minutes he became quite friendly with the girl.</p>
+
+    <p>"There!" said Molly. "Now we're friends, and I can play with
+    him all I want to."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, no, not yet. You must promise that you won't touch him
+    unless I am with you," said
+    Dick.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page252"
+       id="page252"></a>[pg 252]</span>
+
+    <p>"Of course, I won't promise. I'll pet him when I
+    please."</p>
+
+    <p>"Then poor Tom will have to stay here."</p>
+
+    <p>"Do you mean to say that if I don't make that ridiculous
+    promise I can't have Tom?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Tom belongs to you the minute you make that promise, but
+    not before."</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, Mr. Williams, I make the promise rather than lose
+    Tom, but as for you&mdash;" And the blank which Molly left was
+    filled with feminine possibilities.</p>
+
+    <p>A bunk was fixed up in the cabin of the launch for Dick, and
+    the throb of the heavy engines became a steady hum as the boat
+    turned down the stream, with water and spray curling up from
+    its bow and heavy waves from its propeller breaking with a
+    sullen roar on the banks of the river. Dick's bunk must have
+    been uncomfortable, for very soon he crawled up on deck and,
+    going forward to where he could lean back against the cabin,
+    sat down, looking pale, but not unhappy. Molly, who happened to
+    be on the bow of the boat, was so indignant with him that she
+    told him he ought to have a guardian, and then went below and
+    brought back an armful of pillows and cushions, with which she
+    proceeded to make life a burden to Dick. Then, as she seemed
+    about to go away, Dick began to talk to her about the old
+    plantations on the river and tell her the ghost stories that
+    belonged to them, until she sat down near him. "I hope you
+    don't think I was rude <span class="pagenum"><a name="page253"
+       id="page253"></a>[pg 253]</span> about Tom? I was
+       only&mdash;" But Molly interrupted him.</p>
+
+    <p>"You need to be good and strong before I tell you what I
+    think of that." And the girl walked away from him so indignant
+    that she didn't return for nearly two minutes.</p>
+
+    <p>As the launch neared the mouth of the river a yawl-rigged
+    craft with an auxiliary engine had just entered it. Her captain
+    was sitting on deck with his right hand grasping the wheel, his
+    body leaning forward, rigid as bronze, while his roving eye
+    scanned water and sky, reefs, banks and keys. A roll of the
+    wheel, and the launch darted toward him. When within a hundred
+    yards the whir of the big engine and the chugging of the
+    two-cycle motor of the yawl stopped, and as the boats were
+    passing each other, Mr. Barstow hailed the skipper of the
+    yawl.</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, Captain Hull! All's well. The boys have been found.
+    Spread the news. Hunt up the other boats and all hands report
+    to me at Myers."</p>
+
+    <p>"Aye, aye, sir!" came from the bronze statue, and the
+    chugging and the whirring began again as the yawl resumed its
+    course, while the launch wove in and out among the oyster
+    reefs, that guard the mouth of the river, at a speed that would
+    have torn the propeller out of her had she struck one of
+    them.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick's eyes sparkled as the Gulf opened out, and the launch
+    turned down the coast to clear the bar before making her
+    course. Before him were the waters where the waterspout
+    destroyed the <i>Etta</i>;
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page254"
+       id="page254"></a>[pg 254]</span> the Shark River bight was
+       near, and in the distance the cocoa-palms of the Northwest
+       Cape could be made out. He turned eagerly to the girl beside
+       him, and was telling her the story of the waterspout when
+       Mr. Barstow came to them and said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Run away, little girl, I want to talk to Dick."</p>
+
+    <p>"So do I," said Molly as she made a little face at her
+    father, who laughed at her.</p>
+
+    <p>"You mustn't think you own Dick. Go play with Tom, there. He
+    looks pretty amiable just now."</p>
+
+    <p>"But he won't let me play with Tom. He's mean about
+    that."</p>
+
+    <p>Dick began to explain, but the girl had gone.</p>
+
+    <p>"What are your plans for your future, Dick?" asked Mr.
+    Barstow.</p>
+
+    <p>"I am going home and going to work at anything I can find to
+    do."</p>
+
+    <p>"How would you like to work for me?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't know of anything else in the world I would like so
+    well." And Dick fairly beamed.</p>
+
+    <p>"Then, if the work suits you, your engagement will date from
+    to-day."</p>
+
+    <p>"What will be my duties, sir?"</p>
+
+    <p>"First a vacation to get well in and visit your mother. Then
+    you and Ned will go to my timber property in Canada,
+    familiarize yourselves with the present methods of working it,
+    and suggest any improvements that occur to you, and make the
+    best estimate you can of the amount and kind of lumber
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page255"
+       id="page255"></a>[pg 255]</span> I have. I don't care for
+       present returns, but I wish the property administered in
+       accordance with the most advanced knowledge of the science
+       of forestry."</p>
+
+    <p>"Mr. Barstow, you are good to me, too good, and I am as
+    grateful as I can be, but I can't take money for amusing
+    myself. You would be paying me for taking the most delightful
+    excursion in the world, and there wouldn't be any other side to
+    it. I couldn't make good to you in any way. I don't know
+    anything about lumbering, forestry or practical surveying."</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't begin by criticizing your employer, Dick. Just make
+    believe that he knows what he is about. I am not paying you for
+    what you know now, but for what you will know in a few months.
+    I am expecting great things of you. The science of forestry and
+    economic methods of lumbering are fairly well understood in
+    Canada. You will find yourselves with young men of education
+    and enterprise, enthusiasts who think nothing of starting out
+    alone on snowshoes for a week or a month in the woods, where
+    the mercury in the thermometer often freezes. You will find
+    your work cut out for you if you only keep up with them, and I
+    am hoping that you will get near the head of your class. I want
+    you to learn the business from the beginning to the end from
+    the planting to the cutting of the tree, and from forest to
+    freight car. So don't fear that you will not have a chance to
+    earn your salary. Your <span class="pagenum"><a name="page256"
+       id="page256"></a>[pg 256]</span> pay and Ned's will be the
+       same. It will take good care of you, but you will not find
+       much over to waste. Here, Molly, come back and hear the rest
+       of that romance that I interrupted. And don't look so cross
+       at me next time I speak to Dick."</p>
+
+    <p>"Isn't he the nice old daddy?" said the girl to Dick, as she
+    sat down near him. Dick looked as if he thought so too, but was
+    troubled to find words to express all he felt. The launch,
+    which was now flying up the coast, was just opposite the shack
+    of the fisherman whom the boys had hired to help with the
+    manatee which couldn't be found. Dick was telling the girl the
+    story of the manatee when Ned put in an appearance.</p>
+
+    <p>"Run away, Molly. I want to talk to Dick."</p>
+
+    <p>"Neddy Barstow, when daddy says 'Run away, Molly,' I have to
+    go, but when you say it, I stay right where I am. See?"</p>
+
+    <p>"But this is important, Molly. It's business."</p>
+
+    <p>"So am I important, even if I'm not business. If business is
+    in a hurry, it can go ahead; if it isn't it can wait."</p>
+
+    <p>"Dick," said Ned, "Dad thinks we need a little vacation
+    before going to work, and he offers to take us on a cruise in
+    the <i>Gypsey</i> to the Bahamas and to Cuba, or to charter a
+    light-draft boat that could go through the Bay of Florida and
+    let us finish our cruise in the crocodile country, beginning
+    where we turned back when the fresh water gave out. Maybe he
+    will let Molly go."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page257"
+       id="page257"></a>[pg 257]</span>
+
+    <p>"Let Molly go!" repeated the girl mockingly. "Only question
+    is whether she will let you go. But I thought you said it was
+    business. That isn't business; it's fun. We choose the small
+    boat and the crocodiles. That will be new. I know all about the
+    <i>Gypsey</i> now."</p>
+
+    <p>"Shall we let it go at that, Dick?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure. Wonder if we can find my crocodile
+    again."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page258"
+       id="page258"></a>[pg 258]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XXIII</h3>
+
+    <h3>MOLLY AND THE MANATEE</h3>
+
+    <p>A week later the party of five (for both Molly and Dick
+    insisted that Tom belonged) was sailing down the coast in the
+    <i>Irene</i>, a half houseboat with auxiliary engine, which was
+    sailed by Captain Hull. An engineer and a darky cook had been
+    engaged, but the three young folks held a meeting and then
+    announced that Dick had been elected engineer and Molly chief
+    cook, with Ned as assistant. They added that the man engineer
+    and the darky could "go bounce." When they notified Mr. Barstow
+    of the result of the meeting he told them to see Captain Hull
+    and that if they could stand their own cooking and engineering
+    he thought the captain and himself might manage to live through
+    it.</p>
+
+    <p>The captain grimly assented; said that he had been wondering
+    where he could sleep his cook when it rained; that Dick
+    couldn't be a worse engineer than the one he had engaged, and
+    that he hoped he would keep sober more of the time than the
+    other one was in the habit of doing.</p>
+
+    <p>The <i>Irene</i> was of less than three feet draft, and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page259"
+       id="page259"></a>[pg 259]</span> towed or carried on her
+       davits a small launch and a skiff. Excepting when the wind
+       was especially favorable, the sails were kept furled, and an
+       awning stretched above the cabin-top made of it a pleasant
+       lounging place. When the <i>Irene</i> was opposite the mouth
+       of Broad and Rodgers rivers, the whole party, including Tom,
+       who kept beside Dick, were sitting on the cabin roof, and
+       Mr. Barstow said to his son, as he pointed to Broad
+       River:</p>
+
+    <p>"Is that the river where you caught your phantom manatee,
+    that wasn't there when you brought a fisherman to get it? You
+    know the story is all over Myers that you saw a porpoise and
+    imagined the rest. How was it, Ned?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yon've made a lot of fun of me, Dad, and Molly has bothered
+    the life out of Dick about that manatee ghost. Now, if you will
+    let Dick and me boss this boat for three days, no questions to
+    be asked, we'll show you a sure-enough manatee and give some
+    folks a chance to think up real handsome apologies."</p>
+
+    <p>"But supposing you don't make good?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Then Dick and I will do a whole lot of kow-towing
+    ourselves."</p>
+
+    <p>"What do you say to that, Molly?"</p>
+
+    <p>"See here, sis," interrupted Ned, "it's up to you to put up
+    or shut up. If you don't give us this chance to make good you
+    are not to say 'manatee' again on this trip."</p>
+
+    <p>"Give 'em what they want, Daddy. They can't
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page260"
+       id="page260"></a>[pg 260]</span> do much harm in three days,
+       and just think of the fun I'll have with them
+       afterwards."</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, hoys, you shall have your chance. It may prove a good
+    lesson to you."</p>
+
+    <p>"You heard that, Captain? Dick and I are boss for three
+    days, and we want this boat to start up Broad River
+    immejit!"</p>
+
+    <p>"Tide's jist a-bilin' out of the river. It'll take all day
+    to get anywhere. Hadn't you better anchor at the mouth of the
+    river till it turns? We can run up the river in the night, so
+    you won't lose any time."</p>
+
+    <p>The <i>Irene's</i> anchor was dropped behind the bar that
+    lies opposite the mouth of the river, and Molly and the boys
+    went out in the skiff to call on a family of pelicans which
+    were keeping house on a little coral key, surrounded by oyster
+    reefs, between Rodgers and Broad rivers. As the skiff neared
+    the key the old birds flew lazily away and lit on a mud-flat a
+    hundred yards distant, but the pelican children waddled around
+    on the oyster reef without showing much alarm until Dick caught
+    one, when the indignant bird struck him with its big bill and
+    punched holes in his hat. As the tide fell the oyster bars were
+    uncovered, the water shoaled on the mud-flats, and the boys
+    gathered oysters from one, and clams weighing from half a pound
+    to four pounds each from the other.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/260.jpg"
+             name="fig260"
+             id="fig260"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/260.jpg"
+             alt='"THE INDIGNANT BIRD PUNCHED HOLES THROUGH HIS HAT"' />
+             </a>"THE INDIGNANT BIRD PUNCHED HOLES THROUGH HIS HAT"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>A fire was built on the reef, bread and coffee brought from
+    the <i>Irene</i>, and Mr. Barstow and Captain
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page261"
+       id="page261"></a>[pg 261]</span> Hull invited to a picnic
+       supper which they were polite enough to say they enjoyed
+       greatly. After supper Molly and the boys took a walk on the
+       beach on the north side of Rodgers River and amused
+       themselves by chasing the crabs that were skurrying along
+       close to the shore to keep out of the way of their enemies.
+       They had a lot of fun, but caught no crabs, until Dick went
+       back to the <i>Irene</i> for a scoop-net and a bucket, which
+       he soon filled with the crustaceans. Molly had never before
+       seen shell-fish growing on trees, so Dick cut a few
+       oyster-bearing branches from a mangrove tree and roasted
+       bunches of the bivalves on the beach. When the sputtering of
+       the oysters on the branch told Dick they were cooked, he
+       hauled the limb from the coals, sat down with his companion
+       on the beach, and with sharpened sticks the young people
+       picked the roasted oysters from their shells, while Dick
+       told the girl of that other picnic on the coast near-by
+       after the waterspout had wrecked the <i>Etta</i>. They
+       talked after the oysters were eaten and the fire had gone
+       out, until Ned's voice came to them:</p>
+
+    <p>"Do you kids expect to settle here and grow up with the
+    country? Don't you know it's 'most night, the tide's been right
+    for the river for an hour, and everybody is waiting for
+    you?"</p>
+
+    <p>When they reached the <i>Irene</i>, Mr. Barstow proposed
+    putting off their start until morning to give Molly and him a
+    chance to see the river as they
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page262"
+       id="page262"></a>[pg 262]</span> sailed up it. Mr. Barstow
+       replied to a quizzical look from his son:</p>
+
+    <p>"Of course, this doesn't come out of your time, Ned. You are
+    to have your full three days."</p>
+
+    <p>"Maybe you'd like to see some fire-hunting," said the
+    captain. "There are 'gators in these rivers, and there's time
+    before the moon rises to find one or two. If you don't want one
+    killed I'll fire a blank cartridge at him, unless you'd like to
+    shine the eyes of one yourself."</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't think I'll try any fire-hunting, but I should like
+    to see it done," said Mr. Barstow.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick was proud of his sculling, and at his request it was
+    arranged that he should scull the skiff for the captain, while
+    Ned was to pole the little motor-boat, in which his father and
+    sister would go with him. Before they had gone far Dick found
+    that he had overestimated his strength, and that handling the
+    heavy sculling oar was too much for him. Mr. Barstow offered to
+    pole the motor-boat, and Ned took Dick's place at the oar in
+    the skiff, where Dick remained as a passenger. They entered
+    Broad River and Ned sculled slowly along the bank, while the
+    beam of light from the lantern, which was bound to the
+    captain's forehead, played along the surface of the water under
+    the mangroves that overhung the banks and sometimes swept the
+    banks above the water. In the shallow places mullet leaped
+    wildly as the rays of the bull's-eye lantern fell on them,
+    while porpoises sniffed and tarpon splashed
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page263"
+       id="page263"></a>[pg 263]</span> in their light. Sculling
+       was hard work for Ned, who had none of the easy and graceful
+       swing with which Dick threw his weight on a sculling oar, a
+       skill which he had acquired during his life on the sponger.
+       Several times the oar jumped out of the scull hole in the
+       skiff, and once Ned nearly went overboard. But a little
+       extra noise didn't much disturb wild creatures that were
+       fascinated by the light; and on the land 'coons sat
+       motionless, two dots of greenish light told of a hypnotized
+       wildcat, and when all on the skiff saw the light reflected
+       from two big, round eyes, while the captain held the beam
+       from the lantern steadily upon them, Dick whispered:</p>
+
+    <p>"What is it?"</p>
+
+    <p>"A big buck. Wish I didn't have a blank cartridge in the
+    rifle," replied the captain.</p>
+
+    <p>They cruised for half a mile up Broad River, then back to
+    its mouth against a tide that made the captain take the oars of
+    the skiff, to which the painter of the motor-boat was then
+    fastened. Then Ned sculled to the mouth of Rodgers River,
+    where, upon a little beach, the captain first saw the gleam for
+    which he had been looking. Then for a few minutes Dick took the
+    oar and slowly and more slowly sculled toward those little
+    round stars. Soon the light from the bull's-eye on the
+    captain's forehead showed the head and body of the reptile,
+    which remained as motionless as if cast in bronze, while Dick
+    held the skiff in place that the launch might
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page264"
+       id="page264"></a>[pg 264]</span> come near. With the roar of
+       the blank cartridge came the scream of a girl and the quick
+       scrambling of the alligator into the water. Every one wanted
+       to continue the hunt, but the rising of the moon put a stop
+       to the sport.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/264.jpg"
+             name="fig264"
+             id="fig264"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/264.jpg"
+             alt="THE LIGHT FROM THE BULL'S EYE SHOWED THE HEAD AND BODY OF THE REPTILE" />
+        </a>"THE LIGHT FROM THE BULL'S EYE SHOWED THE HEAD AND BODY
+        OF THE REPTILE"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>In the morning the tide was rushing up the river, and with
+    it came rolling porpoises and schools of leaping tarpon.</p>
+
+    <p>"Couldn't you catch one of those tarpon?" asked Molly.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick said nothing, but Ned shook his head slowly, and Molly
+    understood that he couldn't so quickly forget that desperate
+    struggle in the water, during which two lives hung by a thread
+    after a tarpon had wrecked their canoe.</p>
+
+    <p>As the <i>Irene</i> sailed up the river birds flew from the
+    trees on her approach, alligators slid from their beds on the
+    banks, and otters lifted their round heads above the surface of
+    the stream. Six miles from its mouth the river spreads out into
+    a bay, and as the boat was entering it Mr. Barstow called
+    out:</p>
+
+    <p>"There is your manatee, sure enough, boys!"</p>
+
+    <p>A big, ugly head appeared beside the <i>Irene</i> for an
+    instant, followed by a column of water thrown in the air by the
+    huge porpoise-like tail of the frightened animal. The anchor
+    was quickly dropped and the little motor-boat, with Dick at the
+    wheel and Mr. Barstow and Molly as passengers, started in
+    pursuit of the sea-cow. Captain Hull and Ned were in the skiff,
+    which was towed by the motor-boat.
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page265"
+       id="page265"></a>[pg 265]</span> Every few minutes the long
+       eel-grass of the shallow bay choked the propeller of the
+       motor-boat. Then the motor was stopped, the skiff pulled
+       under the stern of the power-boat, and Ned, with half his
+       head and shoulders under water, tore the grass from the
+       wheel. For two miles all eyes scanned the surface of the
+       water without sight of the quarry; then came a shout from
+       Molly:</p>
+
+    <p>"There it is!"</p>
+
+    <p>"Take the wheel, Molly; it's your manatee," replied
+    Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>And the girl, without a hat and with her loosened hair
+    streaming down her back, headed the power-boat straight for the
+    creature, which was distant about the eighth of a mile. Twice
+    the grass choked the wheel and twice with desperate haste it
+    was cleared by Ned. The boat had gone many yards beyond the
+    place where Molly had seen the animal when there was a great
+    swirl in the water beside the craft, followed by other swirls,
+    which grew less and less as they led in a straight line up a
+    broad tideway that opened into the upper end of the bay. A
+    moment later another series of swirls was seen and followed,
+    after which, for a time, nothing was seen, although four pairs
+    of eyes were scanning every inch of the stream ahead of the
+    boat. Then came a cry from the captain, who had been cannily
+    watching the water behind the craft. The sea-cow had turned
+    around, and, swimming silently beneath the boat, would have
+    escaped but for the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page266"
+       id="page266"></a>[pg 266]</span> glimpse the captain got of
+       him as he rose to breathe just before reaching a bend in the
+       stream, which would have hidden him from his pursuers. Soon
+       the motor-boat was again on his trail, never to leave it
+       till the creature was a captive. For the manatee was tired
+       and had to come to the surface for breath at shorter and
+       shorter intervals, until the power-boat almost ran over him
+       at every turn.</p>
+
+    <p>"Turn us loose!" shouted Ned, and in a moment the skiff was
+    free and being sculled by the captain toward the quarry, while
+    Ned stood in the bow with a noosed rope in his hand. Soon the
+    manatee rose beside the skiff, so near that Ned laid the noose
+    over the creature's nose. But it didn't stay there, for a
+    column of water rose in the air, and when it subsided Ned was
+    swimming two yards from the skiff.</p>
+
+    <p>There was a cry from Molly in the motor-boat which no one
+    noticed, for in half a minute Ned was back in the skiff and the
+    pursuit was on keener than ever. Every ten seconds the manatee
+    came up to breathe, every time he rose he was driven back under
+    water by the blow of the rope across his nose. Finally the
+    half-strangled creature lifted his whole head out of the water
+    and held it there long enough for Ned to slip the noose over
+    it. The next instant the blow of the manatee's tail deluged the
+    boy with water and jarred the skiff from bow to stern, which
+    was then dragged through the water at a rate which for minutes
+    left the motor-boat behind. The sea-cow carried the skiff
+    around keys, through deep
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page267"
+       id="page267"></a>[pg 267]</span> channels, over shallow
+       banks and under bushes that projected from the shore, until
+       the animal was fairly tired out. As the speed of the
+       creature slackened, Ned drew the skiff close beside him, and
+       plunging overboard, threw his left arm over the neck and
+       with his right hand grasped the right flipper of the
+       manatee. Then Captain Hull took a hand, and pulling the
+       skiff up to the manatee was soon swimming beside him and
+       clinging to his left flipper.</p>
+
+    <p>Dick slowed down the motor, while Molly kept the boat
+    circling around the swimmers until the manatee surrendered and
+    became quiet as a cow. The motor was stopped, and the sea-cow
+    was brought beside the boat, where Molly patted the head and
+    laid her hand on the soft lips of the gentle creature.</p>
+
+    <p>"Now, Daddy," said Ned, "Dick and I want a certificate that
+    this isn't a phantom manatee or a porpoise."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'll certify to that, Ned. You boys have made good,
+    although nobody ever doubted it, anyway, for the fisherman was
+    only having a little fun with you."</p>
+
+    <p>The manatee was so tractable that Captain Hull swam back for
+    the skiff, while Ned loosened his hold on the flipper of the
+    creature. Suddenly a cascade of water half-filled the
+    power-boat, drenched every one in it, and the manatee
+    disappeared. Ned was chagrined, but Mr. Barstow cheered
+    him:</p>
+
+    <p>"It is all for the best, Ned. He had done all he could do
+    for us. We hadn't time to arrange for his
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page268"
+       id="page268"></a>[pg 268]</span> shipment, and so had to set
+       him free. The only thing I am sorry for is that I didn't go
+       overboard, too, and have some of the fun. I am just as wet
+       as you are, without having anything-to show for it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Me, too," said Molly, whose red cheeks and sparkling eyes
+    shone from among streaming mermaid tresses, and whose pretty
+    frock had been deluged.</p>
+
+    <p>"Dad," said Ned, after they were back on the <i>Irene</i>,
+    "you know Dick and I are in command for two days more."</p>
+
+    <p>"I thought you were to have charge for three days, or until
+    you found a manatee."</p>
+
+    <p>"No, sir; three days&mdash;seventy-two hours, and not a
+    minute less."</p>
+
+    <p>"What are you going to do with all that time?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I have elected myself senior boss and Dick junior boss, and
+    we are going to show you and Molly the Everglades. The
+    <i>Irene</i> will start down Broad River at once. But Molly is
+    to take the power-boat through the cut-off to Rodgers River,
+    and down that river to its mouth, where she will find us. Oh,
+    by the way, Dick will go with her as engineer, but subject to
+    her orders."</p>
+
+    <p>When the <i>Irene</i> was opposite the cut-off, the
+    power-boat, with Molly and Dick on board, was set adrift and
+    was soon twisting and turning at half speed as it followed the
+    channel of the crooked creek. Swimming through the creek would
+    have made a snake dizzy, and the girl at the wheel had to keep
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page269"
+       id="page269"></a>[pg 269]</span> it spinning. There were
+       logs to be dodged and sharp-ended stumps to be avoided.
+       Trees lay nearly across the stream, leaving barely the width
+       of the boat to spare, and others under which the boat had to
+       be driven between flexible branches, while the steerswoman
+       crouched low down in the craft. There were birds and beasts
+       on the bank, fish and reptiles in the water, but the girl
+       could spare them scarcely a glance. Great spiders hung in
+       midair on nets that stretched from bank to bank, and Molly's
+       face was matted with webs that she could not avoid, while
+       her teeth were tightly clenched lest she scream when the
+       hairy legs of a spider with a spread of five inches traveled
+       across her face. Dick saw her trouble and came forward to
+       where he could lean ahead of her and take the brunt of the
+       spider's work. Molly spared him a grateful glance, but got
+       in trouble for it the next instant. For just then a quick
+       turn of the craft happened to be necessary, and although
+       Dick helped to roll the wheel, it was too late, and because
+       of the inattention of a moment the motor-boat crashed into
+       the bank. The pilot and engineer were thrown violently
+       against the wheel, but nothing was injured excepting the
+       temper of the girl, who said to her companion:</p>
+
+    <p>"That was all your fault, Dick Williams, and I wish you
+    would go back to your engine. I will try to manage the wheel by
+    myself."</p>
+
+    <p>After two miles of squirmy navigation the boat came out into
+    the broad, beautiful Rodgers River,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page270"
+       id="page270"></a>[pg 270]</span> down which they turned; and
+       when Dick pointed out where the tarpon had wrecked their
+       canoe and stunned him, and told of Ned's struggles to save
+       his life, the girl's voice trembled and there were tears in
+       her eyes as she listened and asked questions. The tide was
+       low when they arrived at the mouth of the river, and Molly
+       ran the boat on one of the oyster bars that form a network
+       across the entrance to Broad and Rodgers rivers. Almost the
+       instant the boat touched, Dick was overboard heaving on the
+       bow, and soon had the craft afloat. Then turning to Molly,
+       he said, while mischief sparkled in his eyes:</p>
+
+    <p>"I am sorry I ran you on that bar, Miss Barstow."</p>
+
+    <p>"You shouldn't bear malice, Dick," replied the
+    girl.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page271"
+       id="page271"></a>[pg 271]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XXIV</h3>
+
+    <h3>TO THE GLADES IN THE "IRENE"</h3>
+
+    <p>They found the <i>Irene</i> waiting for them near the mouth
+    of the river, with Ned impatient to be off to catch the
+    inflowing-tide from the mouth of Harney's River, which was
+    about two miles down the coast.</p>
+
+    <p>It was still daylight when they crossed the bar and passed
+    the little key inside the mouth of the river, but they sailed
+    up the stream by the light of the stars, which gave mystic
+    beauty to the smooth water and the shadowy outlines of the
+    tropical forest that bordered the banks of the river. Captain
+    Hull anchored the <i>Irene</i> for the night in Tussock Bay, at
+    the head of the lower division of Harney's River, because, as
+    he said, he needed all the daylight he could get when he
+    tackled the crooked courses between Tussock Bay and the
+    Everglades.</p>
+
+    <p>When the anchor was hoisted in the morning, Dick was at the
+    wheel, which he held on to when the captain came up to relieve
+    him. The captain stood by as the boy steered across the bay,
+    and wondered at the chance that kept him for miles on exactly
+    the right course. As the boat was passing Tussock Key, Dick
+    headed up to the
+    northeast.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page272"
+       id="page272"></a>[pg 272]</span>
+
+    <p>"Too far north," said the captain. "Course is
+    east-southeast."</p>
+
+    <p>"No talking to the man at the wheel," said Dick, and Captain
+    Hull laughed and waited for the trouble that was coming. But no
+    trouble came, and the <i>Irene</i> twisted in and out, always
+    in plenty of water, for a mile and a half of crooked creek,
+    until it floated in a wider stream, the banks of which were
+    covered with long prairie grass, when Dick handed over the
+    wheel to the captain, saying:</p>
+
+    <p>"Guess you know the rest of the way, don't you, Captain? If
+    you get in any trouble call on me."</p>
+
+    <p>"That was one on me," said Captain Hull as he took the
+    wheel. "I never came that way before. Wonder who taught you
+    piloting? Mighty few pilots can find their way up this
+    river."</p>
+
+    <p>"I came that way," said Dick nonchalantly, "because the
+    water is deeper and there is less grass. The other river is
+    pretty shallow and gets badly choked up at this season."</p>
+
+    <p>"That's so," replied the captain, "but I'd like to know who
+    told you."</p>
+
+    <p>It took the rest of the day to reach the Everglades. There
+    were narrow streams so crooked that the <i>Irene</i> had to be
+    poled around the sharp corners, broad, shallow rivers, so
+    choked with eel and manatee-grass that every five minutes one
+    of the boys went overboard to clear the clogged propeller, and
+    twisting creeks, through which the water of the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page273"
+       id="page273"></a>[pg 273]</span> Everglades poured so
+       swiftly, that to make headway and avoid snags kept the
+       captain busy at the wheel and the boys fending off from the
+       banks with oars. Sometimes for miles the channel was clear;
+       and while the captain stood at the wheel the rest of the
+       exploring family sat upon the cabin roof and chattered like
+       children about the turtle and terrapin heads that dotted the
+       surface, the leaping young tarpon, grave old alligators, shy
+       otters, and birds that flew from the trees or soared
+       overhead.</p>
+
+    <p>The sensitive Tom resented Dick's neglect, and was seen
+    sitting on the after end of the cabin, in front of the wheel,
+    making friends with the captain. Every few minutes Tom put out
+    a paw and rested it on the captain's hand as it rolled the
+    wheel. Then Tom would look up in his face, and finally rubbed
+    his cheek on the captain's hand, and after that became his
+    shadow. That night Tom abandoned his sleeping place beside
+    Dick's bunk and turned in with the captain. Dick was a little
+    annoyed at first, but his conscience told him that he had
+    neglected Tom, and had himself to blame.</p>
+
+    <p>When the anchor was dropped, the <i>Irene</i> rested in a
+    solid mass of lily pads, with her bowsprit extending over the
+    border of the Everglades, which stretched out eastward, a
+    great, grassy, overflowed meadow, dotted with keys, to the
+    horizon. A slough of clear water, deep enough to float the
+    little power-boat, zigzagged out into the Glades, and the
+    captain, with Mr. Barstow, Molly and Dick in the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page274"
+       id="page274"></a>[pg 274]</span> craft, followed it for more
+       than a mile. There was water enough over the light grass of
+       the Glades to float the skiff, which Ned poled through a
+       carpet of white pond-lilies, that here and there covered the
+       surface. Many little grassy mounds showed where an alligator
+       had his cave. From one of them an alligator slid out and
+       started across the Glades at full speed. Ned was soon on his
+       trail, poling like mad. He was nearly up to the reptile when
+       it swung around and darted away at right angles to its
+       former course, gaining many yards on its pursuer, for the
+       grass prevented the quick turning of the skiff. Time after
+       time the reptile repeated this dodge, time after time the
+       boy was near enough to have touched the alligator with a
+       pole, but always he dodged, until Ned was too exhausted to
+       follow the creature any farther.</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, I wish you could have caught it," said Molly when Ned
+    returned.</p>
+
+    <p>"We'll get one to-morrow sure," said Dick, while Ned's only
+    comment was:</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't you get Dick to try fool things, sis."</p>
+
+    <p>"Captain," said Dick that evening, "I want an alligator, and
+    if you will help Ned pole in the skiff in the morning until we
+    are near enough to one, I'll either put a rope over his head or
+    go overboard and grab him."</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't try that on these 'gators; but I'll rig up a harpoon
+    for you, and if you can hit one with that there won't be any
+    trouble in getting
+    him."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page275"
+       id="page275"></a>[pg 275]</span>
+
+    <p>"I don't want to kill the thing with a harpoon."</p>
+
+    <p>"I'll fix that. I'll stop down the harpoon so you can't
+    drive it more than an inch beyond the hide, and the 'gator will
+    never know he's hurt. He'll think a fly lit on him."</p>
+
+    <p>In the morning, as they were about to start on the 'gator
+    chase, Ned said to his father:</p>
+
+    <p>"This is our third day and our last chance, so we have got
+    to keep busy."</p>
+
+    <p>"Not quite," replied Mr. Barstow. "You and Dick have done so
+    well that you can stay in command until I have to call you
+    down."</p>
+
+    <p>"Where do I come in?" said Molly. "Haven't I got something
+    to say about things?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Looks as if you were having too much to say now. You
+    mustn't try to influence the officers of this ship or lure them
+    away from their duties."</p>
+
+    <p>The little face that Molly made at her father wasn't quite
+    respectful, but Mr. Barstow only laughed at it.</p>
+
+    <p>On this day of the 'gator hunt, Molly took the wheel and her
+    father ran the engine of the motor-boat, while Ned and the
+    captain poled the skiff and Dick stood in the bow with the
+    harpoon pole. They soon started a nine-foot alligator out of
+    his cave, and after a chase of ten minutes and a few sudden
+    turns were so near the reptile that Dick fixed his harpoon to
+    the end of the pole and stood ready. Twice he threw and missed,
+    and each time many yards were lost while the pole was being
+    recovered. <span class="pagenum"><a name="page276"
+       id="page276"></a>[pg 276]</span> Dick was so mortified at
+       missing that he offered the harpoon to the captain, who
+       refused it, saying:</p>
+
+    <p>"You threw all right and almost got him last throw. You'll
+    fetch him next time."</p>
+
+    <p>The captain's prophecy was fulfilled and at the next throw
+    the harpoon pierced the soft hide of the hind leg of the
+    reptile. From the beginning of the chase the alligator had been
+    making for the river and was within a hundred yards of it when
+    struck. They headed it off from the river and Dick dragged on
+    the line while the others poled until the skiff was beside the
+    'gator. A heavy blow on the bow of the boat from the tail of
+    the reptile and the big open jaws with their rows of great
+    gleaming teeth that swung before Dick's face made him drop the
+    line and fall backward into the skiff, while the alligator
+    started off in a new direction. On the next approach the
+    creature turned on the skiff again and though the captain
+    fended it off with an oar the reptile had the best of the
+    battle. Several times Dick brought the skiff near the alligator
+    and tried to lasso it with the painter of the boat, but the
+    reptile was too wary for him. The captain suggested running the
+    reptile into the river, saying it would be easier to take it
+    aboard from the deeper water. As soon as they gave the brute a
+    chance it plunged into the river and towed the skiff two
+    hundred yards down the stream, then turning and rising to the
+    surface the alligator came with open mouth at Dick, who sprang
+    from his place in the bow and, seizing
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page277"
+       id="page277"></a>[pg 277]</span> the painter, the boy soon
+       had a rope around the head of the brute and its jaws tied.
+       They tried towing the alligator up the river to the
+       <i>Irene</i>, but it is easier to drag an anchor than an
+       alligator. Then as Dick was winded the captain and Ned
+       finally hauled it aboard the skiff, where for a time it
+       amused itself by trying to smash the skiff or knock somebody
+       overboard with its tail. It became perfectly quiet before
+       the <i>Irene</i> was reached, when the captain dragged on
+       the rope which bound its jaws while Ned boosted with his
+       arms around the tail of the brute. But the alligator was
+       playing 'possum and had Ned just where it wanted him and,
+       with a swing of its powerful tail, lifted the boy in the air
+       and neatly tossed him overboard. It was fortunate for Ned
+       that he was holding the alligator so tightly that it was
+       more of a push than a blow that he received. As it was, the
+       breath was so completely knocked out of him that for an
+       instant he could not swim and was drifting with the current,
+       feebly paddling with his hands, just enough to keep afloat,
+       when he felt Dick's supporting hand and heard a voice in his
+       ear:</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't say you're hurt, Neddy."</p>
+
+    <p>"No&mdash;no&mdash;not a&mdash;bit. Nothing but&mdash;the
+    talk&mdash;knocked out of me. Gee! Wouldn't he make a fine
+    spanking machine?"</p>
+
+    <p>Both of the boys were glad when the captain came for them
+    with the skiff and they were saved a hard swim against the
+    current.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page278"
+       id="page278"></a>[pg 278]</span>
+
+    <p>"Where is our alligator?" said Ned to the captain. "Hope you
+    didn't turn him loose."</p>
+
+    <p>"Nope. He's all right. He slipped back into the water when
+    you went in swimming, and of course I knew you wanted him
+    looked after first, so I gave his line a turn round the big
+    cleat. When I left he was trying to pull it out."</p>
+
+    <p>When the boys were back on the <i>Irene</i>, Molly clung to
+    her brother's hand, hardly able to speak, while Mr. Barstow
+    said to his son:</p>
+
+    <p>"Is that the sort of thing you boys have been doing in your
+    odd hours when you were not squabbling with panthers or mixing
+    up with tarpon? I am afraid you need a traveling guardian to
+    look after you."</p>
+
+    <p>A hundred feet was added to the rope that held the alligator
+    and he was left to pasture in the water until the <i>Irene</i>
+    was ready to sail, when he was hauled aboard the skiff and
+    lashed there. While he was being tied he was perfectly tame and
+    peaceful, but, though he looked as if butter wouldn't melt in
+    his mouth, no one trusted him and even the captain fought shy
+    of his tail.</p>
+
+    <p>For two miles from the Glades the river was broad and the
+    navigation, excepting for many bunches of moss and manatee
+    grass, was easy. Then came half a mile of a twisting narrow
+    creek, in places not twice the width of the <i>Irene</i>,
+    through which poured swiftly the whole volume of the big
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page279"
+       id="page279"></a>[pg 279]</span> river. At the head of this
+       creek the captain came to anchor.</p>
+
+    <p>"We won't get through this creek without a lot of trouble.
+    The current will throw us against the bank a dozen times and we
+    haven't speed to prevent it and couldn't turn the corners if we
+    had. The launch must go ahead and keep the bow of the big boat
+    out of the bushes if it can. Then we can't be bothered with the
+    skiff or the 'gator. We'd likely lose both. Somebody must take
+    the launch and tow the skiff through and then come back, if he
+    can get back, and help the big boat through. I hate to do it,
+    but we can't tow the skiff and, of course, it would be torn off
+    of the davits in two minutes. We are going to scrape the sides
+    and perhaps tear out half the rigging of the <i>Irene</i>,
+    anyhow. Now who volunteers to tow the skiff through the creek?
+    I can't go because the launch may not be able to buck the
+    current and get back and I must stand by the big boat."</p>
+
+    <p>"I volunteer," said Molly, "if you can get anybody to go as
+    engineer."</p>
+
+    <p>Every one laughed at this, excepting Molly, who blushed a
+    little, and Dick pulled the power boat up beside the
+    <i>Irene</i> as if he were afraid that somebody would change
+    her mind if there was any delay.</p>
+
+    <p>"Can she do it and is it quite safe?" asked Mr. Barstow.</p>
+
+    <p>"Do it as well as anybody. They may swamp the skiff or get
+    caught in a corner, but they can get out
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page280"
+       id="page280"></a>[pg 280]</span> on the bank without
+       anything worse than a ducking."</p>
+
+    <p>As the power boat started, with Molly at the wheel, Dick
+    standing by the motor and the skiff hauled close under the
+    stern, the captain called out to Dick:</p>
+
+    <p>"Full speed. It's your only chance to get through. Don't
+    bother with the skiff, but keep an oar handy to fend off from
+    the bank." The speed of the boat was doubled by the current and
+    Dick's heart was in his mouth as the banks flew past and some
+    log-guarded point threatened to smash the bow of the boat. But
+    Molly was quick to see the coming peril and the wheel rolled
+    swiftly to starboard or port, always in time to avert it. There
+    were double turns which the boat could never have made but for
+    the rush of the current which often swept them aside from a
+    stump or log that it seemed impossible to avoid. It was a
+    thrilling experience to both pilot and engineer, and when the
+    broad, placid river opened before them and the perilous trip
+    was past, the girl turned a flushed and beaming face toward her
+    companion and said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Wasn't it just lovely?"</p>
+
+    <p>And the boy replied with enthusiasm:</p>
+
+    <p>"It was glorious!"</p>
+
+    <p>Dick fastened the skiff to a tree on the bank, gave a look
+    at the lashing of the alligator and the return through the
+    creek began. There was nothing exciting about this trip. As the
+    craft was working <span class="pagenum"><a name="page281"
+       id="page281"></a>[pg 281]</span> against the current, the
+       flow of the water balanced the power of the engine, and log
+       stumps and points on the bank were passed slowly, inch by
+       inch. Often there was no progress and then the boat was
+       steered close beside the bank and Dick pushed with his oar
+       against the trees until less swift water was found. The run
+       down the creek was made in three minutes. The return 'took
+       half as many hours. On the <i>Irene</i> all were anxious but
+       the captain and Tom. At the end of an hour Ned was for
+       starting down the creek with the big boat, but Captain Hull
+       said:</p>
+
+    <p>"No. It may take them three hours. Give them two at least.
+    If we start now we'll make sure of a smash-up."</p>
+
+    <p>In another minute the motor of the launch could be heard,
+    although it was half an hour more before the wanderers were
+    welcomed aboard the <i>Irene</i> and their story told.</p>
+
+    <p>"It's our turn for trouble now," said the captain, "and
+    we're likely to get it, good and plenty."</p>
+
+    <p>"Want me to tow?" said Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure," replied the captain.</p>
+
+    <p>"Me, too?" inquired Molly.</p>
+
+    <p>"No," replied the captain, rather sharply. "It isn't
+    piloting this time. You can't steer the launch much while it's
+    fast to the big boat. Best you can do is to fend off and then
+    you're likely to get caught, and when you do get caught and
+    fifteen tons comes down on you at ten miles an hour, somebody
+    has got to be spry."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page282"
+       id="page282"></a>[pg 282]</span>
+
+    <p>"Is there much danger to whoever goes in the little boat?"
+    asked Mr. Barstow.</p>
+
+    <p>"Some, not much. It's the big boat that is likely to get
+    caught and if the launch did get stuck and we couldn't sheer
+    off it would only mean a quick jump and a little swim
+    and&mdash;a busted launch."</p>
+
+    <p>The <i>Irene</i> started down the creek with her engine at
+    half speed, the captain at the wheel and Dick standing in the
+    bow of the motor boat with an oar at hand. Molly stood in the
+    companionway at the captain's request because he feared her
+    being swept overboard by overhanging branches. Mr. Barstow and
+    Ned were stationed near the bow with long poles for fending off
+    from the banks when necessary. The first trouble came from a
+    wooded point on the starboard side, but Dick swung the power
+    boat to port while Ned nearly went overboard as he threw his
+    weight on the pole with which he was fending. The bow cleared
+    the point, though the bowsprit swept the bushes and a
+    low-growing branch tore out the screens on the starboard side.
+    Before the point was passed Dick had the launch on the
+    starboard side, working to turn the <i>Irene</i> before she
+    should strike the opposite bank. The efforts of all hands
+    failed to make the turn in time and a stump by the bank caught
+    in the jib-stay of the boat and held her fast. As the stern of
+    the <i>Irene</i> swung on the point she had nearly passed, she
+    lay broad-side to the current, subject to all its
+    power.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page283"
+       id="page283"></a>[pg 283]</span>
+
+    <p>"We're in for it now, if that jib-stay don't part pretty
+    sudden," said the captain.</p>
+
+    <p>And before the words were out of his mouth the eye-bolt that
+    held the stay broke short off and the <i>Irene's</i> bow swung
+    down the stream. The boat was not caught badly again, although
+    her fore rigging on the port side was carried away and her
+    sides somewhat scarred. The only accident that threatened was
+    prevented by a precaution which Dick had taken. He had fastened
+    his tow line to the stern of the launch with a knot that could
+    be slipped and led the end of the line forward to where he
+    stood by the wheel. It happened that when nearly through the
+    creek it became needful to drag the bow of the <i>Irene</i> far
+    to port. Dick did this, but found himself in a pocket from
+    which he could not escape and in position to be dragged stern
+    first under the bow of the big boat. A quick jerk on the towing
+    line, and the launch was safe behind the <i>Irene</i>. There
+    was no more trouble for the big boat, which a minute later was
+    headed down the broad but shallow river, at half speed, while
+    Dick picked up the skiff with its alligator passenger who
+    slowly opened one eye when spoken to. In a few minutes the
+    <i>Irene</i> was traveling at full speed toward Tussock Bay
+    while her joyful passengers sat on the cabin roof and talked of
+    perils which had passed.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/284.jpg"
+             name="fig284"
+             id="fig284"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/284.jpg"
+             alt='"SLOWLY LIFTING HIS HUGE HEAD OVER THE SIDE OF THE SKIFF"' />
+        </a>"SLOWLY LIFTING HIS HUGE HEAD OVER THE SIDE OF THE
+        SKIFF"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>From Tussock Bay to the coast, the <i>Irene</i> sailed by
+    way of a branch of Shark River. The deep water of this river
+    near the Gulf of Mexico was
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page284"
+       id="page284"></a>[pg 284]</span> roughened by a high wind
+       and the rising and falling of the skiff seemed to excite the
+       alligator which for hours had been as quiet as if he were
+       asleep or dead. Slowly lifting his huge head over the side
+       of the skiff he gave a lurch which strained the rope that
+       held him and enough of the weight of the reptile was on the
+       side of the skiff to capsize it. The captain, who first
+       heard the struggle and saw the upset of the skiff, shouted
+       to Ned, who was below oiling the engine, to shut off the
+       power. Before the <i>Irene</i> lost her headway Ned was in
+       the river with the alligator, resting on the bottom of the
+       skiff which he rolled from over the reptile to save it from
+       drowning. Instantly the freed jaws of the alligator opened
+       wide in his face and the boy threw himself backward in the
+       water and swam swiftly away from his dangerous companion.
+       The rope had slipped from the head of the reptile, which now
+       seized the gunwale of the boat and thrashed about until he
+       had freed himself from the rope which bound him, after which
+       he quickly disappeared. Half an hour later Ned was pouring
+       his grievances into the ear of his chum, who was resting in
+       his bunk from the fatigue of the morning.</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't you think, Dick, it was bad enough to be scared to
+    death by a whopping old alligator that I thought was going to
+    bite me in two, without being scolded by everybody on board for
+    recklessness? First there was Dad, and he uses pretty powerful
+    language when he gets real earnest, then Captain
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page285"
+       id="page285"></a>[pg 285]</span> Hull gave it to me like a
+       Dutch uncle, and even Molly lectured me and squeezed out a
+       few tears. I told Dad it wasn't half as bad as your jumping
+       in the way of that panther, but he said that was altogether
+       a different thing and had some sense in
+       it."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page286"
+       id="page286"></a>[pg 286]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XXV</h3>
+
+    <h3>IN FLORIDA BAY</h3>
+
+    <p>After the <i>Irene</i> had sailed twenty miles down the
+    coast and was about opposite East Cape (Sable) Captain Hull
+    asked for his orders.</p>
+
+    <p>"Isn't Madeira Hammock on the coast, about thirty miles from
+    here?" inquired Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, but you will have to go seventy to get there. You've
+    got to go way round by the keys."</p>
+
+    <p>"Isn't there water enough for the <i>Irene</i> along the
+    coast?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Isn't enough to float the skiff. You can go about ten
+    miles. After that there's an inch of water and I reckon a mile
+    of blue, soft, sticky mud. I've been a few feet down in it and
+    the farther I went the softer and stickier it got."</p>
+
+    <p>"Suppose we go the ten miles you talk about what will we
+    find?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Tarpon, sharks, porpoises, lots of fish, birds and enough
+    sawfish to make a picket fence of their saws all around the
+    coast."</p>
+
+    <p>"That's us, Captain," said Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>And the <i>Irene's</i> mud hook went to the bottom that
+    night in eight feet of water off Joe Kemp's
+    Key.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page287"
+       id="page287"></a>[pg 287]</span>
+
+    <p>In the shoal water over the broad banks which lay to the
+    south and east of the <i>Irene</i> the bayonet fins of many
+    tarpon rose high above the surface as the fish beneath them
+    pursued their prey. Often the two fins shown by a wandering
+    shark swept swiftly across a bank, or three big reddish fins
+    moving in a straight line slowly behind a great, swaying,
+    four-foot weapon marked the course of a fifteen-foot sawfish.
+    There was water to float the power boat in the channels between
+    the banks, and families of porpoises or dolphins were always
+    ready to serve as pilots and point the path through these
+    labyrinthine waterways. A school of porpoises, rolling in the
+    water and leaping in the air, passed the motor boat as if they
+    had been telephoned for in the greatest haste. Two minutes
+    later, a quarter of a mile away, a great splashing could be
+    seen and huge bodies hurled in the air, which seemed to be
+    filled with flying fragments.</p>
+
+    <p>The power boat, with Molly at the wheel, started for the
+    fray at its best speed and when it reached the battlefield its
+    occupants saw a little band of porpoises in the midst of a
+    great school of silver mullet. Each blow of a porpoise tail
+    sent several mullet flying in the air, each blow that was
+    struck was followed by a quick turn or leap of the agile animal
+    for the victim which it caught before it fell. Ned and Dick
+    were in the skiff which had been towed by the power boat,
+    hoping to harpoon a sawfish or a shark. They had not before
+    thought of the swift <span class="pagenum"><a name="page288"
+       id="page288"></a>[pg 288]</span> and wary porpoise. They
+       called to the captain to cast them loose, and soon Ned was
+       poling the skiff toward the busy porpoises while Dick stood
+       in the bow of the skiff with his harpoon handy. Quick as a
+       flash the porpoises separated and scattered in every
+       direction and the boys followed several in vain. Then Molly
+       took a hand in the game and sent the power boat at one after
+       another of them until the captain called to her:</p>
+
+    <p>"If you'll stick to one you'll run him down."</p>
+
+    <p>Then Molly kept steadily after a single porpoise, until the
+    animal came to understand that it was the chosen victim, and
+    quickly put half a mile between it and its pursuer. In a few
+    minutes the half mile between them had vanished and the
+    creature made another frantic dash. After that it swam back and
+    forth as if confused, and traveled in narrowing circles,
+    wasting its strength, while the wheel of the pursuing boat
+    rolled back and forth without ceasing as it followed the course
+    of the animal or took short cuts to head it off. The boys came
+    near with the skiff, but the worried quarry paid so little heed
+    to them that soon Dick sunk his harpoon in the tail of the
+    porpoise. All the life and strength of the creature seemed to
+    come back and it threw a column of water in the air which
+    nearly swamped the skiff, while Dick's hands were torn and
+    blistered by the outgoing harpoon line, before way could be had
+    on the skiff. The frantic creature tore back and forth,
+    sometimes striking the skiff a powerful blow with
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page289"
+       id="page289"></a>[pg 289]</span> its tremendous tail as it
+       passed, sometimes towing it at high speed until Dick, who
+       was not yet strong, was more tired than the porpoise. He
+       changed places with Ned and the two were nearly worn out
+       when the porpoise surrendered.</p>
+
+    <p>They took the harpoon from the animal's tail and tried to
+    drag the creature over the gunwale of the skiff, but found it
+    too heavy for them. At length they lifted and dragged the
+    porpoise up on the gunwale of the skiff which they pressed down
+    until the water was beginning to flow over it. Half of the
+    animal was now over the side of the skiff and the boys threw
+    their weight backward expecting to roll the porpoise into the
+    bottom of the craft. This would have happened if the porpoise
+    had kept still, which it neglected to do. With a blow of its
+    tail on the water the animal threw its own body forward and Ned
+    and Dick found assistance instead of resistance as they pulled,
+    and promptly went over backward into the water with the
+    porpoise and the capsized skiff on top of them. When they got
+    to the surface their captive had escaped, but the power boat
+    was beside them with three highly edified occupants. After the
+    skiff had been righted and bailed out and the floating poles,
+    oar, hats, and line tub gathered in, Ned saw the fin and
+    swaying tail of a shark cutting the surface of the water near
+    them, and calling on Dick to take the harpoon, began to pole
+    the skiff toward the tiger of the
+    sea.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page290"
+       id="page290"></a>[pg 290]</span>
+
+    <p>"Look out," shouted the captain. "That's a shark. You'll
+    lose your iron if you strike him."</p>
+
+    <p>Th captain spoke too late, for the shark was struck and the
+    skiff was towed at speed for a hundred feet by the angry fish,
+    which then turned and rolled up on the taut line till it caught
+    the rope in its mouth and bit it in two as easily as scissors
+    snip thread.</p>
+
+    <p>"Told you so," said the captain. "A shark always bites the
+    line and often rolls up in it. An alligator always rolls up in
+    it, but can't bite it. I've had an alligator roll up against a
+    skiff and pretty near come aboard after I'd harpooned it.
+    There's another harpoon on the <i>Irene</i>, and I'll fix it
+    to-night with a few feet of wire for the next shark to bite on.
+    I reckon it'll give him a surprise."</p>
+
+    <p>Molly was in full command of the power boat for the day, and
+    as harpooning was over, she ran it at her own sweet will.
+    Sometimes the captain helped her with a hint when he saw her
+    heading for water that was too shoal. The course she took was
+    southerly and brought her near Man-o'-war Bush, from which rose
+    hundreds of man-o'-war hawks, or frigate pelicans, the most
+    graceful bird on the continent, excepting the fork-tailed kite.
+    These birds soared high overhead, circling, rising and falling
+    with scarcely a perceptible motion of their wings. From another
+    key a flock of roseate spoon-bill, or pink curlew, flew at the
+    approach of the boat, while young herons sat fearlessly on
+    branches of <span class="pagenum"><a name="page291"
+       id="page291"></a>[pg 291]</span> trees or spread wings and
+       stretched long legs as they fled in affright.</p>
+
+    <p>That night Mr. Barstow called a council on the cabin
+    top.</p>
+
+    <p>"Boys, I would like to have you make Miami in four days from
+    now, if you can manage it."</p>
+
+    <p>"That's easy," said Ned. "We can make the trip in a day.
+    That leaves us one day here and two at Madeira Hammock to find
+    Dick's pet crocodile."</p>
+
+    <p>"If you're going to Miami by way of Madeira Hammock," said
+    the captain, "you'd better allow two days for the trip. You're
+    likely to get some tangled up in that country."</p>
+
+    <p>"Then we'll cut out our day here. We have had our share of
+    fun out of this place. What is there in that bay to the east of
+    us, Captain?"</p>
+
+    <p>"There's a creek that leads to the Cuthbert Rookery, but it
+    isn't the season for that. It's a hard trip anyway, through
+    small salt-water lakes and little overgrown creeks where you
+    have to drag your skiff most of the way. And you've got to
+    carry all the water you drink and you won't find that a
+    joke."</p>
+
+    <p>"We have had all we want of that kind of country, Captain,
+    so we'll hike out of here at daylight and get to Madeira
+    Hammock quick as you can find the way."</p>
+
+    <p>"I can find the way now, anyhow as far as Lignum Vitae Key,
+    and if the tide doesn't bother me too much in the cut, maybe to
+    Hammer Point. Beyond <span class="pagenum"><a name="page292"
+       id="page292"></a>[pg 292]</span> that I want daylight and
+       then I ain't sure. Do you want to make a night run?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Sure," said both the boys together.</p>
+
+    <p>"If you will excuse me from any share in this night
+    navigation," said Mr. Barstow, "I think I will turn in. How is
+    it with you, Molly?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, I'll stay up a while and help Captain Hull navigate the
+    ship."</p>
+
+    <p>The moon rose soon after the anchor was broken out, and its
+    light reflected from the white canvas of the bellying sails and
+    the tops of the white-capped waves, gave a dream-like beauty to
+    the night. Captain Molly called to Engineer Dick:</p>
+
+    <p>"Stop that noise in the engine room!" and Dick promptly shut
+    off the gasoline from the motor. Captain Hull made no complaint
+    of this mutinous interference with his authority, but said:</p>
+
+    <p>"That's right, we don't need the engine now and I reckon we
+    ain't going to need it to-night."</p>
+
+    <p>The wind was fair and strong from the north, and every
+    minute its sweep grew wider and the waves bigger as the
+    <i>Irene</i> drew from under the shelter of the cape. The
+    captain and Ned stood by the wheel, while the girl and Dick sat
+    on the front of the cabin in the moonlight, watching the white
+    water that rose from under the bow of the clumsy craft, with
+    each heavy blow that it struck upon the waves.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/292.jpg"
+             name="fig292"
+             id="fig292"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/292.jpg"
+             alt='"YOUNG HERONS SPREAD WINGS AND STRETCHED LONG LEGS AS THEY FLED"' />
+        </a>"YOUNG HERONS SPREAD WINGS AND STRETCHED LONG LEGS AS
+        THEY FLED"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>As they sailed the wind grew stronger and at Horse-neck
+    Shoals the crest of breaking waves covered the deck of the
+    <i>Irene</i> with foam. Following
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page293"
+       id="page293"></a>[pg 293]</span> the swish of each heaving
+       wave as it lifted and swept past the boat came a heavy jar
+       as the craft struck in the soft mud beneath her and her
+       headway was checked.</p>
+
+    <p>"It's all right," said the captain, in answer to Ned's look
+    of anxiety. "I expected her to touch, but she'll pull
+    through."</p>
+
+    <p>No one else was alarmed, for Mr. Barstow was asleep in his
+    bunk below, while Molly and Dick were too busy watching the
+    effect of the moonlight on the breaking waves and the distant
+    keys to notice that anything unusual was happening. Soon the
+    water became deeper, the waves ceased breaking and subsided,
+    and the <i>Irene</i> sailed smoothly on till she was hauled up
+    in the wind to enter the cut in the bank near Lignum Vitae Key,
+    through which an adverse tide was pouring. Dick was called from
+    his post near the bow to start the motor, which was kept
+    running until the boat had made her way through the channel
+    between the white banks that showed clear under the moon as
+    daylight could have made them. Then the motor was shut off and
+    Dick returned to his post and resumed his study of moonlight
+    effects as its rays fell on the palms of Lignum Vitae, the line
+    of outer keys, the Matecumbies, and the jewel of an Indian Key,
+    of which he told Molly the legend. At this Molly jumped up and
+    said:</p>
+
+    <p>"It's all too lovely for anything and Daddy has got to come
+    on deck and see it."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page294"
+       id="page294"></a>[pg 294]</span>
+
+    <p>She went below and when she returned had Mr. Barstow in tow,
+    to whom she pointed out the beauties of sea and sky, of clouds
+    and light just as Dick had been doing to her. Then she went for
+    Captain Hull, who turned the wheel over to Ned and came
+    forward, where he answered the rapid fire of the girl's
+    questions, about Shell, McGinty and other keys as they passed
+    them and about the channel and cuts through which their course
+    lay, until he assured her he had told all he knew and if she
+    remembered it she was as good a pilot as he. But questions
+    continued until, having passed Tavernier Creek and neared
+    Hammer Point, the <i>Irene</i> was anchored for the night.</p>
+
+    <p>All hands were on deck when the rays of the next morning's
+    sun first fell on the mirror-like water about them, but Ned
+    spoke sadly as he said:</p>
+
+    <p>"I've shipped as cook and I s'pose I've got to get
+    breakfast, but I wish my assistant didn't waste so much of her
+    time."</p>
+
+    <p>"If you'd let me keep the cook I hired we'd have crawfish
+    for breakfast," said Captain Hull.</p>
+
+    <p>"Where would we get them?" inquired Ned.</p>
+
+    <p>"Every one of these coral keys is built on crawfish and
+    Snake Creek here is full of 'em."</p>
+
+    <p>"Then after you've shown us a lot of crawfish and we've
+    caught them we'll have breakfast."</p>
+
+    <p>Captain Hull lashed two tarpon hooks to broomsticks, and
+    getting in the skiff with Molly and the two boys, poled to the
+    nearest key. Beneath the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page295"
+       id="page295"></a>[pg 295]</span> water the steep coral banks
+       of the key were filled with deep holes from out of many of
+       which long feelers projected. Pushing a hook into one of
+       these holes the captain gave it a quick turn and brought out
+       a squirming, squeaking imitation of a young lobster. Then he
+       handed the hooks to the boys. Ned got overboard and began to
+       haul out crawfish at the rate of two a minute. Dick was less
+       successful, for Molly had promptly commandeered his hook and
+       left him nothing to do but watch her when she tried to hook
+       the shell-fish. They didn't get many fish and when Ned came
+       along with a bunch of crawfish which he dropped in the
+       skiff, he said:</p>
+
+    <p>"Here, you kids, you aren't earning your salt. Just take my
+    hook, Dick, and catch some crawfish. I'll help Molly do
+    whatever she's doing."</p>
+
+    <p>On the way to the <i>Irene</i> Molly called out:</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, the beautiful, beautiful, bubble!"</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't touch it," shouted Dick.</p>
+
+    <p>But he was too late, for Molly had picked up a Portuguese
+    man-o'-war and sat wringing her hands with the pain of its
+    poison. For, while nothing in nature is more exquisite, few
+    things are more virulent than this animated, opalescent,
+    iridescent bubble with its long, delicate, purplish
+    tentacles.</p>
+
+    <p>Molly's hand pained her all that day and the next, while
+    Dick's commiseration was boundless, but was kept in restraint
+    by Ned, who frequently assured both of them that, although a
+    surgical case, it was <span class="pagenum"><a name="page296"
+       id="page296"></a>[pg 296]</span> probably not quite
+       hopeless. A run of two hours in directions that varied, but
+       averaged northwest, brought the <i>Irene</i> to Madeira
+       Hammock, where the anchor was
+       dropped.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page297"
+       id="page297"></a>[pg 297]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER XXVI</h3>
+
+    <h3>MADEIRA HAMMOCK AND&mdash;THE END</h3>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:60%;">
+        <a href="images/298.jpg"
+             name="fig298"
+             id="fig298"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/298.jpg"
+             alt='"THEY SAW A CROCODILE SWIMMING UNDER WATER NEAR THEM"' />
+        </a>"THEY SAW A CROCODILE SWIMMING UNDER WATER NEAR THEM"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>Mr. Barstow wanted to explore Deer Key which was nearby and
+    Ned took him there in the power boat. The captain took Molly
+    and Dick out in the skiff to show them a crocodile and Dick
+    stood in the bow with the harpoon while Molly sat amidship and
+    the captain poled. Almost as they left the <i>Irene</i> they
+    saw a crocodile swimming under water near them, but failed to
+    get another sight of him. They cruised vainly in open water,
+    beside banks and in narrow channels. Finally while going
+    through a narrow creek a wave rolling high ahead of the skiff
+    showed that some big creature was fleeing before them. The next
+    moment a four-foot weapon of a hand's breadth, armed with a
+    double row of teeth, was lifted for a second above the surface
+    and was followed by the three fins, tandem, that proved the
+    presence of a sawfish. Dick fairly quivered with excitement as
+    he held his harpoon at ready.</p>
+
+    <p>"Captain," said he sharply, "will there be the least bit of
+    danger to Miss Barstow if I strike that fish
+    now?"</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page298"
+       id="page298"></a>[pg 298]</span>
+
+    <p>"There'll be some, of course. If he turns round and comes
+    back at us in this narrow creek the only safe place will be in
+    the bottom of the boat."</p>
+
+    <p>"Dick Williams, don't you stop for me. I'm not a bit afraid.
+    If you don't harpoon that sawfish and give me his saw, I won't
+    speak to you for a week," said the excited girl.</p>
+
+    <p>"No use, Molly, I wouldn't do it if it meant that you'd
+    never speak to me."</p>
+
+    <p>"If Miss Barstow will wait on the bank for half an hour you
+    can bring her the saw, all right," said the captain, who seemed
+    anxious to oblige both of the passengers.</p>
+
+    <p>"Put me ashore quick, then."</p>
+
+    <p>The girl was soon standing on the bank and the chase was
+    renewed. A hundred yards farther up the narrow stream the great
+    sawfish was found swimming slowly across a bank where the water
+    was shoal, with his two fins and tail showing in line above the
+    water. As the harpoon pole was lifted and Dick's every muscle
+    strained for the throw, the captain shouted:</p>
+
+    <p>"Throw three feet ahead of that forward fin. That's where
+    his back is."</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/300.jpg"
+             name="fig300"
+             id="fig300"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/300.jpg"
+             alt='"THE HARPOON STRUCK THE FISH IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS BROAD BACK"' />
+        </a>"THE HARPOON STRUCK THE FISH IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS BROAD BACK"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>The harpoon struck the fish in the middle of his wide back
+    and as the freed pole splashed in the water the sawfish made a
+    mighty swirl and was off at express speed. The line was strong,
+    the barb of the harpoon was under the tough leather of the
+    creature's back, and the skiff seemed to fly through
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page299"
+       id="page299"></a>[pg 299]</span> the water as Dick gave the
+       line a turn around his hand and the captain fended the skiff
+       from the banks when sharp turns were made by the flying fish
+       as it followed the channels of the crooked creeks. Sometimes
+       the stream broadened, often it narrowed; once the sawfish
+       dashed through an overgrown waterway where Dick and the
+       captain crouched to the gunwale to avoid the arching
+       branches that swept over and tore at the sides of the skiff.
+       There was half an hour of this work. Dick's hands were
+       blistered and numb and his brain dizzy with the quick turns
+       and changing courses of the fish, when suddenly he became
+       panic-stricken and called to his companion:</p>
+
+    <p>"Captain! Are you perfectly <i>sure</i> you know where you
+    are? <i>Sure</i> you can find Miss Barstow?"</p>
+
+    <p>The captain laughed.</p>
+
+    <p>"Find her? Why she's here within a hundred feet of you
+    now."</p>
+
+    <p>And, sure enough, the next turn in the creek showed the girl
+    standing on the bank by the water's edge.</p>
+
+    <p>"Can't I get aboard?" she called out as the skiff swept
+    past, and Dick would have said "Yes," but the captain shook his
+    head.</p>
+
+    <p>"There's trouble ahead. That fish is just getting ready to
+    fight."</p>
+
+    <p>Before they had passed out of sight of the girl, the sawfish
+    turned around and for the first time headed for the skiff.</p>
+
+    <p>"Down, quick!" yelled the captain and both Dick
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page300"
+       id="page300"></a>[pg 300]</span> and he crouched low in the
+       skiff as a great broad sword, swung with all the power of
+       the tremendous fish, swept over their heads. As the angry
+       creature passed them, a second blow which fell upon the
+       skiff and threatened to wreck it was echoed by a cry from
+       the girl. The attack on the skiff was the last great effort
+       of the fish, and though he still swam strongly he could be
+       controlled. The captain ran the skiff on a shallow bank and
+       helped Dick with the line until sixteen feet of fierceness
+       lay stranded on the bank. As the sawfish is a species of
+       shark, Dick had no hesitancy about killing it, but wanted
+       Molly to first see his captive and have a look at her saw,
+       before it left the place where it grew. The captain brought
+       the girl, and then a rope was made fast to the saw of the
+       fish and tied to a tree, after which the brute's brain was
+       explored with an axe and the saw cut off as a trophy.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/302.jpg"
+             name="fig302"
+             id="fig302"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/302.jpg"
+             alt="SIXTEEN FEET OF FIERCENESS LAY STRANDED ON THE BANK" />
+        </a> "SIXTEEN FEET OF FIERCENESS LAY STRANDED ON THE BANK"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"Better wake up," shouted the captain the next morning,
+    before the boys were stirring. "There's a shark outside waiting
+    for you, and I've wired your harpoon line."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys omitted their ablutions that morning and must have
+    hurried their devotions, for three minutes after they were
+    called found them aboard the skiff which they drove toward a
+    big fin and a swaying tail, which was cutting the water a
+    hundred yards from the <i>Irene</i>. As they neared the shark,
+    Dick took the harpoon pole and made ready
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page301"
+       id="page301"></a>[pg 301]</span> with the harpoon, while Ned
+       sculled quietly in the wake of the ugly fish. Twice the
+       shark heard them and darted away, but on the third approach
+       Dick drove the iron deep in the back of the brute. The shark
+       lashed out with its tail, sending the water flying as the
+       harpoon struck, and then made a straight-away dash for a
+       hundred yards while the boys rode in triumph behind it. Then
+       the maddened creature turned, and rolling up on the line,
+       bit it savagely but vainly.</p>
+
+    <p>Again and again the brute dashed away and again and again it
+    turned, biting at the line and attacking the boat with its
+    teeth. Dick held the skiff close to the shark, which lifted its
+    head and seized the gunwale in its huge mouth, when Ned struck
+    the furious creature a powerful blow on its nose with the axe.
+    For a moment the brute seemed paralyzed, but soon returned to
+    the attack, when the boy drove the point of the big gaff
+    through the tough hide of the tiger of the sea.</p>
+
+    <p>Ned held on to the handle of the gaff, although almost
+    dragged overboard during the first wild struggles of his
+    captive, and then hauled the head of the brute over the
+    gunwale, where a few blows with the axe ended the trouble.</p>
+
+    <p>When the boys got back to the <i>Irene</i>, Ned was happily
+    surprised to find ready a dainty breakfast which his assistant
+    had graciously prepared for all hands and which drew from him
+    the unusual praise:</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page302"
+       id="page302"></a>[pg 302]</span>
+
+    <p>"A girl on a cruise is a mighty nice
+    thing&mdash;sometimes."</p>
+
+    <p>The day was to be devoted to crocodile hunting and Dick went
+    in the skiff with the captain, while Molly was put in command
+    of the power boat with Ned as engineer and Mr. Barstow as
+    passenger.</p>
+
+    <p>Several crocodile caves were found, but none of the
+    inhabitants were at home. One large crocodile showed itself for
+    an instant, but the river was deep, the overhanging banks
+    offered good hiding places, and the reptile escaped. It was
+    after they had given the hunt up for the day and were on their
+    way to the <i>Irene</i> that Dick, who had stood faithfully at
+    his post in the bow, with his harpoon ready, threw hastily at
+    something he saw crawling on the bottom and found on the end of
+    his line a squirming baby crocodile, scarcely four feet long.
+    The harpoon had barely touched the side of the little reptile
+    and the barb held by a thread-like bit of skin. When the boy
+    saw how lightly the iron was held he dropped the line and
+    grabbed the baby with both hands. His arms were scratched and
+    his clothing torn by the needle-like teeth before he could tie
+    the jaws of the creature, after which he took the baby
+    crocodile in his arms and tucked it away in the bow of the
+    skiff. Before he had time to tie the little reptile in its crib
+    Ned shouted from the power boat:</p>
+
+    <p>"There's one under that bank, a big fellow."</p>
+
+    <p>The captain sculled the skiff slowly toward the crocodile,
+    which was lying on the water, just under
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page303"
+       id="page303"></a>[pg 303]</span> the bank. As they
+       approached, the creature slowly sank beneath the surface of
+       the water, which was shallow, and beneath it a bottom of mud
+       in which the fleeing reptile had left his trail. The captain
+       followed the trail by the furrow-like track of the tail, the
+       spoor of the paws and the roiled water, until Dick got a
+       shot with his harpoon. Then the crocodile towed the skiff
+       into the deeper channels of the river, among logs and snags
+       and under banks, sometimes rolling up on the line and biting
+       at the skiff while Dick vainly tried to get a bight of the
+       harpoon line around the creature's jaw. The reptile was too
+       wary for him, until finally the captain threatened the
+       crocodile with a pole, while Dick got a line around its jaws
+       and took it in the skiff. There was so little room in the
+       skiff that Dick sat on the back of his captive until they
+       reached the <i>Irene</i>. If he had tried this with an
+       alligator he would have gone overboard, <i>pronto</i>, but
+       when a crocodile's jaws are tied he is gentler than most
+       lambs.</p>
+
+    <p>As soon as Dick had his new pets safely on the <i>Irene</i>
+    he examined them carefully and then shouted to Ned:</p>
+
+    <p>"This is my old crocodile, the very one we turned loose when
+    we were here before. I'd know him in a thousand. Don't you
+    remember the broken point to the tooth that stuck out through
+    his upper jaw, on the right side, too? Why, Crocky, old boy,
+    how are you? I'm mighty glad to see you
+    again."</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page304"
+       id="page304"></a>[pg 304]</span>
+
+    <p>"Don't you want to set them free to-morrow, Dick?" asked Mr.
+    Barstow.</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't, but I've got to."</p>
+
+    <p>"Would you rather send them North to be educated?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I surely would. I wish I could."</p>
+
+    <p>"I think it can be managed. I know of a zoological
+    collection where they will be very welcome. If you think they
+    haven't been injured, I will ship both of them North from
+    Miami."</p>
+
+    <p>"They are all right. I know that. I made two bad throws and
+    barely touched both of them. I don't believe you could find
+    where either of them was hit, now."</p>
+
+    <p>"Then North they go."</p>
+
+    <p>The boys made a box for the little crocodile, gathered a lot
+    of grass for his bed and stowed him away in the hold where he
+    would be safe from the attentions of Tom. There was not enough
+    lumber on board to make a box for the big crocodile and the
+    brute was put overboard to pasture at the end of a hundred-foot
+    line. As soon as the crocodile was overboard Dick drew it
+    beside the boat and untied its jaws. At first it tried to get
+    away, but soon gave it up and thereafter rose to the surface
+    every few minutes and gazed gravely upon its new friends on the
+    boat. When later the <i>Irene</i> was ready to sail, Dick drew
+    his pet up to the side of the boat and tied his jaws without
+    remonstrance from the reptile. It took three of them to haul
+    the creature <span class="pagenum"><a name="page305"
+       id="page305"></a>[pg 305]</span> aboard, where it was
+       fastened to a ringbolt on deck for the first stage of its
+       journey to the Zoo.</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/304.jpg"
+             name="fig304"
+             id="fig304"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/304.jpg"
+             alt='"THEY HAULED THE HEAD OF THE BRUTE OVER THE SIDE OF THE BOAT"' />
+        </a>"THEY HAULED THE HEAD OF THE BRUTE OVER THE SIDE OF THE
+        BOAT"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"Captain Hull," said Ned, as the whole party were watching
+    the stars from the cabin top and waiting for the moon to rise
+    that night, "we have got back from the Madeira Hammock every
+    thing we lost there, so we will start for Miami to-morrow."</p>
+
+    <p>"Aye, aye, sir."</p>
+
+    <p>"You know you said we might lose a day round here, and now
+    we have got a day to spare."</p>
+
+    <p>"You'll be lucky if you don't lose it. There's lots of
+    chances between here and Miami, or between here and anywhere.
+    There isn't six inches between the <i>Irene's</i> bottom and
+    the rocks this minute and we're going to stir the mud a dozen
+    times to-morrow."</p>
+
+    <p>"Supposing a storm comes while we are anchored so near the
+    rocks?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Anybody who supposes in this country won't ever do anything
+    else."</p>
+
+    <p>"Would we make anything by another night run?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Make sure to pile up on a bank so high that you'd have time
+    to homestead a farm before you got off."</p>
+
+    <p>The <i>Irene</i> stirred the mud a few times the next day,
+    but passed through Blackwater, Barnes and Card sounds and all
+    the cuts and channels to Biscayne Bay without trouble. There a
+    high wind and a heavy sea held her back, so that it was dusk
+    when <span class="pagenum"><a name="page306"
+       id="page306"></a>[pg 306]</span> the anchor was dropped just
+       outside of the mouth of Miami River. During this, their last
+       evening on the cabin roof of the <i>Irene</i>, Mr. Barstow
+       said to Dick:</p>
+
+    <p>"Do you feel perfectly well and strong again?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Never felt so well before in my life and am getting my
+    strength back fast."</p>
+
+    <p>"Then vacation ends for you and Ned to-day. To-morrow
+    morning you will take the train for the North, where you will
+    have about two weeks to spend with your mother. I will wire her
+    from Miami about our arrangement, which I am sure she will
+    approve, and tell her when she may expect you. Very soon you
+    will receive your instructions. You and Ned will be together,
+    work the same, pay the same, and both of you have my perfect
+    confidence that you will justify every hope I have of you."</p>
+
+    <p>"Mr. Barstow, I haven't any words&mdash;"</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't say anything, Dick, I understand it all, my boy. Just
+    go ahead and make good, both for yourself and me."</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter"
+         style="width:100%;">
+        <a href="images/306.jpg"
+             name="fig306"
+             id="fig306"><img width="100%"
+             src="images/306.jpg"
+             alt='"HE TOOK THE BABY CROCODILE IN HIS ARMS"' />
+             </a>"HE TOOK THE BABY CROCODILE IN HIS ARMS"
+    </div>
+
+    <p>In the morning Ned and the captain distinguished themselves
+    by waking up a dealer, buying some lumber, hustling it aboard
+    and having the two crocodiles boxed up for transportation North
+    in time for the train of that day. How much of a feat that was
+    requires a residence in South Florida to appreciate.</p>
+
+    <p>The <i>Irene</i> was run up the river to the railroad dock,
+    where the crocodiles were put on the cars and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="page307"
+       id="page307"></a>[pg 307]</span> the boys took their train
+       for the North. When the good-byes were said, the captain
+       carried Tom across the dock on his shoulder and Dick's last
+       act before leaving was to formally present him to
+       Molly.</p><br />
+    <br />
+
+
+    <p class="center">THE END</p>
+
+    <div class="figcenter">
+        <img width="381"
+             src="images/cover.jpg"
+             alt="front cover" />
+    </div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Dick in the Everglades, by A. W. Dimock
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DICK IN THE EVERGLADES ***
+
+***** This file should be named 13168-h.htm or 13168-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/1/6/13168/
+
+Produced by Sandra Brown, the Online Distributed Proofreading Team,
+and Internet Archive; University of Florida, Children
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+
+</pre>
+
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/112.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/112.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ad6a9f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/112.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/124.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/124.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f9788ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/124.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/126.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/126.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..746c36e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/126.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/130.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/130.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a026ba7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/130.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/134.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/134.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4253429
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/134.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/146.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/146.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d46a646
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/146.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/152.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/152.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6eb8d86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/152.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/156.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/156.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4f67c11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/156.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/193.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/193.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eaca889
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/193.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/200.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/200.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..20fac13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/200.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/210.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/210.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dd6dbc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/210.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/216.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/216.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a8ea3ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/216.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/226.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/226.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9637943
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/226.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/232.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/232.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1db4af1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/232.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/234.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/234.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8f54063
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/234.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/236.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/236.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..60b7a7d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/236.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/238.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/238.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4554b2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/238.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/242.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/242.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e77904e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/242.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/260.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/260.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c5e83aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/260.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/264.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/264.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bebfc87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/264.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/284.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/284.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..181b10d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/284.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/292.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/292.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0141cd1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/292.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/298.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/298.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1c8530b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/298.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/30.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/30.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c5658d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/30.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/300.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/300.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e3d69b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/300.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/302.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/302.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c9d6dbf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/302.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/304.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/304.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7c20b91
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/304.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/306.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/306.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e2f5cc3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/306.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/46.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/46.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c0be8a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/46.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/76.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/76.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7434077
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/76.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/82.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/82.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f36b7f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/82.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/98.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/98.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fc6de12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/98.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/13168-h/images/cover.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..898b645
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/cover.jpg
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/map.png b/old/13168-h/images/map.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7867dff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/map.png
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/note.png b/old/13168-h/images/note.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ddd04c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/note.png
diff --git a/old/13168-h/images/page_dec.png b/old/13168-h/images/page_dec.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aae9cee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168-h/images/page_dec.png
diff --git a/old/13168.txt b/old/13168.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5fd7fba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,8942 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Dick in the Everglades, by A. W. Dimock
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Dick in the Everglades
+
+Author: A. W. Dimock
+
+Release Date: August 13, 2004 [EBook #13168]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DICK IN THE EVERGLADES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Sandra Brown, the Online Distributed Proofreading Team,
+and Internet Archive; University of Florida, Children
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Dick
+In the Everglades
+
+BY
+
+A.W. DIMOCK
+
+Author of "Florida Enchantments"
+
+WITH THIRTY-TWO HALF-TONE ILLUSTRATIONS
+FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY
+J.A. DIMOCK
+
+
+NEW YORK
+
+FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
+PUBLISHERS
+
+COPYRIGHT, 1909.
+
+
+[Illustration: author's handwritten note.]
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+Dick in the Everglades is a true story. All that imagination had to
+do with it was to find names for the boys and arrange a sequence of
+events. Other characters, white and Indian, appear under names
+similar to, or identical with their own. Any old alligator hunter,
+familiar with the swamps and the Ten Thousand Islands, can follow
+the course of the explorers from the text of the story. It would be
+possible for two fearless boys, imbued with a love of Nature and the
+wilderness, to repeat, incident by incident, the feats of the
+explorers in the identical places mentioned in the story.
+
+Many of the stories are understatements, seldom is one exaggerated.
+I have been asked if it were possible for a boy to handle a manatee
+in the water as one of the boys was represented as doing. I have
+done it myself three times with manatees three times the size of
+these in the story. In the story the manatees escaped. Two of those
+which I captured were sent to the New York Aquarium, where one of
+them lived for twenty months. The crocodiles which the boys sent to
+the Zoological Park may be seen to-day, alive and well in the
+reptile house. The frequent swamping of canoes and skiffs by
+porpoises, or dolphins, tarpon and manatees are all experiences of
+my own.
+
+Aside from the Government charts which give the coast line only, the
+existing maps of the scene of the story are worse than useless. In
+them a hundred square miles are given to Ponce de Leon Bay, which
+doesn't exist, unless the little depression in the coast which is
+called Shark River Bight is accounted a bay. Rivers are omitted; one
+with a mouth fifty feet wide is represented as a mile broad. A
+little stream four miles long is sent wandering over a hundred and
+forty miles of imaginary territory. I have sailed and paddled for
+days at a time over the watercourses of South Florida, with a
+compass before me and a pad at hand on which every change of course
+was noted and distances estimated, and although no attempt at
+accurate charting has ever been made, I am quite sure that none of
+the natural features or products of the country traversed by the
+young explorers have been misrepresented in the book.
+
+The pictures are from photographs taken on the scene of the
+incidents they illustrate. They show more conclusively than can any
+words of mine, how beautiful is the region traversed by the boy
+explorers and what interesting and exciting adventures they enjoyed.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER
+
+
+I THE CHUMS
+
+II DICK GOES TO SEA
+
+III LIFE ON A SPONGER
+
+IV CAUGHT IN A WATERSPOUT
+
+V OUTFITTING FOR THE HUNT
+
+VI DICK'S HUNT FOR HIS CHUM
+
+VII THE MEETING IN THE GLADES
+
+VIII OLD DREAMS REALIZED
+
+IX THE CAPTURE OF THE MANATEE
+
+X HARPOONING FROM A CANOE
+
+XI GHOSTS AND ALLIGATORS
+
+XII HUNTING IN HARNEY'S RIVER
+
+XIII EDUCATING AN ALLIGATOR
+
+XIV ENCOUNTER WITH OUTLAWS
+
+XV DICK AND THE BEAR
+
+XVI IN THE CROCODILE COUNTRY
+
+XVII AMONG THE SEMINOLES
+
+XVIII DICK'S WILDCAT AND OTHER WILD THINGS
+
+XIX A PRAIRIE ON FIRE
+
+XX DICK'S FIGHT WITH A PANTHER
+
+XXI CONVALESCENCE AND CATASTROPHE
+
+XXII THE RESCUE
+
+XXIII MOLLY AND THE MANATEE
+
+XXIV TO THE GLADES IN THE "IRENE"
+
+XXV IN FLORIDA BAY
+
+XXVI MADEIRA HAMMOCK AND--THE END
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+"THERE GOES YOUR PET. THAT'S THE LAST OF HIM,"
+
+"DICK HUNTED ALL THE TURTLES HE SAW"
+
+"A SILVERY, TWISTING BODY SHOT TEN FEET IN THE AIR"
+
+"THE EVERGLADES AT LAST"
+
+"WE'VE GOTTER HAVE ONE OF THEM YOUNG TURKS IF IT TAKES ALL NIGHT"
+
+"THE SEMINOLE WAS STANDING IN HIS CANOE, LOOKING FIXEDLY AT US"
+
+"HE FOUND DICK STANDING IN WATER SHOULDER DEEP, HANGING ON TO THE
+FLIPPER OF THE MANATEE"
+
+"THE STRICKEN TARPON LEAPED SIX FEET IN THE AIR"
+
+"THE TARPON BEGAN A SERIES OF LEAPS"
+
+"GROUPS OF TALL PALMETTOES, OR MAGNIFICENT TALL PALMS"
+
+"HE HELD THE JAWS OF THE 'GATOR SHUT WHILE DICK SEIZED THE HIND LEGS
+OF THE REPTILE"
+
+"THE TARPON LEAPED AGAINST NED WITH FURY"
+
+"OUT CAME THE REPTILE'S HEAD FROM THE CAVE"
+
+"SEE THE BABY 'GATOR SIT UP, NED!"
+
+"A FEW OF THE HOMELESS BEES LIT ON THE COMB"
+
+"ALL BEYOND THE DARK MEADOW WAS A LIVID MASS"
+
+"THE BARB CAUGHT IN THE REPTILE'S LOWER JAW"
+
+"THE COON SCRAMBLED TO THE TOP OF A LITTLE TREE"
+
+"HE SAW THE GENTLY SWAYING HEAD AND THE LIGHTNING PLAY OF THE FORKED
+TONGUE"
+
+"NED FOUND A GOOD CAMPING SITE MARKED BY A FREAK PALMETTO"
+
+"THE LYNX SPRANG INTO THE CANOE AND SEIZED ONE OF THE FISH"
+
+"PORPOISES ROLLED THEIR BACKS OUT OF THE WATER"
+
+"THE HARD, POINTED HEAD OF THE BIG TARPON TORE THROUGH THE BOTTOM OF
+THE FRAGILE CANOE"
+
+"THE INDIGNANT BIRD PUNCHED HOLES THROUGH HIS HAT"
+
+"THE LIGHT FROM THE BULL'S-EYE SHOWED THE HEAD AND BODY OF THE
+REPTILE"
+
+"SLOWLY LIFTING HIS HUGE HEAD OVER THE SIDE OF THE SKIFF"
+
+"YOUNG HERONS SPREAD WINGS AND STRETCHED LONG LEGS AS THEY FLED"
+
+"THEY SAW A CROCODILE SWIMMING UNDER WATER NEAR THEM"
+
+"THE HARPOON STRUCK THE FISH IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS BROAD BACK"
+
+"SIXTEEN FEET OF FIERCENESS LAY STRANDED ON THE BANK"
+
+"THEY HAULED THE HEAD OF THE BRUTE OVER THE SIDE OF THE BOAT"
+
+"HE TOOK THE BABY CROCODILE IN HIS ARMS"
+
+
+
+
+DICK IN THE EVERGLADES
+
+[Illustration: MAP SHOWING DICK'S CRUISE IN A CANOE]
+
+
+
+
+DICK IN THE EVERGLADES
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE CHUMS
+
+
+"Come in!"
+
+The doctor's voice had a note of sternness which was not lost on the
+two boys waiting outside his study door. The taller of the two, Ned
+Barstow, turned the handle and stepped into the study, followed
+immediately by Dick Williams. The doctor, sitting behind his desk,
+looked decidedly uncompromising as he said:
+
+"Now, Barstow and Williams, you were absent from your room last
+night. Where were you?"
+
+"Camping in Farmer Field's woods, sir," replied Ned Barstow.
+
+"How often has this happened before?"
+
+"Twice, sir."
+
+"Was any one else with you?"
+
+"Only last night, sir. Another boy was with us then," said Ned.
+
+"Who was he?"
+
+"I can't tell you, sir."
+
+"Williams, you may go now. I will see you later."
+
+After the door had closed on Williams, the doctor turned again to
+Barstow, and said:
+
+"Barstow, I have always felt that I could rely upon your influence
+with the younger boys being for good. Now, I find you aiding to
+upset the whole discipline of the school by this camping affair. I
+hope there has been nothing worse. You know I never insist on
+tale-bearing regarding mere boyish escapades, but I would like to
+know if there was any other reason for your refusing to give up your
+companion's name."
+
+"Yes, sir, there was. We had a chicken for supper, that was taken
+from Farmer Field's poultry-house."
+
+"Did you or Williams steal that chicken, Barstow?"
+
+"No, sir, but we knew about it and helped eat it, and are just as
+much to blame as the boy who took it."
+
+"And, now, you mean to protect the thief?"
+
+"Well, you see, Doctor, a good many fellows don't look at hooking
+apples, or nuts, or chickens as real stealing."
+
+"What do you think about it?" asked the doctor.
+
+"I think it was wrong and I am very sorry it happened. It won't
+occur again."
+
+"I have no fear that it will. But it is too serious an offence to
+be lightly passed over. In the first place you and Williams must see
+Farmer Field, tell him what you have done and pay for the chicken
+that was--taken. After that I will talk with you. Now send Williams
+to me."
+
+When Dick Williams came in the doctor began:
+
+"Williams, how much do you love your mother?"
+
+"Why, more than anyone else in the world, sir."
+
+"She is keeping you here at considerable expense. Don't you think
+you owe it to her to pay more attention to your studies?"
+
+"Yes, Doctor, and I am going to do better hereafter."
+
+"How will your mother feel when she hears of this chicken-stealing
+episode?"
+
+"Oh! Doctor; she mustn't hear of it that way. We didn't think of it
+as stealing last night, but this morning Ned and I talked about it
+and we are going to see Farmer Field and tell him what we did and
+pay for the chicken."
+
+"Do you mean, Dick," and the good doctor's voice shook a little as
+he asked the question, "that you and Ned decided to tell Farmer
+Field about the taking of his chicken, before you knew that I had
+heard of your camping out?"
+
+"Why, yes, sir. I supposed Ned had told you."
+
+"Your friend Ned is rather a curious boy, but when you are in doubt
+about the right and wrong of anything, you might do worse than ask
+his advice."
+
+"Oh! I get enough of that without asking for it," said Dick.
+
+And the doctor laughed, but he soon looked pretty serious again, and
+said:
+
+"Dick, I think no one will tell your mother and she need never know,
+but I hope you will tell her all about it of your own accord."
+
+"Sure!" said Dick, "I couldn't keep that or anythink else away from
+Mumsey for five minutes after I saw her."
+
+There was a significant pause, during which the doctor stroked his
+chin meditatively before asking:
+
+"Now, what in the world made you two boys go on that camping
+escapade? I want you to tell me that, Dick."
+
+The boy hesitated a moment and then said:
+
+"Why, I really don't know, Doctor--we just wanted to. You see, there
+are so many things to see and listen to at night that way. Birds and
+animals, I mean. Ned and I are going to be explorers some day, you
+know."
+
+"Hum!" said the doctor.
+
+"Well, that will do for the present, Williams. I hope you understand
+that you are escaping serious trouble very easily and that you mean
+to be as good as you can for the rest of the time you are at the
+school."
+
+Fanner Field received Ned and Dick with an air of gruffness that was
+belied by twinkling blue eyes and, when Ned had finished telling
+his story and offered to pay for the chicken, said:
+
+"Did you take that chicken out of my poultry-house?"
+
+"Not exactly, but it's the same thing. We knew about it and helped
+eat it."
+
+"Was it tender?" asked the farmer.
+
+"No, sir, it was the toughest thing I ever put in my mouth."
+
+"I thought so. Why, that rooster was a regular antique. He must have
+been a hundred years old. Next time you want a chicken for a late
+supper, better let me choose it for you. Who helped you eat that
+rooster?"
+
+"Please don't ask us that. We'll tell you anything about ourselves,
+but we can't give him away."
+
+"Wouldn't think much of you if you did. No need of it anyhow. I know
+who it was."
+
+"He must have told you then, for we haven't told anybody."
+
+"Do you remember that while you were cooking that rooster out in my
+woods, Steve Daly, your companion, said he heard somebody in the
+bushes and you said it was only a dog?"
+
+"Yes, I remember it. I did say that."
+
+"Well, I was that dog!"
+
+"And you never told on us?" asked Dick. "Then you've been mighty
+kind and I'm ashamed to look you in the face."
+
+"Never be ashamed to look anyone in the face, my boy. It isn't good
+to take even a little thing that doesn't belong to you, but that
+won't happen again to you. But weren't you playing truant when you
+had that tough supper in my woods? Doesn't your conscience trouble
+you at all about that?"
+
+"Not a bit," said Dick; "that wasn't mean."
+
+It was fortunate for Dick's peace of mind that his conscience wasn't
+troubled by mischief, for he was never out of it and was at the root
+of about all the purely mischievous happenings at the school.
+
+Even the lesson of the camping incident and the doctor's kindly talk
+wore off in a fortnight. Yet he was popular with teachers as well as
+pupils. His head was crowned with a mass of sandy hair and his
+impertinent face plastered with freckles. The boy was quick and full
+of grace as a wildcat and so well built and lithe that he was a
+terror on the football team.
+
+Dick was often too busy to attend to his studies and fell behind in
+his lessons, until the good doctor sent for him and gave him an
+earnest but understanding talk which sent the boy back to his books,
+filled with remorse and determined to get to the head of his class
+in a hurry. One of these resolves was usually effective for about a
+week. After which Dick generally suffered a severe relapse.
+
+During his last winter at school, he frequently took long tramps in
+the woods in the hours when he should have been at his books, and
+was finally taken to task by his chum for the bad example he was
+setting the younger boys by playing truant.
+
+"But, Ned," said Dick, "I just can't keep away from the woods, and
+they do me good, I know they do. I am a whole lot better every way
+after a good long tramp by myself through the thickest woods I can
+find. I'd like to camp out in them to-night and I believe I will."
+
+"That's all right, Dick. I'll camp with you; only we've got to have
+Doc's permission. He trusts us a lot, and we can't go back on him."
+
+"Nice chance we've got of getting that. Maybe he'd camp with us!"
+said Dick satirically.
+
+"Shouldn't wonder if he would. You don't understand Doc. Did you
+ever know him to refuse a fellow anything he squarely asked for,
+unless he simply had to do it? Come along."
+
+And the boys walked together to the study.
+
+"Doctor," said Ned, "Dick and I want to camp out to-night in Farmer
+Field's woods, if you have no objection."
+
+"Want to camp out? Well, so do I, only I am afraid I might be needed
+here. Do you know how to camp? What do you expect to take with you
+and how will you keep warm?"
+
+"We thought of taking a hatchet, a blanket for each of us and some
+potatoes to roast. Then we will make a bed of hemlock boughs, build
+a fire near it and roll up in our blankets."
+
+"Well, you may go, and I will help out your commissariat with a
+loaf of bread and a chicken. But be sure you have plenty of fuel
+ready before dark. It will be a cold night and you will have to
+replenish your fire three or four times before morning."
+
+"Thank you, Doctor. You don't know how much obliged we are to you
+for your kindness."
+
+"And you don't know how much trouble I am in for, when the rest of
+the boys hear of this escapade of yours."
+
+But after the study door closed the doctor smiled quietly to himself
+and said under his breath:
+
+"Just like myself at their age--have the woods instinct."
+
+Ned and Dick slept little that night. There was about a foot of snow
+on the ground and they scraped bare a place for their camp-fire
+beside a big stump and gathered enough fuel from windfalls for the
+night. Then they rolled a log beside the fire for a seat and built a
+soft bed with fragrant branches of hemlock and spruce. They roasted
+the chicken over a thick bed of glowing coals and baked potatoes in
+the ashes of the fire. The chicken was carved with their pocket
+knives and they got along without forks or plates. By using bark
+gathered from a birch and softening it over their fire they made
+cups with which they brought water from a nearby brook. When supper
+was finished the boys rolled up in their blankets and lying on the
+bed they had built on the snow, inhaled its fragrance as they
+watched the eddying smoke of their camp-fire and the stars that
+shone through the spreading branches above them and listened to the
+voices of the night, from the distant cry of an owl to the whish of
+falling snow, shaken from evergreen boughs by the breeze. They had
+visions of camps, scattered from the equator to the poles, some of
+which were destined to be realized. Ned formed a plan that night, of
+which he wrote to his father, but of which he said nothing at the
+time to his chum.
+
+But as Dick stood beside Ned in their last hour at Belleville, and
+the sadness of parting was in the face and eyes from which fun
+usually bubbled, Ned said:
+
+"My father owns a tract of land in the Big Cypress Swamp of Florida.
+There is a lot of fine timber on it and he intends to set up a
+lumber mill in the swamp and perhaps build a railroad from Fort
+Myers to some part of it. A surveyor with a guide is going into the
+swamp this fall to locate the best timber and I'm going with them.
+You know how we have planned to do real camping and exploring
+together. Well, here's our chance. I've written to Dad and he
+invites you to go with me. We can start any time. When can you be
+ready, Dick?"
+
+"Ned, I'd give all I have in the world to go with you, but I
+can't--I can't. Mother has spent more than she could afford to keep
+me at this school and sometimes I'm ashamed when I think how I've
+wasted my time. Now I don't mean to be an expense to her or anyone
+else hereafter. I won't take a penny that I don't earn, from
+anybody, and I won't go on any trip, even with you, until I can pay
+my own way, every cent of it."
+
+"But, Dick, your companionship and the work you can do will be worth
+all it costs, twice over, to me and to Dad and he will feel just
+that way about it."
+
+"It's like you, Ned, to say all that, but it's no use and you know
+it. You've been mighty good to me ever since I came to this school
+and I'm going to keep your good opinion by not accepting your offer
+to go with you now. Some time, when I can keep up my end, I'll be
+with you bigger than an Injun. If you ever find strange footprints
+down in those Everglades, better foller 'em up. They'll likely be
+mine. Good-bye, Ned."
+
+The boys clasped hands and as Dick walked away tears rolled down his
+freckled cheeks.
+
+Four months after the parting of the two friends, at Belleville,
+Dick received a letter postmarked "Immokalee, Florida," which was
+headed:
+
+/#
+   Big Cypress Swamp, 20 miles from anywhere,
+
+   October 10th.
+
+   DEAR CHUM:
+
+   Here I am! on a prairie inside the Big Cypress Swamp, about
+   which we used to talk and where we planned to camp some day.
+   Well, it's bigger than anything we ever dreamed of and every
+   foot of it is alive. Sometimes I sleep in a tent, but more
+   often under the stars. Last night I heard the scream of a
+   panther, so near that it made me shiver, and the next minute
+   a frog dropped from the branch of a tree over my head and
+   fell on my face. I must have screamed louder than the
+   panther, for I scared Chris Meyer, the surveyor, who is
+   camping with me, pretty badly. The guide we expected didn't
+   come, so we are guiding for ourselves. I hope Chris knows
+   where we are, for I am sure I don't. We measure the big
+   cypress trees with a tape line and Chris calculates the
+   number of feet of lumber in each tree. Then we estimate the
+   trees in an acre and guess at the number of acres. At least
+   that's the way the business looks to me. Sometimes the
+   walking is easy, but to-day we had to wade through mud
+   waist-deep and the moccasins were pretty thick. I watched out
+   for the ugly things and it kept me on the jump, but Chris
+   marched straight ahead and paid no attention to them,
+   excepting once when a big cotton-mouth that was coiled on top
+   of a stump struck at him. Then he fell over backward into the
+   mud, and I had a good laugh at him--afterwards. Chris killed
+   that snake. It was a short, thick snake and about as pretty
+   as a Bologna sausage, but its mouth opened five inches and
+   its long, needle-like fangs were dripping with venom. I am
+   hungry all the time and enjoy our bill of fare very much,
+   although it is only bacon, grits and coffee, morning, noon
+   and night. We are traveling light, for we carry all our
+   baggage on our backs. We see deer and wild turkey every day
+   and it's pretty hard to keep my hands off my rifle, but I
+   promised Dad not to shoot anything out of season. In three
+   weeks the law will be off and then it will be bad for the
+   first buck I meet. Chris says it's good for me to see a lot
+   of deer before I shoot at any. He says I won't be so likely
+   to miss or only wound them when I really hunt them. I guess
+   he's about right, for when I first saw a deer--it was a big
+   buck and only twenty yards away--I had a regular attack of
+   buck ague and I couldn't have hit the side of a house even if
+   I'd been inside it. Now I can look at one, point a stick at
+   him and say _bang_, with my nerves just as quiet as if it
+   were a cow. I have seen a few bears, but they are very shy.
+   We'll turn loose on them, too, when we get round to hunting,
+   but in the mean time we are sticking to our timber job for
+   all there is in it.
+
+   An old alligator hunter is camping beside us to-night. He is
+   bound for Boat Landing, with a lot of alligator hides and
+   otter skins, and I am finishing up this letter to send by
+   him. Just as soon as this surveying business is over I am
+   going to have a glorious hunt. If only you were here we would
+   start out by our lonesomes and have all the adventures we
+   ever talked about. Probably Chris will go with me. I haven't
+   quite the pluck to try it alone, as I know you would do in my
+   place. I may brace up to it, though. Dad has given me
+   permission to do just as I please. He says he trusts me not
+   to be foolish or foolhardy and to keep him informed of my
+   plans. Isn't he a good Dad? Come if you can. Come when you
+   can.
+
+   Always and forever your chum,
+
+   NED.
+#/
+
+Dick's mother read Ned's letter and was quiet and sad all the rest
+of the day. After Dick had gone to bed she went into his room, sat
+down on the bed beside him, kissed him and said:
+
+"Dicky boy, mother wants you to take a good, long vacation. You've
+worked hard and been a great comfort to her since you left school
+and now she's going to send you to your chum Ned, down in Florida
+where she knows your heart is. Now--don't speak yet--mother knows
+what you want to say. dear, but she can perfectly well afford to
+send you and you will hurt her feelings if you don't let her."
+
+Dick put his arms around his mothers' neck and as soon as he could
+speak, half sobbed out:
+
+"Oh, Mumsey, I can't take your money. You've got so little."
+
+"But mother wants you to, so much."
+
+Dick held his mother's face close to his own for a minute and then
+said, very slowly:
+
+"Mumsey, I'll go--and it's really and truly because you want me
+to--but I won't take any of your money. Hush, now! Don't you say a
+word, or I'll--disown you. I've got a ten-dollar bill of my own and
+I'll keep that in my pocket just so you won't worry for fear I'm
+hungry; and I will bet you ten dollars I'll bring that same bill
+back to you and I won't go hungry one day either."
+
+"But, Dick--"
+
+"Not one word, Mumsey, except to say you'll take that bet. I can get
+a ride to New York on a boat, any day. Then I'll go to the Mallory
+Line and work my way to Key West on one of their boats; and from Key
+West I can find a fishing boat that will land me on the west coast
+of Florida somewhere within a hundred miles of Ned, and I'd walk
+that far just for the fun of surprising him."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+DICK GOES TO SEA
+
+
+Three days after Dick's talk with his mother, he boarded a Key West
+steamer just as it was leaving its New York pier. He sat on the deck
+and watched busy ferry-boats in the river, fussy tugs and
+chug-chugging launches in the harbor, and the white-winged yachts
+and great ocean steamers in the lower bay. He looked back from the
+Narrows upon the receding city, to the east upon Coney Island with
+its pleasure palaces, and to the southwest upon the great curve of
+Sandy Hook. Every step upon the deck near him brought his heart into
+his mouth in dread of what he knew he had to face. When the steamer
+was opposite Long Branch and there was small chance that he could be
+sent back, he inquired for the captain, whom he found talking to
+some young girls among the passengers. This somewhat reassured
+Billy, for he felt that the captain wouldn't eat him up in the
+presence of the young ladies, and he stood waiting with his cap in
+his hand until the captain spoke to him.
+
+"Do you want to see me, my boy?"
+
+"If you are Captain Anderson, I do, sir."
+
+"All right, go ahead."
+
+"I want you to set me to work, sir."
+
+"Why should I set you to work? Do you belong on the boat?"
+
+"Not yet, but you see it's this way. I had to get to Key West and I
+thought I'd work my passage with you."
+
+"Why didn't you ask me before we left the dock?"
+
+"Because I was afraid you wouldn't take me, if you could help it,
+and I had to go."
+
+"You cheeky little devil, I believe I'll chuck you overboard."
+
+"Oh!" said a brown-eyed girl who stood beside the captain, "you
+mustn't do that!"
+
+The captain laughed and said to Dick:
+
+"I hope you understand that you owe your life to this young lady.
+Now, go and report yourself to the cook and tell him to put you on
+the worst job he's got."
+
+"Thank you very much, Captain, but couldn't you make it the engineer
+instead of the cook? I'd rather work than wash dishes."
+
+"I'd like to oblige so modest a boy. Report to the chief engineer,
+give him my compliments and tell him you are to have the hottest
+berth on the boat. He'll probably set you to shoveling coal."
+
+Dick thanked him again; then looking into the face of the girl, he
+said:
+
+"Thank you, Miss Brown-Eyes, for saving my life," and, bowing low,
+turned away.
+
+"Captain, couldn't you see that he was a gentleman? What made you
+give him such hard work?" asked the girl.
+
+"Because he was such a cheeky gentleman that if I let him stay on
+deck he would take command of the boat by to-morrow and all you
+young ladies who helped him would be guilty of mutiny and would have
+to be executed."
+
+Dick was put to work in the engine-room, oiling the machinery. Some
+of the work was easy and safe, some of it was easy but not safe. Oil
+cups had to be filled as they flew back and forth, bearings must be
+oiled after great steel rods had flashed by and before they
+returned. The swift, silent play of the great piston and the steady
+motion of the resistless, revolving shaft, half hypnotized the boy
+and he stood, dazed and in danger, until called down by the sharp
+rebuff of the engineer.
+
+"'Tend to your business, there. Don't watch that shaft or you'll go
+dotty."
+
+On the second day of the trip there was trouble in the fire-room.
+The steamer had started on the trip short of firemen and now a
+fireman who had fallen in the furnace-room, striking his head on the
+steel floor, was lying unconscious in his berth. The pointer on the
+steam-gauge fell back, the engine slowed down, crisp commands came
+from pilot-house to engine-room, sharper messages passed between
+engine and fire rooms, while overworked men grew sullen and
+threatened to throw down their shovels.
+
+Dick offered to do the work of a fireman, but the engineer shook his
+head and said:
+
+"That's a man's work, boy."
+
+"Give me a shovel and a chance."
+
+And they were given him. He soon learned to throw the coal evenly
+and feed the furnaces like a fireman, but his unseasoned body shrank
+from the fierce heat; he staggered back from the hot blast every
+time he swung open a great furnace door and, until the clang of its
+closing, he could scarcely draw a breath. He threw off his jumper
+and his white skin fairly gleamed in that grimy place. The other
+firemen looked curiously at that slight, boyish form which was doing
+a man's work like a man and there was no more shirking in front of
+those furnaces. The fireman nearest the boy often pushed him aside
+and spread shovelfuls of coal over his grates, rushing back to his
+own work that it might not fall behind. A strong beam wind sprang up
+and the boat rolled badly, while Dick, with his hands blistered,
+fought fiercely to keep off seasickness and to keep up his fire.
+
+Up in the main saloon and around the deck a young girl wandered as
+if she wanted something without quite knowing what it was. She
+climbed stairs under the sign "passengers not allowed," went in and
+out of the pilot-house and, meeting the captain, asked if she
+couldn't go wherever she wished on the boat. He replied:
+
+"Yes, Miss. I appoint you third mate, with power to give any orders
+you please and go wherever you wish."
+
+A little later, with a dark waterproof drawn tightly over her light
+dress, she opened the door leading to the engine-room, and clinging
+to the heavy brass rail, climbed slowly down the narrow, greasy iron
+stairway till she stood beside the mighty engine. The engineer
+hastened to her side.
+
+"It's against the rules and very dangerous, Miss, for a passenger to
+come into this room."
+
+"But the captain told me I could come."
+
+"All right, but please be very careful and hold tight to that rail.
+I am afraid I haven't any right to let you stay, anyhow."
+
+"Thank you very much and I'll be very careful."
+
+The girl watched the engine for some time and then crept slowly
+along a steel bridge that looked like a spider's web, from which she
+could look into the furnace-room, with its roaring fires, scorching
+heat and constantly clanging iron doors. For some minutes she gazed
+silently, then turning quickly, hurried across the bridge, up the
+greasy stairs and on to the main saloon where she found her father
+in a big arm-chair, buried in a book. The girl first pulled the book
+out of her father's hands, then, sitting on the arm of his chair,
+clasped her hands on his shoulder and whispered eagerly into his
+ear.
+
+"Daddy, I want you to get that boy out of that hot place down in
+the bottom of the boat where he is at work. I know he's sick, for I
+saw him lean up against the wall and shut his eyes and he was just
+as white--"
+
+"Why, Molly, where have you been to see all this?"
+
+"First, I went where the big engine is, then I went a little farther
+and saw--Oh! Daddy, hurry, please; if you don't I know he'll die."
+
+"So you want me to get this boy up in the saloon to play with you?"
+
+"I don't mean that at all, Daddy. I should think you'd hate to see
+anybody worked to death down in that hot hole."
+
+"Well, I'll see the captain about it as soon as I have finished my
+book."
+
+"Don't you think you'd better see him now? I'm quite sure you won't
+enjoy your book while I'm here and I've decided to stay with you for
+the present."
+
+"All right, Molly, come along," and they hunted up the captain, whom
+they found sitting near the pilot-house.
+
+"Captain, I have taken an interest in that stowaway of yours. Is
+there any objection to having his name put on the cabin list, at my
+expense, of course?"
+
+"No kick coming from me," said the captain, "though we _are_
+short-handed in the fire-room and the boy has been doing a man's
+work there. I don't believe he will accept your offer, for he's an
+independent little cub and, as I have put him to work, I can't
+insist upon it."
+
+The captain sent a deck-hand for Dick, and the boy appeared on deck
+in overalls and jumper, cap in hand.
+
+"Dick," said the captain, "this gentleman has put your name on the
+passenger list. The purser will give you a room and a seat at the
+table."
+
+"Oh, Captain, please don't take me from my work. I know I've got to
+leave it if you say so, but--"
+
+"No, you haven't," interrupted the captain; "you are on the pay-roll
+and can hang on to your job as long as you do your work."
+
+Dick's face was still troubled as he turned toward Molly and her
+father, meeting a reproachful look from the girl, which made him
+wonder if he had seemed ungrateful for the kindness shown him, and
+said:
+
+"I want to thank you a thousand times for your kindness and I will
+come to the cabin if you think I--Have you any boy of your own,
+sir?"
+
+"Yes, I have a boy of about your age."
+
+"If he were here, in my place, what would you like to have him do?"
+
+"I'd be proud of him if he did just what you're doing, my boy."
+
+Tears were in Dick's voice as he said:
+
+"Thank you very much, sir," then, turning to Molly, a roguish smile
+lit up his face as he bowed to her, saying:
+
+"Thank you again, Miss Brown-Eyes."
+
+The next day when Dick was off duty, instead of going to his bunk,
+he dressed himself carefully and went up on the promenade deck. It
+was quite contrary to the rules, but the officers only smiled and
+looked away, while many of the passengers spoke to him, for the
+story of his having refused cabin passage was pretty well known on
+the boat. He walked about restlessly, as if in search of something
+or somebody, until he caught sight of a girl in the extreme bow of
+the boat, looking down upon the water twenty feet below her. Dick
+suddenly discovered that he wanted to look over the bow, too. A
+minute later he was leaning on the rail behind the girl, looking
+down upon a school of porpoises, or herring hogs, which were playing
+about the boat. A jet of water and spray curled upward from the
+cutwater of the steamer, which was running at high speed, but the
+graceful little creatures kept abreast of her without apparent
+effort. There were twenty or thirty of them, gliding in and out as
+gracefully as if they were moving to the measure of a waltz.
+Sometimes one touched the prow or side of the boat; usually they
+kept pace with the steamer as evenly as if they were a part of it;
+but occasionally one darted ahead at a speed which left the boat
+behind as if it were standing still. At last the girl, long
+conscious that some one was standing beside her, putting out her
+hand to that somebody, said:
+
+"Aren't they dears? Oh!" she added, as her hand was taken and she
+looked around, "I thought it was Daddy. Please excuse me."
+
+Dick looked as if he might be persuaded to forgive her, and for some
+minutes they stood in silence, leaning over the rail and looking at
+the playful porpoises beneath them, when he said:
+
+"I hope you don't think I didn't appreciate your father's lovely
+offer. You will never know how grateful I really was to him--and to
+somebody else, too, who, I think, had something to do with it."
+
+"Of course I don't think you were ungrateful, but I did hate to see
+you at work down in that hot place and I don't see why you couldn't
+have come up in the cabin and been comfortable and not had to wear
+such greasy clothes."
+
+"How did you know where I was at work?"
+
+"I happened to be looking at the big engine and I walked along a
+little way and saw you way, way down near the bottom of the boat in
+front of a hot furnace, shoveling coal into it."
+
+"Now I know where that offer came from," said Dick, "and I want you
+to see why I couldn't accept it. I wanted very, very much to get to
+Key West and I was very glad of the chance to work my passage.
+Perhaps it was wrong to come aboard the way I did. I guess it was.
+But Captain Anderson gave me a job and made it all right. Now I'm
+not ashamed to look anyone in the face, even when I have on my
+fireman's clothes, while if I gave up my work and let a stranger
+give me what I could earn myself I would feel like a charity scholar
+and I don't think I'd have the cheek to speak to you or any one else
+on board."
+
+Molly told her father of her talk with Dick and he said:
+
+"I can use that kind of a boy in my business. I'll have a talk with
+him when we get to Key West."
+
+Three days later the great steamer lay beside her wharf in Key West.
+Dick was paid the full wages of a fireman for the trip and when he
+said he wasn't worth so much, was good-naturedly told to shut up and
+advised that if he refused to take money that was offered him in
+that town he was likely to be caught and exhibited as a freak. He
+shed his jumper and overalls and exchanged hearty good-byes with the
+whole crew of the steamer. He walked through the saloons, but it was
+early, most of the passengers were yet in their berths and neither
+Molly nor her father was to be seen. Dick went out on the dock to
+inquire for a boat to Chokoloskee, Caxambas or Marco. He was
+referred to a Captain Wilson, who told him that the boat for
+Chokoloskee had just sailed, was beyond hailing distance and
+wouldn't leave again for a week, and that there was no Caxambas or
+Marco boat in port. Dick found the captain so genial and friendly
+that he told him something of his story.
+
+"I'll fix you out," said Captain Wilson. "I own a sponging outfit
+and am just starting out on a cruise, but I'm one man short. So you
+come in his place. It will be a short trip, not over four weeks.
+You'll make good wages and I'll find you a chance to get to
+Chokoloskee when we get back. You can live on board till I find it.
+If you stay here you are bound to lose a week and your board
+anyhow."
+
+"I'd like to go first rate, but I don't know anything about
+sponging."
+
+"You'll learn fast enough. Can you scull?"
+
+"A little. I can row better."
+
+"Have to scull in sponging, but you'll pick that up. Can you come
+aboard now? I want to be off."
+
+"I need some clothes and would like to say 'good-bye' to some
+friends on the steamer."
+
+"I can fit you out on board with all the clothes you will need on
+the cruise, so hurry up and see your friends. I'll wait here for
+you."
+
+But Molly and her father had left the steamer and Dick went with
+Captain Wilson aboard his sloop, which sailed at once.
+
+The captain hunted up some clothes for Dick to wear while sponging
+and as the boy came on deck after putting them on, his first glance
+fell on the white sails of a schooner yacht which had just passed
+them, but was then two hundred yards away. The beauty of the boat
+appealed to Dick and his eyes rested lingeringly upon her. How much
+greater would have been his interest had he known that the two
+forms which he could see on the deck of the yacht, near the
+companionway, were the Molly of whom he was thinking at that moment,
+and her father, and that they were talking of him. What a pity that
+he couldn't have known that Key West had been searched for him and
+that Molly's father had offered a reward for his name and address!
+Had Dick come on deck two minutes sooner the bow of the yacht
+_Gypsey_ would have been thrown up in the wind and that tiny launch
+lowered from the boat's davits in less time than it takes to tell of
+it. And then, had Molly's father known Dick's name, he would have
+taken the boy to his yacht, if he had had to tie him to do it, but
+if Dick had once heard the name of Molly's father it would not have
+been necessary to tie him. However, if either had known the name of
+the other this story would not have been written.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+LIFE ON A SPONGER
+
+
+The yacht sailed on and Dick, walking up to Captain Wilson, who
+stood at the wheel, said, as he lifted his cap:
+
+"I beg to report for duty, sir." The captain grinned, as he replied:
+
+"I hope you'll always be as polite. You'll sure be a curiosity on
+this coast. I'll put you in with Pedro. He doesn't know much
+English, but you can talk enough for both. There he is, that
+black-mustached fellow, with little rings in his ears. He will let
+you know what your duties are."
+
+A string of four dingies trailed behind the sponger and as many
+poles, each thirty feet long, with a sponge-hook at one end, lay
+upon the deck. Pedro was examining one of these poles when Billy
+went to him and said:
+
+"Pedro, I am to go in your boat. What do I have to do?"
+
+"You scull where I tell you--slow--I look in glass--see sponge--take
+up pole--you stop still--then you scull where pole go--you work
+good or I keek you."
+
+"Pedro, if you ever keek me, you'll go overboard queek and don't you
+forget it."
+
+The sponger lay at anchor on the sponging ground for nearly a week
+before the water was clear enough for work. Dick spent most of his
+time sculling his dingy and soon learned to throw his weight on the
+big sculling oar to the best advantage without going overboard very
+often. One day while Pedro sat in the bow, they saw a 400-pound
+loggerhead turtle lying asleep on the water. Pedro motioned to Dick
+to scull up to the turtle and when the dingy was within three feet
+of the creature he jumped on its back and seized the edge of its
+shell just behind the head, with both hands. Pedro's weight was so
+far aft on the turtle's deck that the bow pointed upward and the
+reptile's struggles only served to keep its head above water and
+thus carry the man comfortably on its back. Soon Pedro shifted his
+right hand to the tail-end of the turtle and thereafter navigated
+his living craft with ease. Dick sculled the dingy beside the turtle
+and, while trying to make fast the boat's painter around the
+creature, fell overboard. Pedro didn't know enough English to
+express his feelings fully, and so talked Spanish for a while. Dick
+thought he could get the rope around the turtle more easily if he
+stayed in the water, and he finally succeeded, though the reptile
+got one of the sleeves of his shirt while he was doing it. Then the
+boy and Pedro got into the boat and pulled the turtle beside it. In
+rolling the reptile aboard they shipped a lot of water and as the
+turtle dropped suddenly to the bottom of the dingy Dick fell
+backwards out of the boat. Pedro began to express himself in Spanish
+again, and, as the sponger was less than two hundred yards distant,
+Dick swam to it, leaving his companion to bail out the dingy and
+scull it to the big boat. The boat's tackle was required to hoist
+the turtle aboard, where it was turned over to the Cook, who
+butchered it on deck. The heart of the reptile continued to beat for
+hours after it had been removed from the body, so strongly that its
+throbbing could not be restrained by the grip of the most powerful
+hand. Pedro said that the heart would beat till the sun went down,
+and it did.
+
+For days Dick hunted all the turtles he saw lying on the water. At
+last he got near enough to one to grab him before he dove. But he
+got hold too far back, the reptile's head was already turned
+downward and his flippers forced him rapidly forward. Dick hung on
+as well as he could, which wasn't for long, for the strong rush of
+the water and its great pressure as the reptile made for the bottom
+quickly compelled the boy to let go. Yet he was under water so long
+that when he came to the surface Captain Wilson was in a dingy
+sculling like mad to reach him. The captain gave the boy a kindly
+warning, which affected him so much that in ten minutes he was off
+after another turtle, which he saw asleep. The creature began his
+dive just as Dick jumped for him, and the boy got hold of his
+tail-end as it was lifted above the water, in time to get a sharp
+slap in the face from the heavy hind flipper of the turtle. Dick
+sculled for an hour without seeing another turtle, when, as he was
+returning to the boat and within a hundred yards of it, one rose
+beside the dingy so near that the boy was on its back before it
+could go under the surface. He soon had his charger in fair control,
+but the science of riding a big loggerhead turtle isn't picked up in
+a minute. One of the crew came out in a dingy to help, but Dick
+asked him to pick up his boat and oar and take them to the sponger
+and said that he would ride back on the turtle. Sometimes his steed
+was manageable, and once he got within a few yards of the big boat,
+when it broke loose and carried him fifty yards away. Then, as Dick
+tried to check the reptile, he pulled its head too far and tipped it
+over on its back on top of himself, with his own head so near the
+parrot-like jaws of the loggerhead that when they were snapped in
+his face they missed his nose by about an inch. The turtle was as
+anxious to turn over as the boy, and, by favoring his motions, Dick
+soon had the creature right side up, while he again rode
+triumphantly on his back. In another hour the halyards were fast to
+the turtle and Billy had made good his promise to ride it back to
+the boat.
+
+[Illustration: "DICK HUNTED ALL THE TURTLES HE SAW"]
+
+When the water became clear the dingies were sent out with two men
+in each, one of whom sculled while the other sat with his face in a
+water-glass watching the bottom for sponges. The water-glass is a
+bucket with a glass bottom which so smooths the surface of the water
+as to produce the effect of a perfect calm to one who is looking
+through it. The first day of sponging was like a dream to Dick. The
+water was smooth as a mirror and no water-glass was needed. He
+sculled slowly over water so clear that he seemed to be floating in
+the air. Beneath him was fairyland, filled with waving sea-feathers
+and anemones, paved with curious shells, strangely beautiful forms
+of coral and sponges of various kinds, and alive with fish of many
+varieties. Sometimes there floated on the surface of the water
+Portuguese men-of-war, most beautiful of created things, like
+iridescent bubbles, with long silken filaments, delicately lined in
+pink, purple and entrancing blue. Lighter than thistledown, fitted
+to drift with the merest zephyr, they can nevertheless force their
+way against a breeze. Harmless as a soap-bubble in appearance, each
+of them is charged with virulent poison, and when Dick touched one
+with his hand he received a shock that made him wonder if a bunch of
+hornets had hidden in that innocent-looking bubble.
+
+Sometimes schools of little fish gliding beneath the dingy began to
+dash wildly about, and a moment later a group of jackfish or Spanish
+mackerel could be seen darting around and picking up stragglers from
+the little school, which often huddled for protection close beside
+and beneath the dingy. Dick like all brave boys, was on the side of
+the under dog, and he laughed with glee when a quick-moving mackerel
+shark appeared among the pursuers of the little fish and picked up a
+few of them for his breakfast as he drove the rest away. As Dick
+sculled easily with one hand, he kept an eye upon Pedro, and obeyed
+the signals of his hand, to go to the right, the left, or stop, as
+sponges were seen. Then from time to time the long pole with the
+claw at the end was lowered to the bottom and a sponge torn loose.
+
+Sometimes Dick changed places with Pedro, and manipulated the long
+pole with the claw, while Pedro handled the sculling oar. Then Dick
+began to learn the difference between coarse grass and common cup
+sponges, and the finer fibred glove and choice sheep's wool
+varieties. For when he was clumsy with the pole, Pedro only swore
+softly in Spanish, but when he brought up a worthless grass sponge,
+the big oar was lifted, and the boy might have been knocked
+overboard but for the iron claw which he held high, while a purpose
+gleamed in his eye which made Pedro peaceful. But Dick felt that
+Pedro was half right and he set to work studying sponges until he
+knew them almost as well as his teacher. His strength and skill with
+the sponge hook were less than the Spaniard's, but his eye was
+quicker and Pedro's chronic growls were often changed to grunts of
+approval. When the surface of the water was ruffled by a breeze it
+was needful to use the water-glass. Then Pedro sat with his head in
+the bucket, studying the bottom, and when he took up the heavy pole
+which lay on the thwarts of the dingy and dipped it vertically in
+the water, it was the duty of Dick to stop sculling at once. But
+once while Dick was sculling and looking for sponges he saw gliding
+beneath the dingy, a whip-ray, the most beautiful member of the ray
+family. Shaped like a butterfly, its back is covered with small,
+light rings on a black background. Its long, slim tail is like the
+lash of a coach-whip and at its base is a row of little spears with
+many barbs, which are capable of inflicting exceedingly painful
+wounds. The roof of the mouth and the tongue of the fish are hard as
+ivory and shell-fish are ground between them as rock is pulverized by
+the jaws of a quartz-crusher. As Billy watched the graceful swaying
+of the body of the whip-ray under the impulse of its wings, a
+wandering shark came upon it. In its first rush the tiger of the sea
+almost caught the beautiful creature, which fluttered for a hundred
+yards upon the surface of the water, with the jaws of its pursuer
+opening and closing within a few inches of its body.
+
+Dick was so busy watching the chase and so earnest in his sympathy
+with the frightened, fleeing whip-ray that he quite forgot his
+duties. He was reminded of them when Pedro, who had been frantically
+signaling him, took his head from the bucket and made a speech in
+Spanish to Dick that must have used up all the bad adjectives in
+that language. Dick's conscience hampered him so much that he was
+quite unable to reply fittingly, and the battle of words was won by
+Pedro. The dingy drifted so far during the discussion that they were
+unable to find the sheep's wool sponge that Pedro had seen, and
+which he now described as the finest one ever found.
+
+Each day the spongers in the dingies worked farther from the sloop
+and each day more time was lost when the sloop made its round to
+pick up the spongers for dinner. There were too few sponges to
+please Captain Wilson, who sailed over the ground whenever the water
+was smooth, studying the bottom with practiced eye and throwing out
+little floats, with anchors attached, wherever a sponge was seen.
+
+"I'm going to the 'Lake,'" said the captain, one afternoon at the
+end of a day of little success. "It's a feast or a famine there. You
+get rich or go broke."
+
+"What is there at the 'Lake'?" asked Dick.
+
+"Sponge, all sponge, the bottom lined with sponge. If the weather is
+just right we'll pile the deck with sponges in a week till you can't
+see over them. If the weather isn't exactly right we won't get a
+sponge. On one cruise there, the men on this sloop averaged
+twenty-five dollars a day apiece. I've been there five times since
+without ever making enough to pay for our salt."
+
+A week later the captain said to the boy:
+
+"Dick, you are a mascot. You've brought us big luck. We never had
+such weather here but once and I don't care now how soon it comes on
+to blow. I reckon it'll begin to-night from the looks and we'll hike
+for Key West to-morrow."
+
+Dick was glad to go. The week had been a hard one, the work
+incessant and each night he felt as if his back were broken. He was
+used to the fresh, sweet air of his country home and the sloop he
+was in was arranged like most of the sponging craft, with quarters
+sufficient for half the crew it carried. The deck of the sponger was
+piled with the result of the work of the week. The sponge of
+commerce, the one you buy at the drug store, is the skeleton of the
+creature; the thing taken from the water is its corpse. Not until
+this body has rotted away is it pleasant to live with. Day by day
+the stench, like that of a charnel house, became more unbearable to
+Dick. The crew seemed never to notice it, which caused the boy much
+wonderment that noses had ever been given them. He was glad when a
+strong wind came and swept some of the smell away instead of leaving
+it to settle in chunks in every nook and cranny on the boat.
+
+At Key West most of the crew went to their homes, but Dick was
+invited to live on the sloop till he found a boat for the coast he
+wanted to reach.
+
+Cargoes sent to Key West for a market are almost always sold at
+auction and the auction houses in the early morning are busy marts.
+Cargoes of sponge, fruit, vegetables, lumber and other goods are
+sold in lots to suit purchasers, who range from the dealer who buys
+by the cargo, or the small merchant who takes a few boxes of pines,
+oranges, grape-fruit, or tomatoes, to the housewife who wants a
+watermelon or a bunch of bananas. On the day following their arrival
+at Key West Captain Wilson handed Dick a roll of bills containing a
+hundred dollars, saying to him:
+
+"That's about your share in the cruise, Dick. The sponge hasn't been
+sold yet, but you are in a hurry to get off and I reckon that's
+about right."
+
+Dick was dazed as he took the roll, but a moment later he handed it
+back to the captain, saying:
+
+"I can't take that, Captain Wilson. It is ten times as much as I
+have earned. You took me on as a boy and I want you to pay me just
+what you would have paid any other boy."
+
+"Put that money in your pocket, Dick. You've done a man's work and
+now you've got a man's pay and that's all there is to it. Lucky for
+you, though, that the weather was good at the Lake. If it hadn't
+been you wouldn't have got anything but your board. Now come ashore
+and we'll hunt up a boat for Marco or Chokoloskee."
+
+They stopped at an auction room in Key West for a minute, when
+Captain Wilson sang out to a boy who was passing:
+
+"Hi, Johnny! Where's the _Etta_?"
+
+"Same old place, off the end of the dock."
+
+"Thought yesterday was your sailing day."
+
+"So it was, but Cap'n's in the calaboose. Got drunk yest'd'y and
+had a fight. I got ter raise th' cash ter git him out."
+
+"Why don't the boss bounce him? He's drunk most of the time."
+
+"Boss says Cap'n Tom's a better sailor when he's drunk than any of
+th' others when they're sober."
+
+"Well, I'll get Tom out of limbo for you and charge it to the boss.
+Only you must take this friend of mine with you to Chokoloskee."
+
+"Sure! What's his name?"
+
+"Name's Dick. Can you make an alligator-hunter of him?"
+
+"Reckon I kin, or kill him tryin'."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+CAUGHT IN A WATERSPOUT
+
+
+The next morning the _Etta_, with Dick on board, started for
+Chokoloskee. The weather was bad, with a succession of squalls from
+the southwest, and the captain kept in the lee of the line of keys
+instead of taking the straight course across the Gulf. But he
+carried all sail till the rotten main-sheet parted at the boom, and
+when he came up in the wind to lower the sail the main throat
+halyard refused to unreeve. Before an order was given Dick was half
+way up the mast and soon came riding down to the deck on the gaff.
+When reefs had been taken in the sails, the sheet replaced, and the
+boat was again under way, the captain said to Dick:
+
+"Who taught you sailoring?"
+
+"Captain Wilson taught me some, and--"
+
+"That's enough. You don't need to mention anybody else. What Wilson
+doesn't know about sailing, sponging and fishing isn't worth
+knowing."
+
+By noon they were about twenty miles southwest of North-West Cape
+and, as the wind had moderated, the reefs were shaken out and the
+bow of the _Etta_ pointed due north, straight for Sand-Fly Pass.
+The breeze grew less and less, and in two hours had died away
+entirely. From the northeast a black, threatening cloud was moving
+slowly toward them, while the sails flapped idly as the _Etta_
+rolled to a heavy ground swell. The cloud came nearer and grew
+blacker, while swirling little tails dropped from it, almost
+touching the water, and then suddenly returned to the black mass
+above.
+
+"What a funny cloud," said Dick to Captain Tom. "Does it mean a
+hurricane?"
+
+"No. This is the hurricane month, but hurricanes always give a day
+or two's warning through the barometer and that hasn't changed a
+tenth in a week. But this is worse than a hurricane if it hits us.
+Those are waterspouts in the making, that you see dropping from the
+big cloud, and when one of them gets a good hold on the water you
+will see something that you won't forget as long as you live, which
+won't be a great while if it hits us," said the captain.
+
+Almost as he spoke a great inverted cone of cloud settled down from
+the mass above and touching the surface of the water set it whirling
+furiously. The water from the Gulf was lifted skyward, in a column
+which constantly grew broader at the base while its pointed top,
+mingling with the almost equally solid cloud, gave hour-glass form
+to the huge, swirling, threatening mass that bore down on the
+_Etta_, within a half mile now. Suddenly the waterspout separated
+from the great cloud mass and moved rapidly eastward. For ten
+minutes the crew of the _Etta_ watched it until, when more than a
+mile distant, the waterspout collapsed more suddenly than it had
+formed and from the foam-covered water a great wave rolled outward,
+spreading until the _Etta_ rocked in its path.
+
+"Thank goodness, that trouble's over," said Dick to the captain.
+
+"Yes, but how about this one?" replied Captain Tom, as he pointed to
+the big cloud which was now within two hundred yards of them and
+more threatening than ever. Another waterspout was forming and soon
+its roar filled their ears, while a towering mass seemed to spread
+over their heads, ready to fall upon and crush them. Already,
+spiteful patches of wind, torn from the revolving cyclone, slapped
+the sails of the _Etta_ as if to tear them from the mast.
+
+"Shan't I take in sail?" asked Johnny of the captain.
+
+"No use," was the reply. "When that thing strikes us nothing will
+make any difference and a bit of breeze in the next minute might
+pull us out."
+
+For a long minute they watched the approaching demon which was now
+within a hundred yards and its tremendous suction was already
+disturbing the water about them when the captain shouted:
+
+"Launch the dingy and get aboard; leave the oars to me!"
+
+In an instant the little dingy had been slid overboard and the boys
+were sitting in the stern; then Captain Tom stepped aboard and was
+soon pulling mightily away from the _Ella_ and across the line of
+progress of the waterspout. But it was all too late. The dingy was
+less than two hundred feet from the _Etta_ when she began to toss,
+lifting her bow high and then plunging it deep beneath the surface.
+The first touch of the waterspout carried away mast and sails and
+swept clear the deck. In another instant the schooner was engulfed,
+but her bulk broke the back of the waterspout and it began to sway;
+its straight, smooth column began to kink up and break, and many
+hundred tons of water fell crashing into the Gulf. When the great
+column fell the dingy was within three hundred feet and, as Captain
+Tom threw his weight on the oars in a last effort to increase the
+distance, one of the oars snapped and the captain fell on his back
+in the bow of the boat, striking his head on the gunwale with a
+force that stunned him. At this moment the outflowing wave from the
+falling water swept over the skiff, rolling it upside down. Dick,
+who was a regular water-dog, saw the big wave coming and, as it
+rolled the dingy over, he sank for a moment beneath the surface till
+the wave had passed, then came up with all his senses alert. He swam
+to the capsized dingy, which was near him, and was soon joined by
+Johnny.
+
+"Where's the captain?" shouted Dick. "We've got to find him. Look
+everywhere, Johnny."
+
+The broken water was now tossing madly and it seemed an age to Dick
+before he caught a glimpse of the captain's head on the crest of a
+wave two boat's lengths distant. He swam to the place, and searched
+the water above and below, diving until he was exhausted. He was
+losing hope when once more the captain's body came to the surface
+and Dick seized it. He started for the dingy with his burden, but
+was fearing he would never make it, when he found Johnny beside him,
+saying:
+
+"Here, you're played out. Put your hand on my shoulder. I can take
+care of the cap'n, too."
+
+"All right, you take care of the captain. I can get back to the
+dingy."
+
+When they reached the dingy the water had become so much smoother
+that they were able to rest while clinging to the side of the dingy
+and holding the captain's face out of water.
+
+"Don't 'spose Cap'n's dead, do yer?" said Johnny.
+
+"Don't think so, but we've got to get this dingy bailed out and get
+him in it, mighty soon. Then I know what to do to bring him to, if
+there's life in him. Lend me your cap and I'll bail out the dingy."
+
+"That ain't the way we bail boats down here," said Johnny, who got
+into the dingy and began to rock it. In about a minute he had rocked
+it nearly dry and finished the job with his cap. Dick then climbed
+into the dingy and the boys pulled the body of the captain beside it
+and, bearing down on the gunwale until water began to come in,
+dragged it aboard, half filling the dingy as they did it. As Johnny
+began to bail again a feeble voice beside him whispered:
+
+"What you fellers doin'?"
+
+The captain soon got stronger, and said he was all right but for a
+headache which was splitting his skull. He tried to rise, but fell
+back in a faint, and Dick told him he must lie still and give
+orders, which Johnny and he would obey. Then Dick stood on a thwart
+and studied the water as far as he could see, hoping to find an oar.
+He saw a mast, a hatch cover and some broken fragments from the
+_Etta_ and at last the blade from the oar which the captain had
+broken. Johnny and he paddled with their hands until they recovered
+the oar blade. As a light breeze had sprung up from the south, which
+was causing them to drift northward, they headed south, paddling and
+watching by turns, until they found the lost oar. Then Dick, resting
+the oar in the sculling hole, called on the captain for orders.
+
+"Better strike out due east and make for Nor'-West Cape. That's the
+nearest land and we're liable to be struck by a squall 'most any
+minute. Then there's a cocoanut grove at the Cape and you'll be
+thirsty by the time you get there."
+
+"Gee!" said Dick, "I'm thirsty now. Wish you hadn't spoken of it."
+
+Dick put his weight on the oar and as he swung back and forth on it
+the captain called out:
+
+"You sure can scull, boy, but take it easy; you've got over a dozen
+miles of it to the Cape and near fifty more up the coast, after
+that."
+
+"Where do I come in?" said Johnny.
+
+"Go 'way, child, this is man's work," replied Dick, as he swung
+easily on his oar, but with a vim that drove the dingy through the
+water at good speed.
+
+Johnny begged for his turn, but didn't get it for two hours, by
+which time the tops of the cocoa palms could be seen. Then Captain
+Tom began to feel better and talked of doing his share of the work,
+upon which Dick whistled a few bars of "Go 'Way Back and Sit Down,"
+which the captain seemed to understand, for he gave no more trouble.
+
+It was nearly dark when they landed on a beach at the border of a
+forest of cocoa palms and in a few minutes Johnny had a dozen young
+nuts on the ground and was hacking at the tough husk of one with his
+knife. When the ape-faced end of the nut had been laid bare and the
+eye cut out with a pen-knife blade, he gave the nut to Dick, who was
+soon absorbing the most delicious drink of his life. There was about
+a pint of milk in each nut, and it took a round dozen to quench the
+thirst of the three. They broke open half-grown or custard nuts and
+ate their pulpy meat and they tried some of the hard flesh of the
+mature nut.
+
+The castaways built a fire on the beach for cheer and warmth and
+piled up fallen leaves of the palm to soften their beds on the sand.
+Captain Tom told the boys that the plantation house was not
+occupied, and that the next house down the coast was a number of
+miles distant and just opposite to the course they wanted to take.
+He then added that he was no more captain now than his companions
+and would give no orders, but he advised that they start up the
+coast before sun-up and do a lot of their sculling in the cool of
+the morning. The boys collected a couple of dozen of nuts to keep
+down their thirst and when the sun rose they were several miles up
+the coast.
+
+About nine o'clock Dick said to the captain:
+
+"I wish it was breakfast time. I'm starving."
+
+"Have your breakfast any time you want it."
+
+"Want it now."
+
+"All right," said the captain, who was sculling, and he headed the
+dingy for shore, where it struck on a reef at the mouth of a stream.
+
+"Now, if you boys will rustle some wood I'll have your breakfast
+ready."
+
+"I don't see anything to eat round here," said Dick.
+
+"How would an oyster roast strike you?" asked the captain.
+
+"My, but wouldn't an oyster taste good? Do you s'pose there is one
+within ten miles?"
+
+Johnny laughed and said:
+
+"What you standin' on? Must be a hundred barrels on 'em."
+
+Dick looked down and was amazed to see that the whole reef was
+composed of oysters--oysters of all sizes, oysters single, in small
+bunches and in great masses.
+
+"Woods are full of 'em," said the captain, and he pointed to the
+mangrove trees that lined the stream, the lower branches of which
+were burdened with bunches of oysters bigger than Dick's head. A
+fire was made and branches of these trees containing bunches of
+oysters were thrown on it. A few minutes later the branches were
+taken off of the fire, with shells bursting open showing hot,
+steaming oysters ready for the sharp sticks which took the place of
+forks with the castaways. After Dick had filled himself with roast
+oysters, he ate a few dozen raw, by way of a change, and then went
+back to his roasting, until he was so full that he told Johnny that
+he never wanted to eat again as long as he lived, at which Johnny
+grinned. Only three hours later, as Johnny was sculling over a
+shallow bank, he stopped work and began to thump the bottom with his
+oar.
+
+"What is it?" asked Dick.
+
+"Bottom covered with clams. Reckon I'll pick up a few for Cap'n and
+me. You said you didn't want to eat again, ever," replied Johnny.
+
+But both of the boys went overboard and in a few minutes had put
+more clams aboard the dingy than the whole party could have eaten in
+a week.
+
+The castaways camped on their second night at the mouth of Lossman's
+River, where they had a famous clam-roast. They found a fisherman's
+house where they got fresh water and a can to hold it, also some
+cornmeal, with which Johnny made an ash-cake, or, as Dick called it,
+Johnny-cake. The captain said it was the best thing he had ever
+eaten, and Dick engaged him on the spot as a camping companion on
+his hunt for his chum.
+
+[Illustration: "A SILVERY, TWISTING BODY SHOT TEN FEET IN THE AIR"]
+
+The next morning the boys slept till the sun had risen and the
+captain awoke them to look upon a gorgeous picture seldom to be
+seen. The unclouded sun was shining brilliantly and the eastern sky
+clear and bright, but in the west a storm was gathering. There were
+snow-clad peaks brilliant with sunshine, thunder-heads black as
+midnight from which lightning was playing, while above and beneath
+them all shone a perfect double rainbow and an equally perfect
+reflection of it from the mirror-like surface of the Gulf. So
+perfect a double-circled rainbow the captain had never before seen,
+and, though he lived near the coast, Johnny had never seen one at
+all. By the time they had finished their breakfast of roast clams
+and ash-cake the rainbow had melted away and the storm-clouds were
+nearer, but Dick wanted to start on up the coast. The captain shook
+his head and Johnny recited:
+
+"Rainbow in the mornin', sailors take warnin'."
+
+Half an hour later all hands were glad to run to the fisherman's
+house, from the doorway of which they looked out upon storm-driven
+sheets of rain that shut out the Gulf and fell in hissing masses
+upon the palmetto roof that covered them, while the continuous blaze
+of lightning and crash of thunder gave Dick his first taste of a
+tropical thunderstorm. Half an hour later the sky was cloudless, the
+sun more brilliant than ever, and the only reminder of the storm
+that had passed was the sullen roar of the surf as the big waves
+broke on the beach.
+
+When Johnny proposed to renew their voyage and the captain assented,
+it was Dick who held back.
+
+"What can we do out there?" said he, waving his hand toward the
+white-capped waves that were sweeping in and sending their foam high
+up the beach. Johnny only laughed in reply, but the captain and he
+dragged the dingy, in which two poles had been placed, out into the
+surf until the waves rolled waist deep past them.
+
+"Tumble aboard, both of you," ordered the captain, as he stood by
+the stern of the craft, holding its bow squarely against the
+incoming waves. The boys climbed aboard, and Dick, following
+Johnny's example, seized a pole and together they held the boat
+against the sweep of the surf until the captain was aboard with the
+oar in his hands. It was exciting work and as they pushed on and
+out, with each new wave tossing the bow of the boat in the air and
+spilling its crest of water and foam over the gunwales, Dick
+exclaimed:
+
+"Isn't it glorious? I never had such fun," and even the captain
+smiled assent.
+
+They pushed on until outside of the breakers and among the
+smooth-rolling waves, where the deepening water made poling
+difficult and they resumed their sculling. The captain took the
+first trick, while Johnny bailed out, with his cap, the water that
+the waves had spilled aboard.
+
+Everything went smoothly and there was no more excitement on the
+trip until in the afternoon, when Dick was working the sculling oar.
+He was swinging it slowly, as he looked down into the water, when
+there appeared suddenly, just under the dingy, a great black
+creature, broader than the boat was long. As it rose nearer to the
+surface, almost touching the craft, he saw a great open mouth, three
+feet across, with a heavy black horn on each side of it, which
+looked quite equal to disposing of Dick and his boat at a single
+bite. The sight was so frightful that Dick impulsively thrust his
+oar against the creature, and was instantly thrown from his feet as
+the stern of the dingy was tossed in the air and a column of water
+fell upon and around him. When the commotion was over and Johnny had
+crawled back into the submerged boat and was rocking it dry, Dick
+said to Captain Tom, who was swimming beside him:
+
+"I believe I'll swim the rest of the way. I'm getting tired of being
+pitched overboard every few minutes."
+
+After they were all aboard and Dick had resumed his work with the
+oar, he asked the captain:
+
+"What was that thing that looked like a devil, that I hit and that
+hit back?"
+
+"That was a devil-fish. They are perfectly harmless," said the
+captain, adding, reflectively, "unless you punch 'em."
+
+The tide favored the castaways at Sand-Fly Pass and they reached
+Chokoloskee Bay without further adventure, but then came the painful
+part of the trip: telling the owner of the _Etta_ of its destruction
+by a waterspout. All the comment Mr. Streeter made was:
+
+"Glad none of you went down with the boat."
+
+The captain and Johnny went to their homes, while Dick accepted Mr.
+Streeter's invitation to stay with him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+OUTFITTING FOR THE HUNT
+
+
+The Streeter home was on the bank of a little river that emptied
+into Chokoloskee Bay, and Dick, for the first time, saw oranges and
+grape-fruit growing and tasted the delicious alligator pear and the
+guava.
+
+After supper Mr. Streeter said to Dick:
+
+"Johnny tells me you have got a friend lying around loose somewhere
+in the Big Cypress Swamp, or the Everglades, and that you and he are
+going to take a day off to look him up."
+
+"That's about the size of it, only of course I don't expect to find
+him in a day or a week. I had some hope that a month would do. I
+suppose it all seems very silly to you?"
+
+"Not a bit, not a bit. The Big Swamp isn't a bad place, if you've
+sand and sense, and I reckon you have both or you wouldn't have got
+as far as you have. I suppose it's Ned Barstow you're looking for?"
+
+"Who in the world could have told you? I haven't spoken his name
+since I left home."
+
+"Nobody told me, but last week Chris Meyer, the surveyor, was here
+and, as we are old friends, we talked half the night. He told me of
+his work for Mr. Barstow, the big lumber man, and said that Ned
+Barstow, his son, had been out in the swamp with him as surveyor's
+assistant for 'most a month, Chris told me that when he left, Ned
+was arranging to go on a hunting trip with Billy Tommy, a Seminole
+Indian. He thought the plan was to hunt slowly through the swamp to
+Tommy's canoe, which he had left somewhere between Boat Landing and
+Charley Tiger's. Ned expected then to work down through the
+Everglades to Cape Sable if possible."
+
+"Is there any chance of my finding him in that great wilderness, Mr.
+Streeter? It looks so much bigger than it did from up north. How is
+it possible to keep from getting lost?"
+
+"Don't have to. Soon as you begin to worry because you don't know
+where you are, trouble begins. More than one man in this country has
+gone crazy and killed himself because he thought he was lost. Why,
+you can't be really lost. If you're worried just start for the North
+Star. You'll hit somebody before you strike the North Pole. But it's
+a heap easier to keep from worrying if you've got company. Lordy,
+the picnic you and Johnny are going to have! I wish I was as young
+as you and going with you. Your best way to find Ned will not be to
+follow his trail, but to head him off somewhere in the Glades.
+That's easier than you think. I could pretty nearly figure out to a
+mile where he is this minute. You see, he's with Billy Tommy, and I
+know that Injun. Couldn't make him hurry if he tried, and he won't
+try. He'll be so busy shootin' things and skinnin' 'em and fussin'
+'round camp that they'll get ahead mighty slow. Shouldn't wonder if
+it took 'em a week from the time they started to get to where Tommy
+left his canoe. Then they will put out in the Glades and head
+straight for Charley Tiger's camp."
+
+"How do you know that?"
+
+"Because I know Tommy and because it's the only Injun camp 'round
+there where he'd be sure to find _whyome_--that's whisky, or rum, or
+anything that'll make drunk come."
+
+"But suppose Ned wouldn't go that way?"
+
+"Oh, Tommy'd fix that. He'd point to the west and say, 'Big Swamp,
+canoe no can take!' Then he'd wave his hand to the east, 'No trail,
+_oko suchescha_ (water all gone), saw-grass _ojus_ (heaps)!' No,
+they never got past Tiger's camp without stopping. Then Tommy got
+drunk and Ned couldn't move him under four days. It's an even chance
+that they are right there now."
+
+"How far from here is Tiger's camp?" asked Dick.
+
+"Less than forty miles, but you'd think it was four hundred before
+you got there, if you tried to cross the swamp to reach it. Besides,
+they would certainly be gone before you could possibly get to the
+camp. Then you couldn't take a boat, and you've got to have one to
+follow your friend."
+
+"Can I buy or hire a skiff, here?"
+
+"You can do a lot better. One of your Northern tourists left a
+little beauty of a canoe with me, to be sold first chance I got. It
+cost seventy dollars, delivered here, and you can have it for
+twenty. It's only fifteen feet long and about two feet wide
+amidships, but it weighs only forty pounds and when there isn't
+water enough for the canoe to carry you, why, you can carry the
+canoe. Then a few little traps go with it which you may find useful.
+There's a broken fly-rod, which you can fix all right, and a little
+single-barrel shot-gun, not worth much, but you can always pick up a
+supper with it. There are also a pair of grains, a light harpoon,
+and a cast-net which is torn some, but Johnny can fix it. Johnny's
+got a rifle and all the camp kit two tough boys will need.
+
+"Better take a piece of light, waterproofed canvas big enough to
+keep off some of the rain when it storms, an axe, a bag of salt to
+save the hides of the alligators you will be sure to kill if Johnny
+goes with you, and some grits and bacon. Oh! you may need a
+mosquito-bar, and if you do want it you're likely to want it bad.
+Make it of cheese-cloth; that'll keep out sand-flies, too. Some of
+my folks will run it up on the machine for you in a few minutes.
+There may be some other little things that you'll need, but you can
+trust Johnny to think of 'em. Now, Dick, you don't have to pay for
+any of these things till you get good and ready. I'm used to giving
+long credits and this time I'm glad to do it."
+
+"Oh, Mr. Streeter, you don't know how grateful I am to you for all
+you are doing for me. The money is the least part of it and I can
+fix that all right. You wouldn't think I was a capitalist to look at
+me, would you?" said Dick, laughingly. "Since I left home I've
+rolled up quite a fortune as a fireman and a sponger and I can pay
+my little bills and have money to burn besides. How soon do you
+think we can get off?"
+
+"You ought to start to-morrow. You can get ready in an hour. Know
+anything about canoeing?"
+
+"Not much, but I've rowed some in a shell."
+
+"That'll help you a little, but it leaves you something to learn.
+The man whose canoe you have bought was cruising down here with his
+family and he told me that every time one of 'em stepped in that
+canoe he went overboard. He said he had to choose between the canoe
+and his family and had concluded to let the canoe go. One of my boys
+owns a little Indian canoe in which Johnny and he have poled around
+a good deal, so I reckon Johnny can keep inside of your canoe, but
+you'd better spend the forenoon to-morrow practicing in it with a
+paddle, then you can get off right after dinner and your clothes
+will be dry before you make camp at night."
+
+"Does Johnny know the course we ought to take from here?"
+
+"Not far, but I can help you some and you'll find out the rest for
+yourselves. You'll have to. Then Johnny savvies Injun talk pretty
+well and you're sure to run across them or their camps. And he'll
+likely know them, and if Ned's anywhere in their country or has been
+there they'll sure know it. You will leave this bay by way of
+Turner's River, which will take you into the most tangled up part of
+the Ten Thousand Islands. You will go through rivers and bays,
+around keys, along twisting channels and up narrow, crooked creeks.
+You'll be lost from the start, but you don't want to think of that.
+Just make your course average southeast for the first fifty miles,
+which you ought to cover in three days. Then hunt for some creek
+coming from the east. It will be a little one, you will have to drag
+your canoe, perhaps for miles, under branches that close over the
+creek and you may have to carry your canoe and pack your dunnage
+over prairie land. In a day you ought to strike the Everglades. Then
+turn to the north and look for Indian trails, which you want to
+follow whenever they lead anywhere near where you are trying to go.
+They will help you to dodge the worst of the saw-grass which is
+likely to be your greatest trouble.
+
+"Keep along the border line between the Everglades and the cypress
+country and you will probably hit Osceola's camp. He's about the
+whitest Seminole in the State and he'll help you all he can.
+Remember, when in an Indian camp, that their brand of politeness is
+different from a white man's, though it may be just as sincere. If
+you're hungry, and don't see a spoon lying around, just dip your
+hand in the family pot, if you can eat that way. If you want to
+sleep lie down on the nearest unoccupied bunk. If you make a mistake
+they won't tell you of it.
+
+"Now, remember above all things, that you mustn't get rattled.
+That's the biggest risk you'll run in this country. If you get
+separated from Johnny and think about being lost and get excited and
+begin to walk fast, or run, stop right there and sit down and don't
+go on till you're perfectly cool, not if you have to camp right
+where you are for a night, or a day, or both. Just as soon as you
+have taught yourself that when you get excited you have got to sit
+still for an hour or two, you'll stop getting excited. There is
+mighty little real danger where you are going. There are bear and
+panther, but the only thing on earth that's a bigger coward than a
+bear is a panther. People from your country think the alligator is a
+dangerous brute. I have lived among them, killed them, dealt in
+their hides, of which I have shipped north the biggest consignments
+sent from this coast, since before you were born, and I never knew
+of a human being having been harmed by one. This deep river running
+in front of my door used to be full of them, and there are some
+there now, but my whole family of children swim in it almost every
+day without thought of danger. Only two weeks ago Johnny killed a
+ten-foot 'gator right in front of my house and within a hundred
+feet of it. Any of our hunters will wade into a pond where there are
+fifty alligators, to drag out one they have shot; many of them will
+tackle, with nothing but a stick, any 'gator under six feet that
+they can catch on a prairie or asleep on a bank, and a few of the
+boys will wade bare-footed and bare-handed into a pond on the
+prairie and bring out little alligators. Johnny is a dabster at
+that. Likely you'll see him do it before many days.
+
+"Of course rattlesnakes are bad, but they always give warning,
+usually a good long one. I've killed hundreds, perhaps thousands of
+them and never been bitten. Cotton-mouth moccasins are poisonous,
+but they are sluggish and not so very plenty. You'll have to get
+used to the smaller moccasins. You will find lots of them. I've
+kicked them out of my path on the prairies and in the marshes for a
+good many years without having been bitten by one.
+
+"Sharks have a bad name, and Florida waters are full of them, but
+there is no authentic instance on record of their having killed a
+man, woman, or child in this country. There are convicts and other
+outlaws in the Ten Thousand Islands. They may steal something from
+your camp, but they won't harm you. Some of them are bad men, and
+when they kill their own kind, people here don't mind it, but the
+outlaws know that the community wouldn't stand for their hurting any
+of you boys."
+
+Dick was ashamed when he got up to breakfast to find that Mr.
+Streeter and Johnny had been at work for an hour and had got
+everything ready for a start, even to the mosquito-bar, which one of
+the family had already made.
+
+The outfit consisted of a fly-rod, with reel, line and flies; rifle
+and shot-gun, with fifty cartridges for each; pair grains, harpoon,
+line and pole; cast-net, fish hooks and lines; forks, tin-cups and
+plates, two each; light axe, saucepan and frying-pan; piece of
+waterproofed canvas, six by eight feet; lantern, kerosene, and bag
+of salt; white bacon, hominy and corn meal, five lbs. each; canoe,
+two paddles and one long oar; five gallon can of water, and bucket;
+waterproof box filled with matches.
+
+Each of the boys carried a clasp knife and a pocket, watertight
+match safe.
+
+Nothing had been loaded on the canoe, as Mr. Streeter wanted to be
+sure that Dick could stay in it, before he filled it with goods that
+water might harm. He was soon satisfied on this point, for although
+Dick got into the canoe with exceeding care, he kept his balance
+perfectly, and after the first few strokes appeared perfectly at
+home in the craft. He paddled for a few minutes kneeling on the
+bottom of the boat, then sitting on a thwart, and finally came back
+to the dock sitting on the stern, while the bow of the canoe tilted
+up in the air. Then Johnny got in with him and the boys maneuvered
+the craft until Mr. Streeter called out to them:
+
+"You kids are all right and don't need to waste any more time.
+Better pack up and be off, and save half a day." They loaded the
+canoe carefully and took their positions, Dick in the stern and
+Johnny in the bow. Then lifting their caps to the family, who had
+come down to the dock to see them off, the boys dipped their paddles
+together in the river and began Dick's hunt for his chum.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+DICK'S HUNT FOR HIS CHUM
+
+An hour's paddling brought Dick and Johnny to the mouth of Turner's
+River, up which they headed the canoe. A strong tide setting up the
+river nearly doubled their speed.
+
+"Lucky for us that the tide is running our way," said Dick.
+
+"Not much luck about it. Mr. Streeter knew about the tide. That's
+why he hurried us off 'fore dinner. Tide'll be other way this
+evenin'," replied Johnny.
+
+"Isn't Mr. Streeter a brick?"
+
+"He's all that. Lots o' people 'd have hard times 'f he moved away.
+He helps th' Injuns, too, when they're in hard luck."
+
+The first fork in the river was a mile from its mouth and Dick, who
+was steering, took the right branch, which led southeast, although
+it was much the smaller stream. At the next parting of the stream
+one branch led to the east and the other due south. Fortunately
+Johnny knew which fork to take, and for a mile or two there was no
+trouble. Then the river opened out into a broad shallow bay, filled
+with little keys, but nothing to tell Dick which way to steer. He
+tried to keep to a southeast course, but ran into shallows which
+soon ended in a pocket from which they had to back out. Often they
+followed a good channel for a mile, only to have it end in an oyster
+reef, and again they had to turn back. A pair of dolphins lifted
+their heads above the surface in front of the canoe and with a sniff
+of fright started away across the bay like an express train. They
+were great creatures, nearly nine feet long, and were followed in
+their flight by a baby dolphin less than half their size, which rose
+within reach of Dick's paddle, sniffed impertinently in his face and
+skittered away after his mother as fast as he could wiggle his funny
+flat tail.
+
+"Better foller them porpoises," said Johnny; "they know the
+channel."
+
+The dolphin is so uniformly miscalled porpoise, on the west coast
+and everywhere else, that the creature will soon come to think that
+it really is a porpoise.
+
+Dick followed the dolphins as long as he could see them and was led
+into a deep channel which opened out into a series of broad bays
+through which they paddled until, among the sunken lands of the
+flooded mangrove keys, they came upon a shell mound, the site of an
+old abandoned plantation. Dick's aching muscles and Johnny's
+clamorous stomach had long been pleading for a rest, and the boys
+landed on the mound for a picnic dinner. They opened a box which
+Mrs. Streeter had given them as they started from her home, and
+found a bountiful lunch of cold venison, baked sweet potatoes,
+boiled eggs, bread, butter, orange marmalade and two pineapples.
+
+"Gee!" said Dick. "Are we going to live this way, Johnny?" but
+Johnny only grinned.
+
+After the boys had eaten, as only boys can eat, they crawled through
+the vines and among the thorns of the overgrown plantation. They
+found stalks of sugar-cane and bunches of bananas; wide-spreading
+guava and lime trees, loaded with fruit; and tall Avocado pear trees
+from which hung purpling globes of that great, creamy, most
+delicious fruit, commonly called alligator pear. They filled with
+fruit the shirts they wore, till they bulged like St. Nicholas, and
+made many trips between the trees and their canoe. As Dick was
+standing beside a lime tree, he heard a sound near him like the
+whirring of a big locust. Dick had never before heard the angry
+jarring of the rattles of the great king of snakes, but he didn't
+need to be told the meaning of the blood-curdling sound, which
+seemed to come from all directions at once. He gazed about him for a
+moment, with every muscle tense, until he caught sight of the head
+of the reptile waving slowly to and fro above the irregular coils of
+his body. The snake seemed to be within striking distance and the
+unnerved boy sprang suddenly away from it, landing among the
+thorn-bearing branches of a big lime tree. Dick soon recovered his
+nerve, and hunting up a big stick, went cautiously in search of the
+reptile, which he found still coiled. He broke the creature's back
+with his first blow and had struck several more when Johnny came
+crawling through the undergrowth, and called out:
+
+"Want to save his skin?"
+
+"Sure," replied Dick, who hadn't thought of it before.
+
+"Then don't smash him any more and I'll show you how to round-skin
+him. He's dead enough, now. A feller from New York showed me how. He
+skinned 'em for a livin'. Birds, too. Said he'd give me ten dollars
+if I'd get him the skin of one of these fork-tailed kites. He wanted
+the nest and eggs, too. Say, but he could skin things. Skin a bird
+without losin' a feather or gettin' a drop o' blood on it. Said the
+best way to skin snakes was 'fore they was dead."
+
+As Johnny began cutting the skin free from the jaws of the reptile,
+the long, needle-like fangs dripped yellow venom and Dick, looking
+on with a white face, half whispered:
+
+"Suppose you happened to touch those fangs?"
+
+"Ain't a-goin' to touch 'em. Wish I had my pliers here, to pull 'em
+out. You oughter save 'em, and the skull, too. The feller I was
+tellin' yer about always did."
+
+"I don't want them; makes me sick to look at them," said Dick, who
+looked mightily relieved when, the head having been skinned, it was
+cut off and thrown into the bay. After that he became interested
+and helped Johnny with his work until he held in his hand the
+beautiful skin of a diamondback rattlesnake, over six feet long.
+
+In the afternoon the boys entered a big bay that seemed to have no
+other outlet. They followed its shore for an hour, exploring every
+little bay that looked big enough to hide the smallest creek. They
+sounded the depth of the water with their paddles and traced a
+little channel to a clump of bushes that overhung the water from the
+shore. Johnny pulled the bow of the canoe under the overhanging
+branches and found a little creek through which the water was
+flowing. They dragged the canoe into the stream and found water deep
+enough to float it, but branches and vines obstructed them above,
+while logs and snags troubled them below. They used their knives and
+the axe more than they did their paddles. At times they lay down in
+the canoe and dragged it under branches and at others got overboard,
+and standing in water and mud, lifted it over logs. They were in the
+deep gloom of a jungle from which the thick growth above shut out
+nearly all the light. As they pushed the canoe forward, unseen vines
+seized their throats in a garroting clutch, while solid masses of
+spider-webs stuck to their faces and spiders the size of a saucer
+ran over them. As Johnny sat in the bow, he collected the most
+spiders, since Dick only got those which his companion managed to
+dodge, but then Johnny was used to the critters and didn't mind
+them, while Dick wasn't, and did.
+
+"What kind of snakes are these swimming round my legs?" asked Dick,
+as he stood nearly waist-deep in mud and water and helped lift the
+canoe over the biggest log they had struck.
+
+"Speckle-belly moccasins. Mustn't get scared o' them, if you're
+goin' to hunt in this country. They ain't likely to bite if yer
+don't step on 'em and they won't kill yer, nohow," said Johnny.
+
+The stream was so crooked that the boys had to travel three miles to
+gain one and as the troubles in their path seemed to increase they
+talked of turning back. But as it was already too late to get out of
+the creek before dark, they decided to keep on. As it was, darkness
+overtook them while they were yet in the creek. Among their stores
+was a lantern, by the light of which they progressed for a little
+while, when Johnny proposed making camp.
+
+"But we can't camp here. I'm not a merman, to sleep in the water,"
+said Dick.
+
+"You can stretch out in the canoe, if we tie it so it won't tip
+over, and I'll build a brush bed good enough for me in ten minutes,"
+said Johnny, who took the axe, and cut a short pole, which he rested
+on the branches of two trees which grew side by side, so that the
+stick lay parallel to a fallen tree trunk which lay about five feet
+distant. Then he cut a number of inch saplings into six-foot
+lengths, with which he made a platform from the pole to the tree,
+and spreading his blanket on this elastic couch announced that his
+bed was ready. The boys made a hearty supper from the fragments
+that were left from the bountiful provision that Mrs. Streeter had
+made for their dinner. Dick's bed in the canoe was probably softer
+than Johnny's bed, but he didn't sleep as well. The sides of his
+canoe were only five inches above the water which contained the
+moccasins, and Dick was sure he could feel their tongues touch his
+face as the reptiles searched for a soft place to strike. Then the
+snarling from a tree beside him would have been less terrifying if
+he had known that instead of being, as he supposed, two wildcats
+quarreling for the first bite at him, it was merely a friendly
+family discussion between two 'coons.
+
+Things looked more cheerful by daylight, and when Johnny asked
+whether they should go on or turn back, Dick replied:
+
+"Go on just as long as the creek runs." But the creek became choked
+with brush and turned back on its course, until Johnny said:
+
+"If this crik gits any crookeder it'll fetch us back home."
+
+The boys had to cut away two trees which had fallen across the creek
+where the growth was so thick that to cut a path around would have
+been more work than to clear away the logs. The trees were large,
+their axe a little one, and when the boys came to three trees lying
+near together across the stream Dick was so dismayed that he said to
+Johnny:
+
+"Let's get back out of this creek. We must be on the wrong track,
+Mr. Streeter said Indians and hunters got through this country, but
+they never got through this way. What do you think?"
+
+"Hate to go back, but s'pose we've got ter."
+
+Dick's spirits ran low during the return trip through the creek.
+They were going in the wrong direction, and each hour was taking him
+farther away from where he supposed Ned was. Many times he wished
+they had kept on and fought their way through the creek. After
+reaching the bay they had left the day before they turned to the
+east and north as they followed labyrinthic channels that led around
+big and little keys in that part of the ten times Ten Thousand
+Islands. The work became confusing, the waterways they followed led
+them toward every point in the compass. Sometimes a narrowing stream
+made them think they had struck a creek which flowed from the
+mainland, but always it opened into some small bay filled with
+little keys. Late in the afternoon they found a point of land high
+enough for a camp, where they spent the night. After they had eaten
+their supper, Dick said:
+
+"Johnny, do you know where we are?"
+
+"Nope; bin goin' 'round so fast I've got dizzy."
+
+"You mean we are lost?"
+
+"Yep; but that's nothin' s' long's we don't stay lost."
+
+"What shall we do, and where shall we go?"
+
+"Go anywhere, only stick to it. Got ter do sumpthin; fresh water's
+'most gone. Reckon we'd better go 'bout sou'west. We kin find a
+river that'll take us t' the coast, 'nd I kin find a way that'll
+take us where you wanter go."
+
+An hour's paddling brought the boys to a bay in which were several
+pretty keys, on one of which Dick saw a number of beautiful white
+birds.
+
+"What are those?" he asked.
+
+"Egrets," said Johnny. "Want ter shoot 'em?"
+
+"Of course not," replied Dick. "It's against the law, and wicked,
+besides. They are the loveliest birds there are and never ought to
+be killed just for fun."
+
+"We never kill 'em for fun. Only tourists do that. If you Northern
+fellers didn't pay us ter git plumes we'd never kill 'em. D'ye
+remember that key over there?"
+
+"No. What about it?"
+
+"See that crik by the palmetter 'nd the big stump? Know it now?"
+
+"What! Isn't that the creek we slept in night before last?"
+
+"Sure! 'nd that's where we wanter go now. Them trees that we stopped
+fer was cut by our fellers to keep off the Lossman River plume
+hunters. We've got ter cut 'em out, er git 'round 'em if 't takes a
+week."
+
+"How about water?"
+
+"Find it t'other side o' the crik. I'd rather go without than go
+back t' anybody's house fer it."
+
+"But that old shack where we killed the rattler isn't far off, and I
+saw a water-barrel under the caves."
+
+"So did I, 'nd a possum floatin' in it, too. That's why I didn't
+fill up there. We'll go slow on what we got 'nd do without a day 'r
+two, 'nd we'll find some by then if we stick t' anything."
+
+"We're going to stick to things hereafter, Johnny. It was plumb
+foolish to lay down just because a tree got in our way, and it was
+my fault, too. It isn't going to happen again, though. Let's get
+through that creek to-night, if we have to work by the light of the
+lantern."
+
+"Ain't you 'fraid o' the snakes?" said Johnny.
+
+"No. I'm too ashamed of myself for backing out of that creek to be
+afraid of anything, except doing it again."
+
+When the boys got back to the trees which lay across the creek, they
+took turns with the little axe, which was not much heavier than a
+hatchet, until they had cleared an opening for the canoe. They found
+other trees in their way, but they kept on. Once they unloaded the
+canoe on stumps and logs until they could lift it over a log that
+lay so deep in the water that it was hard to cut. Five minutes
+later, and within a hundred yards of where they had turned back on
+the previous day, the boys reached the end of the creek, where it
+opened into a bay which seemed to Dick as beautiful as a dream. It
+was dotted with little islands, on some of which were picturesque
+groups of palmettos, and on others big trees filled with
+white-plumaged birds. Two black dots on the surface of the water a
+hundred yards from the canoe moved slowly across its bow. Johnny
+stopped paddling and said:
+
+"There's a 'gator. D'ye want him?"
+
+"I don't see him."
+
+"See them two black knobs on the water? The little one's his nose
+'nd the big one's his eye. He's turnin' 'round 'nd showin' both
+eyes, now. Shoot him in the eye if yer want t' kill him. It'll take
+some time t' skin him, though, 'nd mebbe ye're in a hurry to get
+along."
+
+"I sure am," replied Dick, and as the paddles dipped together in the
+water, the alligator, suspicious of them, slowly sank from their
+sight.
+
+At the end of the bay the boys found a deep, narrow river with a
+current which Dick supposed was tidal, but which Johnny thought came
+from the Glades. Dick tasted the water and was surprised to find
+that instead of being salt it had the sweetish taste of merely
+brackish water. There were birds of many kinds in the trees on the
+banks of the river, and as the boys paddled against the current
+Johnny saw a brace of ducks swimming ahead of the canoe. He took in
+his paddle and picked up the shotgun, which, with much forethought,
+he had placed beside himself in the canoe before starting out. Dick
+paddled very slowly and quietly toward the ducks until they were
+within easy range. Johnny had been told that if he wanted to be a
+real sportsman he must never fire at birds with a shotgun unless
+they were flying. So he waited until the ducks rose before firing at
+them. The next instant a bird fell heavily on the water a few yards
+ahead of the canoe.
+
+"Why, that bird fell out of this tree!" said the astonished Dick. "I
+didn't know you fired up in a tree."
+
+"I didn't," replied Johnny. "That was a water-turkey, and he isn't
+hurt a bit. They often act so when they're scared. Watch out for him
+under the bank."
+
+In a minute or two Dick saw a long, snake-like head and neck thrust
+out of the water by the bank. The head twisted about with a quick,
+jerky motion till the bird's eyes rested on the canoe, when it
+disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared.
+
+"What became of the ducks?" said Dick.
+
+"Reckon we'll find one of 'em 'round that p'int. The other got
+away." Johnny was right, and the duck was found just around the
+point.
+
+At some places the river narrowed into deep creeks and at others
+broadened out into wide, shallow bays, where the boys were puzzled
+to find the inlet they wanted. It was nearly noon when they struck a
+stream of quite a different sort from anything they had previously
+seen. Its mouth lay between banks that were high for Florida, and
+through it flowed a stream of crystal-clear water, which, to the
+great relief and delight of the boys, was fresh as a mountain brook
+The bed of the stream looked like sand to Dick, but when he thumped
+it with his paddle he found it was coral rock. Suddenly Johnny
+called to him:
+
+"Watch out fur the boat," and resting his hands on the sides of the
+craft leaped into the water without disturbing in the least the
+balance of the canoe.
+
+As Johnny swam rapidly under water, close to the white coral bottom
+of the creek, Dick saw that he was chasing a turtle which was
+skurrying toward the bank for protection. It got there all right,
+but the bank didn't protect it, and soon Johnny came to the surface
+hugging to his breast with his left hand a wildly flapping turtle,
+while with his right he struck out for the canoe. Getting into the
+canoe would have been a ticklish job, so Johnny handed the turtle to
+his companion and swam to the bank while Dick followed with the
+canoe. By the time Johnny had butchered the turtle, Dick had
+constructed a very creditable camp-fire under a palmetto, in the
+shade of which the boys rested while they waited for the turtle stew
+to be ready for them. Their breakfast had been a cold one,
+consisting entirely of fruit, and they had decided that for dinner
+they would begin with turtle stew and end with broiled duck. When
+the stew had been finished, Johnny inquired:
+
+"Want that duck cooked now?"
+
+"No, I don't. If I ate another mouthful I'd bust. Let's have the
+duck next week."
+
+Yet each of the boys managed to eat about a hatful of wild grapes,
+which they found growing a short distance from their camp-fire.
+
+Just as the boys were starting out again, Dick saw a turtle, and,
+laying down his paddle, said:
+
+"Johnny, if you can catch turtles, I can. See me go for that one."
+
+"Hold on," shouted Johnny, as Dick was about to jump overboard.
+"That's an alligator turtle. Bites worse'n a bulldog, and ain't good
+fur much t' eat, nohow."
+
+As they kept on up the creek, its banks came nearer together, trees
+were more numerous, and the bushes thicker. Soon these began to
+close overhead, while the stream itself broke up into several
+smaller ones. As these twisted about, forming a labyrinth of little
+channels bounded by hundreds of tiny keys, all cohered by an
+interlaced canopy of leaves and branches, Dick wondered if ever they
+could find their way out. But he had resolved that morning that
+never again would he turn back in his exploring so long as it was
+possible to go on. The little streams continued to become smaller
+and the turns shorter, until to get around the bends the axe was in
+constant use to clear a path, while the boys waded and often dragged
+or carried the canoe. It was wearing work, and they frequently sat
+down to rest. On one of these occasions Johnny inquired:
+
+"How long you want ter keep this up? This ain't the right creek,
+not the one Mr. Streeter told about."
+
+"I know that. The creek he spoke of must be away south of this, but
+this will probably take us to the Everglades, or near them. So we
+had better keep on till the brook gives out and then travel to the
+east, toting the canoe till we get to the Glades. We may be away
+north of Osceola's camp, but there will likely be a trail that will
+help us to find it, and anyhow we will be near the line that Mr.
+Streeter thinks Ned and the Indian will follow. Don't you like the
+plan?"
+
+"Me? Sure! I don't want any better fun than t' keep on t' the
+Atlantic Ocean, only 'fraid it'd be too hard fer you."
+
+Night found the toys in a narrow stream, scarcely more than the
+width of the canoe, with bushes around them so thick that they found
+it hard to clear a place big enough to sleep on. They were tired
+enough to sleep soundly, in spite of the occasional cries of the
+birds and beasts of the forest.
+
+They made an early start in the morning, and, although the creek was
+crooked and they had to cut away many small trees, they were
+encouraged to find the bushes becoming less abundant as the water
+grew more shallow, and by dark they were on the border of an open
+prairie, where they made camp for the night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE MEETING IN THE GLADES
+
+
+"The Everglades at last!" said Dick the next morning as the rays of
+the rising sun fell on the waters of the Everglades in the distance
+and lit up the clumps of cypress and groups of palmettos that dotted
+the prairie before him. A little to the north and extending into the
+Glades was a row of willows which Johnny visited and found that it
+marked the course of a slough that crossed the prairie and extended
+far out into the Glades.
+
+[Illustration: "THE EVERGLADES AT LAST"]
+
+They were soon afloat in this slough, paddling toward the
+Everglades, but the channel which they followed was crooked and it
+was an hour before they reached them. The boys made their camp
+beside a little group of palmettos on a bit of dry ground which had
+often been used for that purpose. Johnny pointed to a faint line in
+the grass of the Glades and told Dick that it was an Indian trail.
+Dick was excited at the thought that the chum he had come so far to
+meet might even now be in sight. When, far to the north, he saw what
+Johnny said was an Indian canoe with two people poling it, he could
+scarcely restrain himself from paddling out to meet it. The canoe
+came on rapidly, and Dick's excitement increased until he began to
+fancy that in one of the faces that showed above the grass he could
+make out the features of his chum, when Johnny dashed his hopes to
+the ground by saying:
+
+"Them's Injuns. Squaws, too. B'lieve I know 'em."
+
+Then as the approaching faces showed more clearly through the tall
+grass:
+
+"Sure thing. It's Miami Billy's girls. They'll savvy where Charley
+Tommy is."
+
+The Indian girls were poling past the canoe without appearing to see
+it, when Johnny spoke to them. Then the girls, who were clothed in
+the brightest of prints, with masses of beads on their necks, sat
+down in their canoe and had a pow-wow with Johnny that was
+altogether unintelligible to Dick. When the girls had gone, Johnny
+explained:
+
+"Squaws say: 'Think so Charley Tommy not been Osceola Camp, two
+moons. Been Big Cypress; hunt 'gator. Maybe so hunt with white man.
+Not been Charley Tiger camp this moon.' The girls left that camp day
+'fore yesterday. Only other trail from Tiger's camp goes t' Miami.
+We c'n camp right here 'nd ketch 'em sure."
+
+Johnny proposed that while waiting they do some alligator hunting.
+They got out their canvas and rigged up a regular camp. Dick wrote a
+few lines on a scrap of paper, addressed it "Mr. Edward Barstow,"
+and fastened it on a palmetto tree, in such a way that no one
+passing along the trail could fail to see it. The boys then unpacked
+the canoe, and turning it upside down on a bit of dry land stowed
+their stores under it. They gathered a lot of grass for their beds,
+arranged for an early start in the morning, and slept dreamlessly
+till morning came. The hunt was to be on foot, and Johnny insisted
+that Dick carry the rifle, while he made up a light pack for himself
+of axe, frying-pan, forks and a little bacon, corn meal, bait and
+matches. When Dick saw Johnny's pack, he said to him:
+
+"Won't we get back to-night?"
+
+"Mebbe so, but you can't allers tell. We might get to follerin'
+sumthin and be gone two or three days. I don't reckon we're goin' to
+get lost, though we may be bothered some."
+
+"If there's a chance of that we haven't got enough to eat."
+
+"Got plenty. All we really want is a rifle, matches and salt. They'd
+be good for a month."
+
+"What do you do for bread?"
+
+"Cut the bud out of a cabbage tree."
+
+The boys tramped across the prairie to a belt of cypress, where
+Johnny stopped for some minutes, looking back to study the landscape
+and take note of every clump of trees and bit of water in sight.
+
+"I thought you were not afraid of getting lost," said Dick.
+
+"I ain't afraid. I could alters git home all right, but I'd hate to
+lose the canoe."
+
+The cypress strand was swampy, and they crossed it by stepping from
+root to root, excepting that once, when Dick was looking at a
+moccasin, he made a misstep and landed in the mud, where he sank to
+his waist. The woods were narrow, and beyond them was a broad
+prairie with clumps of trees and pools of water scattered through
+it. As they walked and waded they crossed the tracks of many animals
+and birds, to most of which Johnny could give names. There were
+plenty of 'coons, a few wildcats, some deer, and one bear, while
+between the little ponds alligators had worn regular paths.
+
+"What's that?" said Dick as a lizard-like creature scuttled through
+the grass some fifty yards in front of him.
+
+"'Gator! Shoot quick, 'fore he gits t' that pond!"
+
+Dick fired, and his bullet spattered the mud over the reptile's back
+as it slid into the water.
+
+Dick was very much chagrined at missing his quarry, but Johnny
+consoled him.
+
+"I'll git ye another shot at him. I'll call him out o' the water,
+and if he don't come I'll take a stick an' go in there an' run him
+out."
+
+Johnny stood beside the pond and grunted in imitation of a young
+alligator. In a few minutes two black dots appeared on the surface
+of the water, and, slowly rising, disclosed the eyes and the point
+of the nose of an alligator. Johnny grunted again, and the big
+mouth opened wide to take in the baby 'gator which the reptile
+thought he heard. Then the horny ridges of the back began to appear,
+and soon the whole body of the reptile lay on the surface. Johnny
+whispered to Dick:
+
+"Shoot him in that hump behind his eyes." Dick took careful aim and
+fired. The alligator rolled slowly over, with its yellow belly on
+top and its four paws uplifted. Johnny waded into the pond and
+dragged out the body of the reptile, which Dick helped him skin.
+When this had been done Johnny cut from the creature a round strip
+of white flesh, about a foot long, beginning at the hind leg and
+running toward the tail.
+
+"What's that for?" said Dick.
+
+"Fur dinner. I told ye we'd find 'nuff t' eat."
+
+"Do yon s'pose I'm going to eat that?"
+
+"Sure! 'nd yer goin' ter like it."
+
+"Then I wish I hadn't helped skin it."
+
+Just as the boys were leaving the pond they heard a little grunt,
+and turning around saw a baby alligator, less than two feet long,
+lying on the surface.
+
+"Want ter ketch that alive?" asked Johnny.
+
+"Can you do it?"
+
+"I'll show' yer."
+
+And Johnny took off his shoes and waded into the pond. He waded
+about the pond, feeling in the mud with his toes until he felt the
+reptile, when, slipping his toes under it he lifted his foot
+suddenly and brought the alligator near enough to the surface to be
+able to seize him. Dick was delighted with the captive, but was
+frank enough to say:
+
+"Johnny, I said once that I could learn to do anything that you
+could. I take that back. I couldn't learn to do what you did then in
+a thousand years."
+
+Johnny laughed and said:
+
+"You'd do it this afternoon, and I'll bet on it."
+
+Johnny tied a string around the jaws of their little pet and handed
+it to Dick, who carried the wiggly thing so awkwardly that Johnny
+took it back and, opening the bosom of his shirt, put the alligator
+where he would have a soft bed and plenty of room to prowl around.
+
+"That's another thing I'd be scared to do," said Dick.
+
+Johnny led the way to a clump of palmettos beside a clear little
+spring and a nice shady bit of ground, where they made a camp-fire,
+after driving away a family of moccasins that seemed to own the
+place. A slice of alligator steak, nicely browned, was served on a
+palmetto fan to Dick, who nibbled squeamishly at the delicate morsel
+at first, but soon handed back his leafy plate for another helping.
+
+"Wouldn't have believed it," said Dick, "but I never tasted any
+better meat."
+
+"Wait till I cook ye a rattler. That beats fried chicken."
+
+"No, thank you. I draw the line at snakes."
+
+"You drawed it at 'gators this mornin'. Want some more?"
+
+And Dick shamelessly passed up his plate.
+
+The boys walked and waded several miles, until they were near a
+heavily wooded tract, which Johnny said was cypress swamp. It was
+late in the day, and they were about to turn back when Dick saw a
+turkey, which was holding her head half as high as his own, step
+silently into the cover of the woods, followed by half a dozen of
+her half-grown brood. Johnny saw the birds almost as soon as Dick,
+and exclaimed excitedly:
+
+"We've got ter have one of them young turks if it takes all night."
+
+They entered the swamp and got sight of one of the turkeys as he ran
+along a log, and they walked to where they saw the bird, only to get
+another glimpse at about the same distance. Again they followed the
+birds, this time as cautiously as if they had been stalking hostile
+Indians. Often they saw one or more of the turkeys, but never within
+easy range.
+
+"Better try a long shot. They're gettin' wild," said Johnny.
+
+"No, you try 'em, Johnny; you're used to the rifle and you're a
+better shot than I, anyhow."
+
+[Illustration: "WE'VE GOTTER HAVE ONE OF THEM YOUNG TURKS IF IT
+TAKES ALL NIGHT"]
+
+Johnny took the weapon, and his chance came soon. One of the young
+birds lit on a stump within long range of him and remained there
+until he had taken a careful sight and fired. The bird fell, and
+the rest of the brood flew into the depths of the swamp. When the
+boys were ready to start back to camp, Dick discovered to his
+chagrin that he had no idea of the direction in which they should
+travel. Johnny, too, was in some doubt, and as it was already
+growing dark and they had been traveling in the swamp for an hour or
+two, he proposed that they camp right where they were.
+
+"How can we camp here? Water's knee-deep, there's no place for a
+fire, and I'd starve to death before morning. Don't you expect to
+have anything to eat until to-morrow?"
+
+"Bet yer I do! What's the matter with young turkey?"
+
+"Young turkey's bully, but raw turkey's bum."
+
+Johnny laughed and waded to where a fallen tree had left a level
+place among its upturned roots. A few minutes' work with the
+hatchet, which Johnny always carried when hunting, cleared out a
+good foundation for a fire.
+
+"Bully for you! I'll dress the turkey while you build a fire," said
+Dick.
+
+By the time the bird was ready for the frying-pan, Johnny had not
+only built the fire, but had cut a lot of poles and rigged up a
+rough cot between the fallen tree and a rotten log that lay near it.
+Johnny cut some thin slices of bacon for the frying-pan and then
+filled it with thick slices and chunks of turkey. When this had been
+cooked and disposed of, Dick still looked hungry, and another panful
+of the bird was fried. Dick slept some during the night, but
+complained that he had a map of his bunk on his back, which had been
+printed deeply. When breakfast was over and the last bone of the
+turkey had been picked, the boys turned their faces to the east and
+started for their camp. They soon reached an open glade, which was
+quite unfamiliar to them, and were about to enter it, when Johnny,
+who was ahead, slipped behind a tree and held up his hand warningly
+to Dick, who promptly got behind another. Two deer were in the
+opening, about a hundred yards to windward of the boys, toward whom
+they were slowly feeding. Dick was excited and was nervously raising
+his rifle, when Johnny whispered:
+
+"Don't hurry. Got lots o' time."
+
+Dick was ashamed of his nervousness, and determined to conquer it,
+even if he didn't fire at all. One of the deer was a buck with fine
+antlers, and Dick watched his slow advance, as he looked around for
+a moment and then browsed for a minute or two, until the boy felt
+that his nerves were steady once more. The buck was within fifty
+yards when Dick lifted the rifle to his shoulder and let his cheek
+rest upon its stock. In another instant the hunted deer had caught
+sight of the hunter, but it was too late. The beautiful creature
+stood motionless for half a minute, while Dick wondered if he could
+have missed, and then sank slowly to the ground, dead. At the report
+of the rifle the other deer, which was a doe, scampered a few
+yards, then, turning back her head, gazed with wondering eyes upon
+her fallen mate. Johnny took from his pocket a cartridge, and,
+holding it between thumb and finger, looked inquiringly at Dick.
+Dick shook his head, and in another instant the doe had scampered
+out of danger. Dick helped Johnny skin and dress the deer, and
+learned a lot while doing so, but he seemed less happy than a boy
+should be after killing his first deer.
+
+"Johnny, I wish that buck hadn't looked at me out of his big eyes
+just when I was killing him. If I had waited a second I believe I
+wouldn't have fired."
+
+"Glad ye didn't wait, then. Why didn't yer worry about th' 'gator?
+'Gators has fine eyes."
+
+When the boys started on again they counted their loads light, but
+after they had crossed the glade and waded and wallowed through a
+mile or two of swamp they were of a different opinion. When at last
+they had crossed the swamp and only a bit of prairie lay between
+them and the Everglades, they were glad enough to throw down their
+packs for a long rest. The Everglades were before them, but where
+was their camp? In that open country they could have seen it for
+three, perhaps four, miles. Johnny had studied the country around
+the camp when they left it the day before, but could see nothing
+familiar now. However, the boy wasn't worried.
+
+"Reckon we're too fur north. Better go south a few miles, 'nd if we
+don't find it we'll turn 'round 'nd go t'other way. All we got ter
+do is t' stick t' the saw-grass," said he.
+
+For a quarter of a mile the tramp was an easy one. Then the boys
+struck a hit of boggy ground, in which they sank over their knees at
+every step. When the ground became firmer the water got deeper, and
+after wading half a mile without a chance to lay down his pack and
+rest, Dick said:
+
+"Johnny, I always heard that Florida deer were small, but this one
+must have weighed a ton. Wonder if your half is as heavy as mine.
+I've got to sit down on that hummock and rest."
+
+Dick waded to the hummock and sat down on it, wondering what Johnny
+was laughing at. The next minute he understood, for the hummock gave
+a heave and Dick rolled off into the water, while a scared alligator
+scurried away through the water and mud of the prairie. The hummock
+was only a pile of loose grass such as alligators often collect and
+under which they live in the Everglades and the submerged prairies
+about them. Soon the boys found dryer ground, and after a brisk
+tramp of half an hour were cheered by the sight of their camp. There
+was no sign of life about it, to the great disappointment of Dick,
+who had been hoping that Ned had found it. Before reaching their
+camp they had to cross a slough that was wide and deep.
+
+"Reckon we've got ter swim," said Johnny as he found a dry place on
+the bank for his pack and his rifle before wading into the stream.
+But the bottom was of coral and hard, the water reached only to his
+arm-pits, and the boys crossed without trouble, carrying their packs
+on their heads. Dick decided to wait for Ned at the camp, and Johnny
+collected wood and proceeded to smoke their venison. For two days
+they stayed by the camp, watching the trail and keeping the buzzards
+away from the venison by day and listening to the cries of the wild
+creatures in the woods near-by at night, when Dick's patience gave
+out.
+
+"Johnny," said he on the morning of the third day, "we've got to
+find Ned Barstow. Do you s'pose if he knew that I was within fifty
+miles of him he'd loaf in camp for a week expecting me to run over
+him? Not much he wouldn't. He'd be sky-hootin' from daylight till
+dark over the whole country till he lit on me. Mr. Streeter said
+Charley Tommy couldn't get past Tiger Tail's camp under four days.
+Now, what's the matter with our meeting him there? Can't you follow
+the trail of those squaws bade to Tiger's camp?"
+
+"I kin try. Mebbe 'tain't so easy's you think, though."
+
+"What risk do we run in trying it?"
+
+"Nothin', 'cept we may miss your man. We're all right 'nd could live
+anywhere in this country for a year on what we've got and could pick
+up."
+
+"Then let's hike out. I can't keep still any longer."
+
+The boys followed the trail by which the squaws had come without
+difficulty for a few miles. Then came a stretch of open water, where
+their eyes failed to catch the faint traces of the passing canoes
+among the few scattering blades of grass that appeared on the
+surface. Several times they picked up the trail after they had lost
+it, but at last they missed it for miles. They decided not to go
+back, and kept on, hoping to find it again. They kept in the light
+grass as much as they could, but in avoiding the strands of the
+heavy saw-grass of the Glades they were forced farther and farther
+to the east, until night found them in the open Everglades with no
+hope of a place to camp.
+
+They made their way to a flooded key of sweet-bay, myrtle and cocoa
+plums, and Johnny piled up brush on which he tried to sleep, while
+Dick lay in the canoe, which had been lashed between two little
+trees. They were awakened by a deluge of rain, and in a few minutes
+there wasn't a dry rag between them. They used their canvas to
+protect guns, ammunition and such things as had to be kept dry. A
+cold wind chilled them to the bone, and they had to sit down in the
+water to get warm. It was a short-lived storm, and when the rain
+ceased and the stars came out Dick said to his companion:
+
+"It's no use trying to sleep to-night; let's pull out for Tiger
+Tail's."
+
+When morning came the boys saw, far to the northwest, an Indian
+camp which they knew must belong to Charley Tiger Tail. But between
+them and the camp was an almost impassable barrier of saw-grass.
+They paddled to the east, keeping on the southern border of the
+saw-grass strand, and whenever an opening appeared they followed it
+until turned back by grass too heavy for them to force their way
+through. They worked until noon and were out of sight of the Indian
+camp when they saw, a mile north of them, a couple of Indians poling
+their canoe. Johnny waved his hand to the Indians, who stopped
+poling and waited for the boys to get to them. He was soon
+pow-wowing with them, and translating to Dick as he talked.
+
+"These Injuns, Charley Jumper and Cypress Tiger. This Miami trail.
+Goes Tiger Tail's camp, 'bout six mile. Hooray! Charley Tommy 'nd
+your man there. No, went away this mornin'. They say think so on
+Osceola trail. That's the trail the squaws was on, 'nd we lost it."
+
+"Can't we cut across to that trail and head them off, or catch up
+with them?"
+
+"I asked 'em. They say: 'No good, trail bad, trail to Charley Tiger
+good, then go Osceola trail. Maybe so Charley Tommy stop Osceola
+camp, maybe Miami Billy camp, maybe so not stop anywhere.' They say
+they sick _ojus_, want _whyome_. That means they're awful sick and
+want whisky, but all Injuns is that. These is good Injuns. Better
+do what they say."
+
+The trail to the Indian's camp was a crooked one, but Johnny
+followed it without trouble, although it was nearly dark when they
+reached the camp. They slept on one of the high tables which the
+Seminoles use for their beds, and found Charley Tiger Tail quite a
+civilized Indian, who spoke a little English, sold whisky and dealt
+in the contraband plumes of the egret.
+
+The boys were up and off at daylight, for they had agreed to do two
+days' work in every twenty-four hours till they caught the canoe
+they were chasing. Johnny had talked with Tiger about the Osceola
+trail, until he felt he could follow it blind-folded, and little
+time was lost in studying as they poled and paddled that day.
+
+Soon after their start in the morning Dick had said, as he threw his
+weight on the paddle, which he was using as a pole:
+
+"Are you game, Johnny, to camp to-night where we jerked the
+venison?"
+
+"I kin stand it if you kin. Them squaws took two days, though, 'nd I
+ain't lookin' ter beat Injuns much with a canoe."
+
+It is doubtful if the boys could have made the camp, for darkness
+came before they were in sight of it, had not Dick said:
+
+"Johnny, isn't that a light over there toward the land? I've seen
+it two or three times. Do you s'pose it's a fire in the woods?"
+
+"Don't see it," said Johnny. "Yes, I do, now," adding excitedly an
+instant later: "Don't you 'member th' big bend in th' trail jest
+after we left th' camp we're lookin' fer? That fire ain't in th'
+woods. It's at our old camp, 'nd Charley Tommy built that fire, sure
+as shootin'."
+
+Dick was faint with excitement, and could scarcely hold his paddle.
+
+"We must get there soon as we can," said he.
+
+"Sure!" said Johnny. "Only let's go quiet 'nd s'prise 'em."
+
+If Charley Tommy had been a white man the plan would probably have
+been successful. As the boys approached the camp they moved more and
+more slowly, until Dick laid down his paddle and Johnny did all the
+work. There was not a sound that Dick could hear, and when the canoe
+was within a hundred feet of the fire he could see Ned Barstow
+resting his elbow on a log near it, while the Indian lay beside a
+palmetto, apparently asleep. But as the canoe continued to approach,
+Charley Tommy lifted his head, took a swift look around, and, half
+rising, gazed keenly out over the water toward the boys in the
+canoe. Further concealment was impossible, and Dick called out:
+
+"Hello, the camp!"
+
+Ned sprang to his feet, and looking across the water in the
+direction from which the dream voice seemed to have come, was
+silent until he saw the shadowy outline of a canoe, when he spoke in
+a voice that trembled with emotion:
+
+"Dicky boy, is that you?"
+
+"Yes, Neddy!" And soon the reunited chums had grabbed and hugged one
+another till both were breathless. Then they began asking and
+answering questions, sometimes by turns and sometimes together, till
+they were breathless again.
+
+"How did you come to recognize my voice so quickly?" asked Dick.
+
+"Because I was thinking of you, Dick, and wondering when we could
+take the trips we planned in that camp in the North. Now those
+wonderful dreams have come true!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+OLD DREAMS REALIZED
+
+
+There was a long council around the camp-fire that night, and it was
+settled that Ned and Dick were to take the light canoe with their
+own stores and start off by themselves on the hunting and exploring
+tour of which they had dreamed for years. Johnny was to go on an
+alligator hunt with Charley Tommy. Johnny thought the Indian could
+stand the work about two months, after which they would go to
+Chokoloskee and sell the hides. Ned paid the Indian for his time and
+made him a present, in addition, of an outfit of clothing from hat
+to shoes, without any objection from Charley. But when Dick came to
+settle with Johnny there was trouble. For Johnny refused to take any
+pay and said that if Dick paid him for coming to where Ned was he
+would have to pay Dick for carrying him to where Charley was. Ned
+had to chip in before Johnny could be persuaded to take the pay he
+had earned. Ned had a better equipment than Dick and a much larger
+lot of stores. These he shared with Johnny, so that the boy was
+provided with more luxuries than are often carried on an alligator
+hunt.
+
+When the boys were about to start away in the morning, Johnny told
+them that Tommy wanted to go to Osceola's camp for a day or two, and
+he proposed that the boys come with them. Johnny said that if they
+went to the Indian camp with Tommy the Indians would talk and the
+boys could learn a lot of Seminole in two or three days, enough to
+pull them through in their visits to other camps. The chance was too
+good to be lost, and the long, heavy Indian canoe was followed down
+the Glades by the light Canadian canoe of the boys.
+
+Ned and Dick were pretty husky youths, and as their canoe didn't
+weigh more than one-fourth that of the one just ahead of them, they
+thought they were in for a picnic. Very soon they changed their
+minds. Sometimes they could paddle, but generally they used their
+paddles as poles. They had one oar for pushing, which helped them a
+little. A light push sent the canoe forward, but when the push ended
+so did the motion. It took a stronger push to start the Seminole
+canoe, but the stroke was much longer, and when the stroke ended the
+motion continued. The boys were game and wouldn't admit that it
+tired them to keep up. But when a strand of heavy saw-grass had to
+be crossed they found trouble to burn. The round, heavy wooden
+cylinder of Seminole make slid slowly through the tall, stiff,
+saw-edged mass. But the light canoe was thrown back from each
+stroke by the elastic grass. Dick never liked to be beaten, so he
+went overboard and floundered along the trail ahead of the canoe,
+dragging it by the painter, while Ned got out and pushed from behind
+the stern. The sharp, serrated edges of the grass cut their faces
+and lacerated their hands. No air was stirring at the foot of those
+tall spears, and Dick thought of his hours in the fire room of the
+Southern steamer. Sometimes a big, deadly cotton-mouth, the ugliest
+snake in the world, swam in front of Dick as he struggled forward,
+but though his flesh quivered he said nothing lest he make Ned
+nervous. Then occasionally a poisonous brown moccasin rose out of
+the mud which the canoe stirred up, and, with uplifted head and open
+mouth, threatened Ned as he stumbled behind the craft, but he was
+silent about it lest he worry the chum who was new to the country.
+The saw-grass strand was only two hundred yards across, although it
+seemed a mile to the boys, who made light of it when they reached
+the other canoe, but their bleeding hands, torn by the terrible
+grass, told another story.
+
+The canoes and cargoes arrived at Osceola's late in the afternoon,
+and Ned and Dick saw their second Seminole camp. It was the best
+camp in the Everglades, as Osceola himself was perhaps the best
+specimen of the Florida Seminole.
+
+The three buildings which constituted the camp consisted merely of
+high roofs, beautifully constructed of palmetto, which came within
+four feet of the ground at their outer edges. Below this they were
+entirely open. These buildings were nearly filled with tables, about
+four feet high, on which the Indians slept at night and occupied as
+a floor during the day. The buildings were placed about a round
+shed, under which the cooking for the whole camp was done. The fire
+was built in the usual Seminole fashion. Logs of wood were arranged
+like the spokes of a wheel, and the fire built at the hub. When the
+cooking was finished the logs were drawn back a few inches and the
+fire went down to coals, but continued to smolder. When the logs
+were brought together again the fire blazed up.
+
+Ned and Johnny made their bed on one of the tables and slept well,
+but they kicked at dipping their hands in the family stew, and
+broiled their venison and made their coffee over the common fire. It
+was a good-natured camp, but the boys made life a burden to the
+Indians for two days by their incessant attempts at conversation in
+the Indian tongue. Some of the old Indians were sociable, and the
+boys got along very well with them, but the younger ones were shy
+and refused to talk until, having put on the white man's clothes
+that Ned had given him, Tommy took several of the young squaws and
+pickaninnies out in an Indian canoe. The young Indians laughed so
+much at Tommy that they began to forget their shyness, and when
+Tommy bought for Ned a bright-colored Indian shirt that a squaw had
+just made and the boy put it on, the Indians gathered around him
+and made fun, very much as white children would have done. One of
+the squaws brought him a red handkerchief, such as many of the
+Indians wore, and when Ned nodded and tied it around his neck they
+all laughed. Another squaw motioned at Ned's hat, and then at
+several Indians who were bareheaded. Ned nodded again and tossed his
+hat aside. Then as a squaw pointed at his trousers and afterwards at
+the bare-legged Indians about him, Ned shook his head vigorously,
+and even the older Indians joined in the laughter.
+
+The children of the camp were shy things, and peeped out at the
+strangers from behind trees and out of hiding-places, but Dick was
+fond of all wild creatures and few of them could resist his friendly
+advances. Soon every pickaninny in the place was tagging after him.
+The older ones took him out in canoes, which soon were capsized, and
+all hands swam back, each accusing the other of having upset the
+craft.
+
+When the boys went to the Osceola camp of Seminoles with Tommy they
+found a people as stolid and taciturn as those of any Indian tribe
+of which they had read. After four days, during which all
+hospitality was extended to them, they left behind them a kindly
+group of untaught native Americans, who went out of their way to
+show friendliness to their guests. Johnny nearly cried over the
+parting, and would have bartered his hopes of the hereafter to have
+been allowed to accompany the boys, while Tommy, clothed again in
+his native costume and in his right mind, preceded them for two
+miles in his canoe to show them a blind, side trail which they were
+to take. When they turned to take their last look at him, the
+Seminole was standing in his canoe, leaning on his long pole and
+looking fixedly at them.
+
+[Illustration: "THE SEMINOLE WAS STANDING IN HIS CANOE LOOKING
+FIXEDLY AT US"]
+
+For a few miles the trail was easy, but then became too dry for
+paddles, and Dick pushed with an oar, while Ned used a pole which he
+had brought along for use with a harpoon. As the trail grew dryer,
+it became impossible to pole the canoe, and Ned took the painter
+and, stepping into the nearly dry ditch in front of the canoe,
+dragged the craft, while Billy got overboard and pushed from behind.
+Sometimes Ned stopped to kick something out of his path, and at last
+Dick called to him:
+
+"What are you kicking, Ned?"
+
+"Nothing but yellow-bellies and once in a while a brown moccasin. I
+used to worry myself half sick over them, but after seeing Chris
+Meyer wade through bunches of them in the Big Cypress without paying
+any attention to them, I got ashamed of being afraid, and now I
+don't mind moccasins much unless they are cotton-mouths."
+
+"But they have all got fangs, are all poisonous, and all seem
+anxious to bite," said Dick.
+
+"But their bite isn't fatal. Tommy told me that he had been bitten
+six times, and when I asked if the bites made him sick, he said:
+'Lilly bit, one moon.' I asked him about rattlesnake bites, and he
+said: 'Make sick _ojus_ (heap), think so big sleep come pretty
+quick.' He told me that the moccasins bit him while he was pushing
+his canoe and stepped on them."
+
+"Neddy, Johnny used to talk just as you do, and Mr. Streeter said a
+lot more, but it makes me sick to hear it. I can feel the little
+squirmy beasts under my feet every step I take."
+
+About noon the boys struck a creek, where their paddles came into
+play, and very glad they both were. For a time grass troubled them,
+and their progress was slow, but the stream gradually broadened and
+deepened, while its banks became covered with trees and vines, and
+the very sound of their paddles dipping into the clear water was a
+joy to them. Again the brook widened, this time into a shallow bay,
+but a narrow, deep channel remained, which soon led the boys into a
+tidal river.
+
+They were about to follow the current of the river when the head of
+some strange animal was lifted above the surface of the water near
+them, followed by a mass of water thrown high in the air by a big
+tail, which flashed in sight for a moment. A line of great swirls,
+like those made by the propeller of a steamboat, led out in the bay
+and marked the course of the fleeing creature. Ned and Dick forgot
+that they were tired, and paddled furiously on the trail until they
+reached the end of it. Another line of swirls showed where the
+creature had gone, and once more they followed him. Again and again
+they were led on until they had traveled a couple of miles, when
+they lost the trail completely. While they were trying to find it
+Dick saw the head of the thing lifted for an instant, some two
+hundred yards away, at the mouth of a little cove. When they reached
+the cove they found the water clear and deep, and while drifting
+quietly on its surface they saw resting on the bottom near them a
+curious creature about ten feet long, with flippers like a seal and
+a big, powerful tail set crosswise like that of a dolphin.
+
+"I know what that is," said Ned excitedly. "I've been reading about
+the fauna of Florida lately, and this isn't a fish. It's a very rare
+mammal, a manatee, or sea-cow. It's perfectly harmless. I wonder if
+we could catch it. Let's try it. I'll fix a lasso and throw it over
+the manatee's head when it comes up to breathe."
+
+"S'pose you get your rope over its head, what will happen next to
+the canoe--and to us?"
+
+"That's what I want to find out. Please paddle a little nearer very
+quietly. He is beginning to rise," said Ned, who had made a noose in
+the end of a harpoon line and was standing in the bow of the canoe,
+ready to throw it the instant the creature's nose reached the
+surface.
+
+"I see our finish," said Dick as he held his paddle ready to steady
+the canoe, which was already endangered by Ned's standing up in it.
+The next instant the manatee came to the surface, and as the
+creature lifted its head Ned threw his lasso over it. An upward
+stroke of the big tail of the manatee sent a column of water in the
+air which half filled the canoe and nearly capsized it, in spite of
+Dick's best efforts. When the commotion subsided Ned had
+disappeared. Dick looked wildly over the surface and then into the
+water, and was just going overboard to search the bottom when Ned's
+head appeared on the surface. At first the boy seemed confused and
+swam away from the canoe, but turned when Dick called to him. The
+canoe was half full of water, and as it would have been difficult
+for Ned to get aboard without capsizing it, he swam to the nearest
+key, while Dick paddled the canoe to the shoal water beside it. As
+the boys stood in the water bailing out the canoe and examining its
+cargo, Dick said to Ned:
+
+"What did your book say about the manatee being a perfectly harmless
+animal? I'd sure hate to be spanked by that harmless tail."
+
+"So it is harmless, and if we can tire one out I'm not afraid to go
+overboard and tackle him in the water."
+
+"Neither am I afraid, and I'll go overboard with you, only I'm
+afraid that by the time we've tired one of those things I won't be
+able to swim at all."
+
+Late that afternoon, as the boys were paddling through a long narrow
+bay of many keys, they became anxious, because for hours they had
+not seen a bit of ground on which they could camp.
+
+"Looks as if we've got to sleep in the water," said Dick. "If Johnny
+were here he would fix up a camp anywhere, and I'll do the best I
+can. Let's keep on to that point where the palmettos are. If we
+don't find land there we'll camp on mangrove roots."
+
+The boys were in luck, for under the palmettos on the point was a
+regular Indian camping-ground, with logs for the camp-fire in place
+and poles ready for stretching a canvas covering, or rigging up
+mosquito bars.
+
+It was the boys' first real camp together, the very camp of which
+they had talked and dreamed for years in that far-off Belleville,
+now more than a thousand miles away. Never before was there so
+wonderful a supper as the boys enjoyed that night. There was
+venison, superbly broiled by Ned; a perfect ash-cake, built and
+baked by Dick, and a pot of gorgeous coffee, for which both claimed
+credit. They lingered long over their supper, and then talked for
+half the night as they lay on their bed of palmetto leaves and
+watched the stars that looked down upon them through the tops of the
+trees. From the deep water that flowed past the point on which they
+were encamped came the occasional snort of a dolphin, the crash of a
+whip-ray as he struck the water after a leap high in the air, and
+the splashing of fish as they pursued others or were pursued by
+them. From the thicket behind their camp came the snarling of
+wildcats, while in the more distant woods the curdling cry of the
+panther, or mountain lion, could be heard from time to time. A long
+roar that rose and fell and seemed to come from all sides at once
+was recognized by Ned as the bellowing of an alligator. Sometimes
+they heard the beating of invisible wings as flocks of birds flew
+over them, while the "Hoo! hoo hoo! hoo hoo!" of talkative owls as
+they conversed lasted throughout the night.
+
+Ned was so anxious for another chance at a manatee that the boys
+decided to camp where they were and hunt the creature regularly.
+
+"We'll leave all our stores in camp," said Ned, "because we might
+get capsized."
+
+"Oh, yes! We _might_ get capsized! Is there a chance on earth that
+we might _not_ get capsized? We'll leave everything in camp
+excepting the paddles and that lasso of yours which did you so much
+good yesterday."
+
+"You like to talk, Dick, but you know you wouldn't miss that manatee
+hunt for a farm. We will have to put it off a day or two, though,
+until we kill a deer and jerk the venison. We've just eaten the last
+scrap of meat in camp. There's a trail running back into the bushes
+that must lead to a meadow where we can walk and probably find
+deer."
+
+"All right. You'll take your rifle and I'll tag on with the
+shotgun, just to see that you keep out of mischief."
+
+The trail which the boys followed did lead to a meadow where there
+were plenty of deer tracks, but no deer. They waded and tramped
+through the meadow to its farther side, where they entered a wooded
+swamp. Here they started up a deer, at which Ned took two snap-shots
+as the creature ran away. They traveled in the swamp for an hour,
+when they came to another meadow, on the farther side of which two
+deer were feeding. The wind must have carried a hostile scent to the
+quarry, for they slipped quietly into the swamp, and when the boys
+entered it were not to be seen. Again the young hunters sought their
+game through the swamp. They worked their way through thickets,
+among tangles of roots and vines, and wallowed through
+moccasin-infested pools of water and mud. In the excitement of the
+chase the boys took no note of time or of the direction in which
+they were traveling. It was late in the day when, with clothing
+muddied and torn, the boys, exhausted and discouraged, sat on a log
+in a swamp and decided to give up the hunt and go back to camp. They
+turned back and Ned led the way while Dick followed until they
+brought up against an impassable mangrove swamp. Ned looked to the
+right and the left, and then turning to Billy asked if he knew where
+camp was.
+
+"No," said Dick.
+
+"Then we're lost."
+
+"Of course. You're always lost in a swamp. Mr. Streeter says so. He
+says you may lose your boat or your camp, but with a rifle, matches
+and a little salt you can travel over all South Florida.".
+
+Ned looked so unhappy over their prospects that Dick took the lead,
+saying:
+
+"If we don't get out of this swamp pretty soon we'll have to camp in
+it, and we'll need some daylight to fix up in."
+
+At this moment a night heron lit on a branch near Dick, who raised
+his gun and shot it.
+
+"That's our supper, Ned. I wouldn't shoot a bird sitting unless I
+was starving. Don't the woods look lighter over there?" In a few
+minutes the boys were in an open prairie, where Dick produced a
+waterproof match-box, which was well filled, and a small bag of
+salt. A fire was soon built, the heron dressed, broiled and eaten
+with only fingers for forks. The boys washed down their dinners with
+water from a pool, which they first examined for moccasins by the
+light of a burning palmetto fan.
+
+Ned slept with his rifle by his side, and Dick was awakened in the
+morning by its discharge. He saw Ned sitting beside him with the
+rifle in his hand, while a hundred yards away, on the edge of the
+clearing, a buck lay on his back kicking. While the boys were
+hoisting the carcass to the branch of a tree, Ned said to Dick:
+
+"I was in a blue funk yesterday afternoon. I want you to promise to
+kick me if I get scared that way again."
+
+Dick laughed and replied:
+
+"That would be all right, Ned, if I felt sure what you would be
+doing while I was kicking you."
+
+After breakfast, which consisted of venison, Dick suggested that
+they go to work systematically to find their lost camp, and
+proceeded to climb a tall palmetto that stood in the clearing to
+take an observation. When half way up the tree he slid back to the
+ground looking like a chimney-sweep. For the outside of the
+palmetto, like most of those that grow on prairies, had been turned
+into charcoal by the burning of the prairie grass.
+
+"Ned," said Dick, when the former had stopped laughing at the
+blackamoor before him because he was out of breath, "I guess it's
+your turn to kick me. Do you see that trail where I stopped last
+night to build our camp-fire because I didn't know the way to camp?"
+
+"See it now. Didn't know it was there before, though."
+
+"No more did I; but I saw it yesterday morning, and I took special
+notice of this palmetto and made sure that I'd never forget this
+prairie. Why, Ned, this is our own camping-ground, and I could throw
+a biscuit from this prairie to our canoe. Now you can kick."
+
+After the boys had carried their venison to their camp, Ned said:
+
+"Dick, do you know how to jerk venison?"
+
+"I've seen Johnny smoke it. Is that the same thing?"
+
+"Sure! So while you're skinning the buck I'll lam into that black
+mangrove log and build a fire under the little scaffold of small
+poles there, which you hadn't seen, but which was built to cure
+venison. Say, Dick, don't you want to hire out as a scout?"
+
+Dick grinned, but made no other reply, and they began the work of
+jerking the venison. They cut it in thin strips and hung it over the
+fire of the black mangrove, which is one of the smokiest woods on
+earth. All day long they fed the fire and watched the venison, while
+scores of buzzards sat around on the trees and overlooked the work.
+Far into the night the boys lay beside the fire, watched its curling
+smoke, and talked of that camp in the snow in the North of the long
+ago.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE CAPTURE OF THE MANATEE
+
+
+The manatee hunt began as soon as the venison had been cured. The
+boys explored the waters about their camp, making each day a longer
+trip and taking careful note of all the waters they explored. They
+usually hunted through the forenoon, and after dinner Ned mapped out
+the course they had taken while Dick took a walk with the shot-gun
+and picked up an Indian hen, or limp-kin, or a brace of ducks for
+supper. Within a week Ned had made a good working chart of the
+country about them, both land and water, and the boys had come to
+know their surroundings as if they had been born among them. Nearly
+every day they found and chased a manatee. Sometimes they found
+three or four in a day, but the creatures always swam faster than
+their pursuers and were still frisky when the boys were worn to
+frazzles.
+
+One morning a big manatee which they were chasing happened to come
+up beside the canoe to breathe, when Ned splashed it with his paddle
+and drove it under water before it could catch its breath. The
+sea-cow had to come up again in a few seconds and was once more
+driven below the surface by Ned. Almost instantly the creature
+lifted its head so far above the surface that Ned dropped his paddle
+and seized the soft nose of the manatee with both hands.
+
+"Look out!" yelled Dick, but he was the one to have looked out. For,
+as the sea-cow threw down its head and tail, Ned was dragged out of
+the canoe onto his upward-arching back. Then the animal's back was
+curved downward and the flat tail thrown violently upward into the
+air. As the stern of the canoe was over the tail and Dick was in the
+stern of the canoe, both boy and canoe went suddenly in the air with
+a few barrels of water over and around them. When Dick came to the
+surface he saw his companion being savagely tossed about by an angry
+monster that seemed to be holding him between his jaws. Dick was
+terribly frightened and swam as swiftly as possible to Ned's help,
+but before he could reach him the boy had been tossed aside and the
+manatee had disappeared.
+
+"Are you hurt?" said Dick, as soon as he got enough breath to speak.
+
+"Course not! Manatees are harmless. Told you so before. But, say,
+Dicky boy, why didn't you get there a minute sooner and grab a
+flipper? He'd be our manatee now, if you had."
+
+"More likely he'd have had us, Neddy. You didn't see what he did to
+me with just one slap of his tail."
+
+The boys collected their paddles and swam with the canoe to shoal
+water, where they lifted it, poured out the water and got aboard.
+
+On their next hunt the boys put a number of chunks of wood in the
+canoe and when a manatee was started they paddled quietly and tried
+not to frighten the creature by going too near it at first. Then Ned
+took in his paddle and armed himself with chunks of wood, while Dick
+paddled toward the quarry. When the sea-cow lifted its nose out of
+water, for air, it was hit or splashed by a chunk. The frightened
+animal dove quickly, but came up again almost immediately for the
+air it had to have. Another chunk hit its nose, but, confused and
+half strangled, the manatee hardly moved until Dick had driven the
+canoe beside it and Ned had landed on its back. Ned failed to grasp
+the creature's nose with his right hand, but caught the manatee by
+the flipper with his left and clung to it, although tossed off of
+the back of the animal. But Dick was in the river a second after his
+companion and was clutching the right flipper of the manatee with
+one hand and reaching for its nose with the other. The sea-cow threw
+its tail high in the air, then lashing it downward, plunged,
+head-foremost, deep in the water. The boys went under but hung on to
+the flippers, and Dick got a grip on the creature's nose. Both of
+the boys were expert swimmers and divers, and were prepared to stay
+under water as much as a minute rather than release their quarry,
+but within half that time the animal wanted to breathe and rose to
+the surface. After that the boys had little trouble, and the
+manatee, which was a small one, became almost tame. They swam with
+it to a shoal place where, standing in water a little more than
+waist deep, they petted and soothed their prize until it seemed
+quite friendly. Suddenly, Dick exclaimed:
+
+"What's become of the canoe? I capsized it when I went overboard and
+haven't thought of it since."
+
+"I'd forgotten it, too. It must have floated with the tide a good
+ways down the river by this time. I'll swim down stream and hunt it
+up, if you will stay here and take care of the manatee, unless you
+think we had better turn it loose and both go for the canoe. We will
+be in a bad fix if we lose it. If you can take care of the manatee I
+can find the canoe." And Ned swam away down the river.
+
+Helped by the current he had swum a mile when the stream spread out
+into a bay that was a mile long and nearly as wide, which was filled
+with eel-grass and covered with moss. He soon found one of the
+paddles, but in getting it became entangled in the long grass, until
+he was in great danger of drowning. By lying lengthways on the
+paddle, keeping his legs extended and swimming with long over-hand
+strokes, he got out of the tangle. He had been pretty well
+frightened, and swimming to the shore, climbed up on some mangrove
+roots. After looking for a long time, Ned made out the bow of the
+submerged little canoe sticking out from a bunch of moss in the
+eel-grass. It was about an eighth of a mile away and he started for
+it, swimming along the edge of the field of grass, but sheering away
+constantly, as the treacherous current seemed striving to sweep him
+within the clinging clutch of the swaying blades of the rope-like
+grass.
+
+When Ned got opposite the canoe he found that it was forty feet
+within the field of grass. He dreaded to put himself again within
+that deadly grasp, but the thought of Dick waiting for him, alone
+with that strange beast, nerved him to make the plunge. Again he lay
+on the paddle, keeping his feet quiet and making his way slowly with
+his hands toward the canoe. At last he reached the craft, but could
+do nothing with it. He could not pull it and it refused to be
+pushed. He could touch the bottom with his feet, but it was of soft
+mud and the thick grass tangled him worse than ever. He got into the
+canoe and lay on his back under the thwarts, with only part of his
+head out of water. By rocking the canoe, with a short, jerky motion,
+he got rid of some of the water and finished the bailing with his
+hat. It was not easy to paddle out through the grass and moss to the
+open water, but Ned accomplished it. Standing up in the canoe, he
+searched for the other paddle and soon saw and recovered it. He had
+now more than a mile to paddle against a tide that was still strong,
+and he saw, to his alarm, that it was nearly sunset. It was about
+midday when they tackled the manatee, and Dick must have been alone
+with it for a good many hours. Ned was so anxious that he paddled
+furiously and was glad enough when he found Dick standing in water
+shoulder deep, hanging on to the flipper of the manatee, and
+occasionally patting its nose with his hand.
+
+[Illustration: "HE FOUND DICK STANDING IN WATER SHOULDER DEEP,
+HANGING ON TO THE FLIPPER OF THE MANATEE"]
+
+"Oh, Ned! I'm glad to see you," was Dick's greeting to his chum. "A
+hundred times, I've almost let this beast go so that I could swim
+down the river and look for you. If I hadn't heard you coming a few
+minutes ago I'd have been off by now, anyhow."
+
+"What could you have done, swimming down a big river like this, in
+the dark?"
+
+"What could I have done here, or back in camp, without you, Ned?"
+
+Ned gave an amusing account of his adventures and made fun of his
+fears.
+
+"Now tell me what happened to you, in those long hours. Did you get
+scared, too, Dick?"
+
+"Most of my scare was about you, though I did have one or two little
+troubles of my own. For a good while after you swam away the baby
+behaved like a cherub. He let me put my arm around him, as far as it
+would go, and when I rubbed his soft mouth with my hand he seemed to
+like it. Then, suddenly he lashed out with his tail, threw me off my
+feet and carried me out into deep water. I don't quite know how I
+managed to turn him around and get back with him into shoal water. I
+know I was under water a good deal and got very much out of breath.
+I guess, though, from the grip I kept on that baby's nose, that he
+was short of wind himself. Anyhow, when we got back and I let go,
+he lifted his head out of water and sniffed and snorted like a cow
+with the consumption. Then, just as I was feeling pretty good and
+thinking what a nice nurse for a manatee baby I was and what an easy
+job it seemed, I got a terrible jar.
+
+"Something punched me gently in the back, and when I turned my head
+I saw a monster that must have been twelve feet long, and weighed a
+ton or two. It was Baby's ma! She poked her nose all over him and
+even rubbed it against my arm, which was around him, but I never
+flinched, though there ought to be some stronger word than scared to
+fully express my feelings, when I felt that big mouth against my
+arm. The great manatee mother didn't seem to mind me a bit, as she
+swam around us two or three times, but I squirmed a good deal when
+that tremendous tail, which was moving so slowly, came opposite me,
+and I wondered if it was going to mash me as flat as a sheet of
+paper, or only knock me over the tops of the mangroves. But that
+scare was nothing to the next one. After Ma Manatee had gone, Baby
+and I had a quiet hour or so and I was getting pretty tired and
+beginning to worry a lot about you, when something happened to set
+me to worrying about myself. This is a big, deep river, and there
+was enough going on to amuse me, dolphins, turtles and tarpon coming
+up to blow as they passed and small fish jumping out of the water
+most of the time.
+
+"Sometimes a splash and the scattering of little fish when a big
+one got after them startled me for a minute, but I got over minding
+it much, when a big, big splash came and there was a long struggle
+in the river near me. Perhaps I wouldn't have minded it so much, but
+Baby got crazy again and I couldn't soothe him. Next minute I didn't
+blame him, for I was 'most crazy myself. Out from all the ruction in
+the water, there came, swimming slowly toward us, a great leopard
+shark. I knew him from the spots which covered his body, for he was
+so near that I could have counted them. He was certainly over ten
+feet long and looked as if he had plenty of room in his stomach for
+both the baby and me. I remembered that Mr. Streeter had told me
+that no shark in this country had ever attacked a human being, so I
+braced up a little and pulled that splashing manatee baby out toward
+the shark, and I splashed some myself and acted as if I wanted to
+eat that Tiger of the Sea. Would you believe it? He was scared silly
+and, though I was in a blue funk myself, I laughed so that you might
+have heard me if you had been listening. For behind that shark was a
+wake such as a big motor boat would have made. After the shark had
+gone, I had another worrying fit. You had been gone a long time, and
+the thought kept coming to me that you might have met that shark.
+Neddy boy, next time you go off alone on a long swim, I'm going with
+you. Now what shall we do with the baby? The tide will turn before
+long and I s'pose we could get him to camp. He'd go along all
+right, but it would be a mile swim, though we could take turns at
+it."
+
+"I'd rather swim all the way," said Ned, "than to climb into this
+canoe once, from the river. But what's the use? There's no grass at
+the camp and the water is too deep for an infant like Baby. Why not
+tie him here for to-night? Then to-morrow we will take him down to
+that big bay and make a nursery for him in a shallow little cove
+that I saw there. It's full of nice manatee grass and we can put
+stakes across the mouth, or pasture Baby at the end of a rope. But
+what are we going to do with him, after that?"
+
+"Don't borrow trouble, Ned. That question will come up later. The
+next thing for us to do is to tie this little beast. So trot out
+that harpoon line."
+
+Dick untied the harpoon line, which was kept lashed to a thwart in
+the canoe, and, after getting overboard, carefully fastened the
+painter of the canoe to a mangrove root. The boys made a harness for
+the little manatee of one end of the line, by making one loop around
+the body of the baby, just behind his flippers, another around his
+tail and then connecting the two. The other end of the harpoon line
+was then fastened to a mangrove tree on the bank and the baby was
+turned loose. Dick steadied the canoe while Ned climbed aboard, but
+when Ned tried to steady it for Dick to get in it, there was a
+capsize. Dick apologized for his clumsiness and Ned complained that
+he hated to get wet. The next attempt was successful and the boys
+were soon eating venison and drinking coffee at their camp. They
+were tired and talkative when they lay down for the night, and both
+went to sleep in the middle of a sentence.
+
+The boys hurried through their breakfast the next morning, anxious
+to see their captive, which they found where they left him, quite
+friendly and almost unafraid. Dick took the line in the stern of the
+canoe, while Ned paddled from the bow. Baby was tractable and
+allowed himself to be towed, even swimming himself. He behaved best
+when his head was brought beside the canoe and seemed to like the
+petting that Dick gave him. When the baby had been tied in the
+little cove that Ned had discovered, in such a way that he could
+range over the whole of his nursery, the boys decided not to put a
+row of poles across the mouth of it. Dick thought it was too much
+work and Ned said it was no use, because Ma Manatee would knock the
+whole business over the tree-tops with one gentle little whack of
+her tail.
+
+They paddled back to their camp and hunted over the prairies behind
+it all the afternoon. Ned shot another buck, this time in a very
+boggy swamp. It was not a big buck, but before they got out of the
+swamp with it the boys had learned several ways in which a deer
+should not be carried. First, one took the carcass by the tail-end
+and the other by the head. The middle of the body sagged down in the
+mud and pulled the boys after it. Then the creature was slung on a
+pole, which they took on their shoulders. This was better, but every
+time one stumbled, which was most of the time, both landed in the
+bog. Then Ned remembered what all boys should know, and the legs of
+the buck were skinned up to the knee joints. With these loose ends
+of skin, the legs were so tied together in pairs as to form a loop
+through which the arms could be thrust and the whole body of the
+deer worn like a coat.
+
+By taking turns at toting the thing, the boys got their venison to
+camp without very much trouble. While jerking it they were very glad
+to lie around camp and rest, and gossip. But their talk always came
+around to one subject--what to do with their captive. Ned wanted to
+send him North to some aquarium, but didn't quite see how to do it.
+Dick offered to swim him down the rivers to the Gulf of Mexico if
+Ned would sail him up the coast to Marco or Myers, for shipment by
+water or rail.
+
+"I'm really in earnest about this, Dick, because I know father would
+like it so much. He is always looking out for curiosities to send to
+museums or his collecting friends, and this would be such a rare
+thing."
+
+"Would your father stand for a good big bill to get Baby north?"
+
+"He'd stand for anything! What's in your noddle, Dick?"
+
+"It can be done, easy. We're not many miles from the coast, and
+I've been wrecked on that coast, Neddy, so I remember it. We will
+paddle down this river, and as many more as are necessary, until we
+get to the Gulf. Then we'll paddle along the coast to the shack of a
+fisherman whom I know. He's got a sloop and all you've got to do is
+to offer him enough, to make him hustle around for lumber and make a
+water-tight box big enough for Baby to travel in. Then we will help
+him get the infant aboard, start him for the railroad and go back to
+our hunt. Has your father an agent in Myers who'd take your word for
+the bill? Coz if he didn't the account would likely be settled with
+a shot-gun."
+
+"Agent? Why, dad will be there himself by that time. And if he
+isn't, the agent is there all right, all right. So if your pirate
+settles with me with a shot-gun, I'll settle with that agent, same
+way."
+
+As soon as the meat was cured, the boys started for the coast in
+their canoe. On the way they stopped at the nursery and found Baby
+almost glad to see them, and when Ned put half a banana in his
+mouth, the little manatee seemed really grateful. Ned even thought
+that when he pressed the baby's flipper good-bye, the pressure was
+returned, at least that is what he told Dick. The canoeists had
+trouble in avoiding the grass and moss of the big bay, but two hours
+of paddling carried them to the coast, where a strong on-shore wind
+was sending long rollers up on the beach. Dick knew where they
+were, and said that they had come down Broad River, and that the
+fisherman's ranch was only six or seven miles up the coast.
+
+"We can walk up the beach to it and save time. The water is too
+rough for the canoe," said Ned.
+
+"I don't know about that. I've lived on the water some and I've seen
+curious things done with canoes. Let's try it."
+
+"Better try the waves with an empty canoe first. Then I'll be with
+you."
+
+The canoe was unloaded on a quiet bit of the beach which lay behind
+a shoal and the boys by turns got into the canoe and paddled out
+among the breakers. Then they went out together and through it all
+the canoe rose to the waves like a duck. Then they reloaded their
+canoe and started up the beach. At times the wind was stronger and
+the waves bigger, but always the canoe rode them with a gait like a
+rocking-chair. They paddled easily, "taking the waves on the bias,"
+as Dick observed, heading a little off-shore to balance the push of
+the wind and the waves.
+
+The fisherman was at home, and Ned soon closed a contract with him
+to carry Baby Manatee to Myers at Ned's cost and risk, payment to be
+made in Myers by Mr. Barstow or his agent. The man had just got in
+some lumber to build a skiff. This would serve to build the box, and
+the charge for it would be five dollars. The fisherman said he would
+need the help of his son; that the charge for the two would be four
+dollars a day, and he "reckoned" it would take eight days, so the
+contract was closed for thirty-seven dollars. He was ready to start
+right off and catch the evening tide up Broad River.
+
+"Don't you want to make the box first?" said Ned.
+
+"Reckon not. 'Druther see the manatee 'fore I spile good lumber.
+Manatees is mighty scurse in this country."
+
+Dick flared up, and said to the fisherman:
+
+"Do you mean that we've been lying about a manatee?"
+
+"Course not, not lyin'; manatee's all right, only you ain't much ust
+to 'em and it may be bigger'n you think, 'nd I'd hate to make th'
+box too little."
+
+The lumber was taken on board, the canoe unloaded and laid on the
+deck of the sloop, the sails reefed and with her skiff drawn close
+up under her stern the craft was soon flying down the coast. When
+she reached the river the reefs were shaken out and in little more
+than an hour anchor was dropped beside the manatee cove. It was
+nearly dark and work was to begin the next morning, but all hands
+wanted a look at the little manatee. The fisherman and his son went
+in their own skiff while Ned and Dick led the way in the canoe.
+
+"Now I'll show you something worth seeing," said Ned, as he took
+hold of the end of the line and pulled it all easily in. As Ned sat
+looking at the broken end of the line, half stupefied by the
+greatness of his surprise, the fisherman laughed and said:
+
+"That sure was worth seem', 'nd I reckon I've saved you five
+dollars by not makin' that box till I got here 'nd saw the critter."
+
+"I'll keep the contract. It isn't your fault that the manatee has
+got away."
+
+"No, I reckon 'twan't anybody's fault, much. All I want out o' you
+is four dollars for one day's work," and the fisherman laughed
+again, adding a moment afterward:
+
+"I'm 'most ashamed to take that much, but I reckon the joke's been
+wuth it ter you."
+
+Ned paid the four dollars and the boys paddled back to their old
+camp for the night. On the way back Ned stopped paddling, and
+turning back, said to Dick:
+
+"Did that old fellow mean that he didn't believe we had caught a
+manatee at all?"
+
+"If I thought he did, I'd go back and punch his head."
+
+"No, you wouldn't. He isn't to blame. He only thought what everybody
+who hears of it and don't know us will think. I hope he won't tell
+about it in Myers, so that it will get to Dad's ears."
+
+"I shouldn't think you'd care for that," said Dick.
+
+"Well, Dad enjoys a joke and I would likely hear of 'Ned's manatee'
+pretty frequent for some time."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+HARPOONING FROM A CANOE
+
+
+Do you want to go for any more manatees?" asked Dick, the next
+morning.
+
+"Guess not. We're pretty well acquainted with the critters already
+and if we tackled another it would likely be a bigger one, and the
+sample we had was about all we could manage. But the bay here is
+full of big fish. Suppose we get out the little harpoon and pick up
+some drum-fish, channel-bass or a whip-ray?"
+
+When the boys started out for a day of harpooning, Dick sat high up
+on the stern of the canoe with the paddle, while Ned stood in the
+bow with the harpoon.
+
+"Hadn't you better sit down in the bottom of the canoe to paddle?
+The canoe feels wobbly to me," said Ned.
+
+"What's the matter with your nerves, Neddy? I'm not going to capsize
+you. S'pose I practiced half a day with that papoose for nothing?"
+
+"Most of that practice was swimming, wasn't it? I don't want any of
+that in mine to-day."
+
+Ned harpooned several large drum-fish, and finally got a
+channel-bass, after missing several.
+
+"We've got a lot more fish than we can eat now. Let's go for
+something big and have some fun. Hit that shark over there."
+
+"That shark could bite this canoe in two and then swallow the
+pieces. I wouldn't mind that so much if we were in the Glades, but I
+don't want to be set afoot so far from fresh water. See that big
+whip-ray! It's a beaut;--paddle up to it, Dick."
+
+Dick paddled toward the fish, which was shaped like a butterfly,
+with a back six feet broad, covered with beautiful little white
+rings placed on a jet black background. The graceful creature
+fluttered along the surface of the bay with a bird-like motion, at a
+speed that soon took it nearly out of sight of the boys. Dick
+followed it, as it zigzagged about the bay, sometimes skimming on
+the very surface and then disappearing in the depths for minutes at
+a time. Once it was out of sight for five minutes, and Dick had just
+stopped paddling, saying:
+
+"Got to give it up. That big butterfly is the other side of the bay
+by this time," when Ned saw the broad back of the creature gliding
+beneath his harpoon, beside the canoe and a foot or two under the
+surface. His quick side-throw was doubly effective, for the harpoon
+was buried in the back of the quarry, while Ned and Dick were buried
+in the water of the bay. The center of gravity of the canoe's cargo
+of boys was at least two feet above the gunwales of the craft, and
+when Ned's side-thrust threw him out of balance, the canoe popped
+from under him, and as Dick sat on the stern of the canoe and quite
+outside of it, he was in the water as soon as his chum. The whip-ray
+had darted away at high speed as soon as the iron touched him, but
+before the line which was coiled in the harpoon tub had run out, Ned
+had seized the tub, which was floating near him when he came to the
+surface.
+
+The end of the line was fast to the tub and when it was reached Ned
+was hauled through the water by the fish. If Ned had been built like
+a canoe, he would probably have caught the whip-ray, but the drag of
+the boy in the water was too much for the hold the iron had in the
+body of the creature, and the harpoon tore out. The boys managed to
+rock the water out of the canoe, but swamped it several times while
+trying to get in it without going ashore. After they had succeeded,
+Dick took the harpoon, while Ned sat in the bottom of the canoe with
+his paddle.
+
+"Now go ahead and harpoon your fish and I'll show you how to keep a
+canoe trimmed. What you really need is a scow," said Ned.
+
+"If I couldn't throw a harpoon over the side of a canoe without
+going over the other side myself, I'd give up fishing and try
+farming. Now just paddle softly in the wake of that big fin. Know
+what it is? I thought not. Well, it's the bayonet fin of the tarpon,
+my son, and if you'll paddle quietly and stay inside the boat, you
+shall have the fun of your life."
+
+The tarpon was tame, and Ned paddled within twenty feet of it
+without frightening it, but Dick made a poor shot. The back of a
+tarpon is narrow and a small mark for a harpoon when thrown from
+behind the fish, and Dick's weapon grazed its side, while the pole
+fell across the back of the tarpon, causing it to give one wild leap
+and depart for regions unknown. Dick was now out for tarpon, and
+paid no attention to smaller fish, many of which came within
+striking distance. Tarpon were scarce that day, and Dick's next
+chance was an hour in coming, and then the fish happened to be
+headed for the canoe. The boy had not learned the difficulty of
+throwing an iron through the coat of mail of a tarpon excepting from
+abaft the beam of the fish, and he drew in his harpoon with a
+beautiful four-inch scale fixed on its point.
+
+"Take the harpoon, Ned. I couldn't hit a house."
+
+"Yes, you could. You hit that tarpon. Only trouble was, you didn't
+know where to hit it. Keep on practicing. You said I'd have the fun
+of my life, and I'm having it."
+
+[Illustration: "THE STRICKEN TARPON LEAPED SIX FEET IN THE AIR"]
+
+Half an hour later Dick made a beautiful, long throw of nearly
+thirty feet, and the stricken tarpon leaped six feet in the air. For
+two hundred yards the frantic fish towed the canoe in a straight
+line, at a high rate of speed, and then began a series of leaps in
+the air. Some of these were long jumps which barely cleared the
+surface of the water, while others were from eight to ten feet
+vertically upward. The tarpon then darted away in a new direction,
+blistering Dick's hands as the line tore through them. For a quarter
+of an hour the drag of the canoe made little difference in the speed
+of the tarpon, but then it began to slacken and Dick was able to
+pull the canoe up beside the fish, which gave a leap and a sweep of
+its tail that drenched both of the boys and, if the tarpon had been
+a foot nearer, would have wrecked their craft. Again the creature
+dashed away, getting back most of the line that Dick had taken in.
+Once more the fish weakened, and the canoe was drawn up beside it,
+and once more it sprang in the air and dashed away. But with each
+fresh effort the tarpon became weaker, until Dick said to Ned:
+
+"He's about played out. Better take the gaff next time I get near
+him and see if you can land him in the canoe."
+
+"No," replied Ned, "he's your tarpon and you can gaff him yourself.
+He'll capsize the canoe when he comes aboard and I want to be ready
+to swim."
+
+[Illustration: "THE TARPON BEGAN A SERIES OF LEAPS"]
+
+Dick drew the canoe beside the tarpon and, dropping the
+harpoon-line, held the handle of the big gaff-hook in both hands,
+ready to strike. But the fish saw the uplifted weapon and sheered
+away, swimming with renewed vigor, and Dick had to work for another
+half hour before his quarry was quiet enough for the blow. This
+delay was fortunate for the boys, since it left the tarpon too tired
+to struggle. When Dick sank the steel gaff deep in the throat of
+the Silver King and dragged it over the side of the frail canoe,
+Ned sat in the bottom of the craft with a hand on each gunwale,
+ready to balance the boat or swim, as events might indicate.
+
+The boys took a lot of the big silver scales as souvenirs and then
+slid the body of the tarpon into the bay, where it was soon devoured
+by a couple of wandering sharks.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+GHOSTS AND ALLIGATORS
+
+
+The boys spent a day exploring the bay to the east and south,
+finding but a single creek, which lost itself in the jungle after
+wandering a few miles.
+
+"I don't believe we can get through this way," said Dick to his
+chum, as they were resting, after an hour of hard work, cutting away
+branches of trees and dragging the canoe. "Mr. Streeter told me that
+the Indians say there is no creek between the bays at the head of
+Broad River, where we are, and the rivers south of it. Suppose we
+work our way to the mouth of this river and then follow the coast
+down to Harney's, which is the next river south of us and the
+longest one in South Florida."
+
+"All right, and we can explore that big creek running west from the
+foot of this bay, which we saw yesterday."
+
+The boys found the creek to be deep with swift water, but so crooked
+that a snake would have had to slow up to get through it. After two
+miles of paddling, which advanced them about half a mile, they found
+themselves in a broad smooth-flowing river, the most beautiful
+stream they had ever seen. The big trees on the banks were clothed
+with airplants, draped with long, flowing gray moss and garlanded
+with flowering and sweet-scented vines. Sometimes an opening in the
+forest showed broad savannahs, or prairies, or disclosed groups of
+tall palmettos or magnificent royal palms, the grandest tree that
+grows. The water was mirror-like, and the great trees, capped by a
+mass of white clouds in the blue of the heavens, were repeated below
+in a reflection that was perfect. The boys paddled for a long time,
+silent as if in a dream, when Ned spoke in a voice so low that his
+companion could scarcely hear what he said:
+
+"Does it make you think of Heaven, Dick?"
+
+"Guess it does; only," added Dick, in a louder tone, "it will make
+you think of the other place, pretty soon."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"It's a deserted river. Only ghosts stay here. The plantations are
+grown over, the houses rotting and little sticks in the ground tell
+where the old owners are. The climate is so bad that skull and bone
+notices grow on the trees. Then things happen. People eat something
+and die, or fall out of their boats and drown, or go out in the
+woods and stay till the buzzards find them. Oh, but it's the
+peaceful, lovely Rodgers River!"
+
+"Why, where did you hear all that, Dick?"
+
+"From Mr. Streeter. He talked a lot and I didn't forget much that
+he said. Then Johnny had heard the talk of convicts, and others who
+ought to have been, and told me about them almost in a whisper, for
+fear somebody would hear him."
+
+"There's a rotting old shack, now, by that date palm. Are you afraid
+of ghosts?"
+
+"No, rather like 'em. I wouldn't mind camping with them for a day or
+two, with you for company."
+
+[Illustration: "GROUPS OF TALL PALMETTOS, OR MAGNIFICENT TALL
+PALMS"]
+
+The house looked too spooky and snaky to live in, and the boys made
+their camp in the open, near a tamarind tree and, as they observed
+later, beside an overgrown grave. An old barrel under the eaves of
+the house was nearly full of rain water, which they were likely to
+need, since their only supply of fresh water was contained in a
+five-gallon can, which would hold about two days' requirements. The
+rain water was good and would have been better but for Ned's
+gruesome inquiry:
+
+"You don't suppose it has been poisoned, do you, Dick?"
+
+On their first afternoon the boys crossed the swampy jungle in the
+rear of the old plantation and found themselves on a typical South
+Florida prairie. On it were oases of fire-blackened palmettos,
+little ponds, palmetto scrub and bits of soggy meadow, in which they
+often sank to their knees, as they plodded across them. There were
+tracks of wild animals in the meadows and regular trails of
+alligators between the ponds. Billy stopped beside one of the ponds
+and grunted, as he had been taught by Johnny, until a little 'gator
+showed his head.
+
+"See that alligator, Ned? Let's go in there and fetch him out."
+
+"Not much do I go in that mud-hole, alligator or no alligator."
+
+"Then, just you watch me," said Dick, as he took off his shoes and
+stockings.
+
+"See here, Dicky boy, come out of there," said Ned.
+
+But Dick kept on, wading all round the pond before he felt the
+wiggle he wanted. Perhaps his toes were less tough than Johnny's, or
+maybe he didn't manage them as well, for one of them got in a baby
+'gator's mouth. Dick couldn't suppress a yell as two rows of
+needle-like teeth sunk into his flesh, and he jerked his foot away
+so violently that he lost the chance of bagging his game. Then Ned
+came floundering through the mud and almost dragged him out of the
+pond.
+
+"I mean to get that little alligator if it takes all day, only I
+won't try him barefoot again," said Dick, as he slowly drew his
+stocking over his aching toe.
+
+Dick waded out into the pond again and for half an hour explored
+with his feet for the reptile he was after, but all in vain. Several
+times he thought he touched the creature with his shoe, but could
+not be sure. Then he waded ashore and began taking off his shoes.
+
+"What are you going to do now, Dick?" said Ned.
+
+"Johnny waded barefoot into just such a pond as that and brought out
+a 'gator. I told him then that what he could do, I could. I'm plumb
+scared to go in that pond barefoot, but that young Cracker, who's a
+year younger than I, waded right in without stopping to think
+whether it was safe or not. If Johnny was here he'd have that 'gator
+out of that pond, toes or no toes, and that's what I'm going to do,"
+and Dick waded barefoot into the pond again and began feeling around
+in the mud with his toes.
+
+"If you feel that way about it, I'm with you, Dick," said Ned, as he
+began to take off his shoes. But before he reached the water the
+reptile had been caught, and Dick waded ashore with the wriggling
+little alligator in his hand.
+
+"There's a bigger one in there. He whacked me on the shin with his
+tail, just after I caught the little one. Let's get him."
+
+The boys waded side by side, the length of the pond, several times
+without finding another 'gator, although the occasional roiling of
+the water showed that there were others in the pond. They were about
+to give up the hunt when something struck Ned's leg and, grabbing
+suddenly at the thing, he found that he had a five-foot alligator by
+the head. He held the jaws of the 'gator shut while Dick seized the
+hind legs of the reptile, and together they carried the creature
+ashore.
+
+"I wonder where that fellow was hidden," said Dick, after the
+alligator had been safely tied. "My toes have felt in every inch of
+the mud in the bottom of that pond. Maybe there's another one. Let's
+get him," and Dick started into the pond.
+
+"Wait till I get some clubs and I'll be with you. There may be a big
+'gator in there who wouldn't be satisfied with a toe."
+
+It was well they had clubs when they went back in the pond, for
+after a few minutes' searching, Dick struck something, and the tail
+of a reptile came to the surface beside him. As he grabbed it with
+both hands, and hung on with all his strength, a long body curved
+upward from it, a big head was uplifted, and two rows of ivory teeth
+gleamed from wide-opened jaws before Dick's eyes. Before the boy
+could move or the beast strike, Ned's club came crashing down on the
+reptile's head. As the jaws closed and the head fell back, a second
+and yet more furious blow fell upon it. As they dragged the stunned
+or dead 'gator out of the pond, Ned said:
+
+"I'm going to round-skin this alligator and save the skull, for
+mounting. I'll keep it in my den as a reminder of this trip and of
+you."
+
+"If it hadn't been for your club, it would have been more of a
+reminder of me than it is now."
+
+The alligator came to life a few times, while they were skinning it,
+and had to be killed over again, and the tail did some wiggling even
+after the spine had been severed. When the skinning operation was
+over the boys went back to camp, where they found an old kettle, in
+which they boiled the skull of the alligator and cleaned it of flesh
+and brains in preparation for mounting.
+
+[Illustration: "HE HELD THE JAWS OF THE 'GATOR SHUT, WHILE DICK
+SEIZED THE HIND LEGS OF THE REPTILE"]
+
+"How did you sleep last night, Dick?" asked Ned, the next morning.
+
+"Didn't sleep at all. This place is sure bad medicine. First the
+hoots of the owls and the snarls of the wildcats kept me awake, then
+the booming of the big alligators worried me, and after I did get to
+sleep, the ghost of that alligator that we killed to-day shook his
+white teeth in my face, and I could feel the man in the grave under
+me trying to push me off of it. Let's get out of this river this
+morning, Ned."
+
+As they paddled down Rodgers River, in the bright sunshine, Dick's
+spirits rose and when they were off the mouth of the river, headed
+down the coast and bound for Harney's River, two miles distant, he
+took in his paddle and, calling to Ned to hold steady, vaulted
+lightly from the canoe, without even jarring it, and landed on a
+sandbank in water that was but little above his waist. Stooping
+under the water he picked up clams of several pounds weight each,
+with which the bottom was paved, until clam-roasts for days had been
+provided for. Getting back into the canoe was a ticklish operation,
+but was accomplished without disaster, although a pailful or two of
+water was taken aboard.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+HUNTING IN HARNEY'S RIVER
+
+
+The boys had chosen the last of the ebb tide for the trip down
+Rodgers River, which gave them low water for their work on the clam
+bar and a flood tide to help them up Harney's River. They made a
+false start at the mouth of the river by taking a channel that ran
+too far to the east and led them a mile or two out of their course,
+before they discovered their mistake and returned. After entering
+the channel, the course up the river, which averaged east-northeast,
+was plain, there being but a single branch to mislead them, in the
+first six miles. At the end of these the lower section of Harney's
+unites with a branch of Shark River to form Tussock Bay. This bay is
+a labyrinth of channels and keys and opens into creeks large and
+small, and water-courses shallow and deep, grass-choked and clear.
+
+After exploring its mazes for miles, Dick and Ned found, near the
+northeast end of the bay, a tiny key marked by two tall palmettos,
+on which were the signs of an old Indian camp. Here they roasted a
+mess of clams and spent the night. An entire day was wasted in
+following creeks that led nowhere and blind trails. That night they
+slept again at the Indian camp and on the following day found a
+small channel which, through twisting creeks and crooked waterways,
+led to the broad waters of the upper section of Harney's River,
+which they followed until they were stopped by the Everglades. They
+made their camp by a lime tree which was burdened with fruit, and
+went out from it each day to hunt fish or explore and to study and
+chart the country about them. The waters of the streams were all
+flowing clear and fresh from the Everglades. The creeks were alive
+with fish of many kinds, and their surfaces dotted with the heads of
+edible turtles.
+
+Alligators were abundant and otters could often be seen sliding down
+the banks, or in families, playing together in the water. Ned had
+seen a pet otter at Myers and wanted one for himself. He had brought
+with him an otter trap, with smooth jaws instead of the cruel teeth
+which are customary, and he set it near an otter slide. The next day
+as the canoe approached the point where the trap had been set the
+rattling of the chain that held it told of the victim it had made.
+The hind leg of the otter was held firmly by the trap, but he sprang
+fiercely at Ned as he came near, and the sharp teeth snapped
+together within a few inches of the boy's face as the short chain
+straightened out. The boys went back to their camp, where Ned made a
+cage out of the box in which they kept most of their stores, and
+then returned to their captive.
+
+"How are you going to get him into the cage, Ned?"
+
+"Hold his head down with a forked stick, take him round the neck
+with my hand so he can't bite, take the trap off of his leg and poke
+him in the cage."
+
+"Ned! He'll eat you up. I'd rather tackle a wildcat."
+
+"Just watch him eat me up. You stand by, when I've got a good hold,
+and take off that trap quick as you can. Then I'll drop him in the
+box and--there you are."
+
+"No, we won't be there--not all of us. I wish I was the otter. He'll
+have all the fun."
+
+Ned got his forked stick and, after a long struggle, in which Dick
+had to help with another stick, caught the otter's neck in the fork
+and held the creature firmly to the ground. Then putting his left
+hand around its neck he held the head down in the mud, and with his
+right hand clutched the skin of the animal's back.
+
+"All right, Dick, take off the trap."
+
+"Trouble's goin' to begin. Here goes," said Dick, and the trap was
+removed.
+
+Like a flash of light, as Ned lifted the little beast, it thrust its
+head through the loose skin of the neck and turning backward bit
+Ned's hand to the bone four times in something less than a second.
+The otter would have been free, but that Dick, who was looking for
+trouble, had it by the neck with both hands and in spite of its
+biting, scratching and struggling, it was dumped in the box and the
+door of its cage closed.
+
+"Been having fun! Haven't we?" said Dick, ruefully, as the boys,
+scratched, bitten and bleeding, stood looking at each other, after
+their victory. Ned's hand was disabled and so painful that Dick
+paddled the canoe, with its cargo of boys and pet otter, to their
+camp.
+
+"Now, Ned," said Dick, "I'm the surgeon and you are to be respectful
+and call me Dr. Dick. Let me see your left hand first. I've got to
+decide whether to chop it off, or to try and save some of it."
+
+"You look as if you needed some fixing up yourself, Dick."
+
+"That will be all right. You shall have a chance at me--if you
+survive the operation."
+
+Dick got a bottle of carbolated vaseline from their stores, tore up
+one of Ned's shirts and put the strips in boiling water. He then
+washed Ned's wounds with warm water and soap and dressed and
+bandaged them. His own injuries were less serious than Ned's,
+although more numerous, and although he spoke lightly of them, his
+companion insisted on their having as careful treatment as his own.
+When the bandaging was over, Dick said:
+
+"We ought to have a yellow flag to fly over this hospital. I wish we
+had a medical book to tell us what we've probably got. The only
+things I'm sure of are blood poisoning and hydrophobia. Then there's
+enlargement of the spleen. I've got all the symptoms of that."
+
+"Your only danger is from melancholia, Dick. But what are we to do
+with the otter? That box is too small for his comfort."
+
+"I'm not losing any sleep over his comfort. I thought I'd take him
+out of his cage every morning and lead him around the camp for
+exercise until you were ready to begin his education."
+
+"It does not seem quite as easy to tame him as it looked before we
+caught him."
+
+"Guess you mean before he caught us."
+
+"Shouldn't wonder if I did. Couldn't we build a cage of poles, with
+some of these big vines woven in basket fashion?"
+
+"That would be all right. We could watch him day times and you could
+put him back in the box every night for safe keeping. I don't think
+he's an otter at all. He just fits the definition of a white
+elephant."
+
+On the day after his little difference of opinion with the otter,
+Ned's left hand and wrist were so sore and stiff that he could
+neither hold his paddle nor his gun. Dick, too, was partially
+disabled by the soreness of his arms, but he managed to get about in
+the canoe and shoot ducks enough for their meals. They could not
+induce the otter to eat anything, although it seemed much less
+fearful of them. The leg which had been in the trap was broken and
+appeared to trouble the animal, but they could do nothing to help
+it. Dick did propose to take the otter out of the cage and offered
+to set its leg if Ned would hold the creature. On the second day
+their wounds continued to be so troublesome that the boys stayed in
+their hospital camp. As they sat that afternoon in the shade of a
+lime tree, drinking limeade, Dick, the philosopher, began to
+question Ned.
+
+"Don't you pity all these folks about here, Ned? Crackers,
+alligators, Indians, the whole ignorant lot of 'em. If they had got
+hurt as we did, they would have gone right on about their business.
+They'd never have found out that they were probably suffering from
+appendicitis and microbes and ought to go to a hospital and be
+carved up."
+
+At this moment the bow of an Indian canoe glided silently into the
+tiny cove in front of the camp. The boys recognized one of the two
+bronzed, bare-legged Seminoles that stood so erect in the canoe, as
+from Osceola's camp. His response to Ned's greeting was a question.
+
+"_Whyome_ (whiskey), got him? Want him, _ojus_ (very much)."
+
+Ned told them he had no _whyome_, but brought out coffee and sugar
+and invited them to make a brew for themselves. He also produced
+grits and venison. The Indians sat down to a feast which lasted as
+long as any food remained in sight. One of the Indians looked
+curiously at Ned's bandages and smiled a little as he pointed to
+the box that held the pet otter. Ned nodded and asked the Indian, by
+signs, if he had ever been bitten by one of the creatures. The
+Indian held out his hand and showed the scar of a bite that must
+have nearly taken off his thumb. After the Indians had gone Dick
+looked ruefully over the diminished stores and exclaimed:
+
+"There's going to be a famine in this camp if those Injuns hit us
+again."
+
+The next day the boys were very much better and ready for work. Ned
+could not hold a paddle with his left hand, so they took a trip into
+the Everglades, where the water was so shoal that they used their
+paddles as poles and he could push with one hand. They left their
+stores in camp, for which afterwards they were glad, and pushed out
+several miles among the keys of the Glades, where Dick got a shot at
+a deer which was running from one key to another, but made a clean
+miss. They saw several alligators and in the afternoon chased one
+with the canoe. The boys could go faster than the 'gator, but the
+reptile could turn more quickly. At last the canoe was right behind
+the quarry and within a few feet of it.
+
+"Give it to her!" yelled Ned, as he seized his paddle in both hands
+and threw his weight upon it.
+
+"Here goes!" shouted Dick, as he threw his weight on his paddle,
+which, unfortunately, slipped from the point of coral rock on which
+it first struck. Dick landed on his back in the water, capsizing the
+canoe as he fell. When the young canoemen had picked themselves up,
+righted the canoe, and found the rifle, it was too late to look for
+the missing alligator, and they plodded slowly home to camp. They
+found their captive much tamer. He drank a little water, although he
+refused to eat. His leg was badly swollen and they were anxious
+about him, and with good reason, for when they awoke in the morning
+he was dead.
+
+Ned's last, reckless thrust with his paddle had broken open his
+wounds and they became very painful. Dick dressed them again and
+warned him that he wasn't to use his hand until he had Dr. Dick's
+permission. They explored the creeks around their camp in the canoe,
+Dick doing most of the paddling, while Ned helped as well as he
+could, with his unhurt arm. The clear water of these little streams
+abounded with baby tarpon and other small fish, while often, in the
+deeper pools, turtles could be seen scurrying along the bottom. Dick
+had never told Ned of the turtle-catching that Johnny had taught
+him, so when he said, very casually, "Ned, I think I'll go overboard
+and pick up that turtle for supper," Ned replied:
+
+"Don't be an idiot. You couldn't catch that thing in the water in a
+thousand years."
+
+"Just hold the canoe steady and watch me." And Dick, resting his
+hands on the gunwales, threw himself overboard.
+
+The splash frightened the turtle, which made off up the creek, but
+the boy was on his trail and, after a few futile grabs, had the
+reptile in his hand.
+
+"Think that will do for supper, Ned, or shall I pick up a few more?"
+said Dick, as he put the turtle in the canoe.
+
+"I'd like to know who taught you that, you rascal, playing roots on
+your poor old chum, who never had your chance to see the world."
+
+While they were waiting for Ned's hand to get well, Dick got out the
+fly-rod and cast-net that came with his canoe and spent all his
+spare time trying to learn to throw the net. Johnny had given him a
+few lessons, until he thought he had learned to cast it. It was the
+kind of net which is used by the Florida Cracker, to the knowledge
+of which he is born, which he can cast when he leaves his cradle.
+The net was conical, six feet long with a ten-foot mouth, lined with
+leaden sinkers. The top of the net was closed, excepting for a small
+hole in which was fitted a small ring, through which puckering
+strings led from the mouth of the net to a 25-foot line, which was
+to be fastened to the fisherman's wrist.
+
+For casting, about half of the net is thrown over each wrist and one
+of the sinkers held between the teeth. The net is then swung behind
+the fisherman, thrown forward with a whirling motion, the sinker in
+his mouth released at exactly the right instant and the net falls in
+an almost perfect circle wherever, within thirty feet, the fisherman
+wishes. That is the way the net behaved when Johnny threw it. And
+when Johnny arranged the net on Dick's arms, told him just what to
+do and watched him, Dick made some respectable throws, and thought
+he had learned the game; but now, away from his teacher, when he
+tried to cast it, net and leads went out in a solid mass that never
+could have caught anything, though it might have killed a fish by
+knocking it in the head. Dick, however, was bound to learn, and
+practiced by the hour, without seeming to make any progress, when
+suddenly the net began to go out in circles and his casts became
+creditable. He was so fearful of losing his new-found facility that
+he practiced for the rest of that day, and lay down at night with
+what he called the toothache in every muscle.
+
+But from that day fish was on the bill of fare of the young
+explorers.
+
+When Ned's hand was well enough to be used a little, he began by
+fishing, sitting in the bow of the canoe, with the fly-rod, while
+Dick paddled. He caught several of the big-mouthed black bass, often
+called in the South fresh-water trout, and other small fish which
+they saved for the pan. Then the line was carried out with a rush by
+a fish that twice jumped one or two feet in the air.
+
+"Got a tarpon, sure," said Ned, who had never taken one, and he
+became most anxious lest the fish escape.
+
+For nearly half an hour he carefully played the fish, which never
+jumped again. When the tired fish was ready to be landed Ned found
+that his prize, instead of a tarpon, was a ten-pound fish which he
+did not recognize, but which he afterwards learned was a ravaille.
+
+"Well, it was mighty good fun, almost as exciting as if it had been
+a tarpon," said Ned, who didn't know how foolishly he was talking.
+
+They were down the river bright and early the following morning but,
+for the first hour, failed to hook any of the fish that struck. Then
+the hook was snatched and instantly a silver, twisting body shot ten
+feet up in the air. As it fell back in the water, the reel began to
+buzz and Ned's fingers were burned where the line touched them.
+Again and again the great fish leaped high in the air, while the
+line ran low on the reel.
+
+"Paddle, Dick, paddle all you know," shouted Ned.
+
+But Dick was already doing his very best. The tarpon changed his
+course, came back a little, leaped once more and again started off.
+But Ned had got a good many yards of line back on his reel, and was
+getting hopeful of landing his first tarpon. He was beginning to
+lose line again, when the tarpon turned around and, swimming
+straight for the canoe, leaped against Ned with such fury that the
+craft was nearly capsized, and when Ned had recovered from the shock
+his line was nearly out and the fish headed for a little creek that
+was almost overgrown with trees and vines. The first jump of the
+tarpon as he entered the stream carried him up among the bushes
+that hung over the water, but fortunately the line did not catch in
+the branches and, as the fish swam slowly up the little channel, the
+canoe was close behind him. Ned held the point of his rod low, that
+it might not catch in the bushes, but his heart was up in his mouth
+every time the tarpon sprang in the air.
+
+[Illustration: "THE TARPON LEAPED AGAINST NED WITH FURY"]
+
+"It's no use, Dick, we've got to lose him. He isn't a bit tired and
+the tangle is getting worse. Then if he turns back I won't have room
+for the rod and you can't turn the canoe."
+
+"Never say die, Ned. If he gets away from you, I'll go overboard and
+pick him up."
+
+"The creek's opening out into a big river, Dick. We may land him
+yet."
+
+The tarpon stayed in the big river, swimming a mile or so and then
+turning back, while Ned put all the strain he dared on rod and line
+and, excepting when the tarpon made a rush, Dick held his paddle
+still and let the fish tow the canoe by the line.
+
+"We've got all the scales we want," said Dick, "and I move we don't
+gaff another tarpon. When we have tired this one so it's through
+jumping, let's turn it loose. We don't need it to eat and I hate to
+feed sharks with such a beautiful creature."
+
+"Sure!" said Ned. "And if it is as tired as I am it will give in
+pretty soon or die."
+
+The tarpon grew weaker, his leaps lower and soon the canoe was held
+close to him, while Ned even laid his hands on the tired fish.
+
+"Think we can take him aboard, Dick?"
+
+"I think you can swamp the canoe and break the rod, all right."
+
+"I don't mind swamping the canoe and we can take care of the rod. If
+you'll take the rod now, I'll hang on to his jaw and take out the
+hook, which I can see in the corner of his mouth. Then, if you will
+look out for the rod and balance the canoe, I'll slide that tarpon
+over the gunwale--"
+
+"And we will all go overboard together," added Dick.
+
+"No, we won't, but just as soon as we have fairly caught him and got
+him in the canoe, we'll slide him overboard again."
+
+Dick took the rod, Ned removed the hook from the mouth of the tarpon
+and hoisted its head over the gunwale. The canoe canted over until
+water poured over its side, and the attempt would have failed but
+for the tarpon which, with a blow of its tail, threw itself up in
+the air and fell on top of Ned, who had tumbled into the bottom of
+the canoe. The sight of Ned hugging the big fish, which was spanking
+his legs with its tail, was too much for Dick, who sat down on the
+gunwale of the canoe in a spasm of mirth, and of course the craft
+was capsized. Ned clung to the fish for a few seconds until his
+captive had bumped him with its head and slapped him with its tail a
+few times, when he was glad to let it go. He then joined Dick, who
+was holding the rod with one hand and clinging to the canoe with
+the other, as he swam to the bank.
+
+On the way back to camp Dick had several fits of laughter that made
+him stop paddling for a minute at a time and caused Ned to say:
+
+"It's all right to laugh now, but that was my tarpon. I had him safe
+in the canoe and if you hadn't tipped us all into the river I'd have
+hung on to him."
+
+"I'm awful sorry, Ned, but if only you could have seen yourself,
+you'd have had to laugh or bust. Besides, you had your fun. You
+caught your tarpon and you wouldn't have done any more if you had
+lain in the bottom of the canoe and let it spank you all night."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+EDUCATING AN ALLIGATOR
+
+
+The boys wished to explore the Whitewater Bay country, and spent
+several days following to their sources streams that led in that
+direction, until satisfied that no stream connected the two regions.
+Returning to Tussock Bay, they crossed it and entered a branch of
+Shark River, which led to Little Whitewater Bay. As they neared the
+bay a loggerhead turtle rose near them and Dick wanted to hunt it.
+
+"We need the meat," said he. "We can smoke it and then it is as good
+as jerked venison."
+
+"We haven't time to smoke it. We are in a salt-water country with
+only two or three days' supply of fresh water. We may not find any
+more for a week. We've just got to keep moving. I wish we had a keg
+of water. If we were to spill what we've got in that canoe we would
+have to hike in a hurry, back to the Glades or some other place
+where we knew there was fresh water."
+
+On the eastern side of Little Whitewater Bay, the boys found a
+straight and narrow creek which led to Whitewater Bay. Paddling for
+six miles, east-southeast, across the bay, they were fortunate
+enough to strike the narrow mouth of what soon proved to be a broad
+river. They paddled long and late without Finding the fresh water
+they looked for, and camped on ground so wet that they had to cut
+branches to sleep on. As they kept on in the morning, the river they
+followed forked and they took the deeper branch. This in turn split
+in two and again they followed the deeper branch. Near the close of
+a day of hard work the stream they were following opened out on a
+beautiful park-like prairie, while beside the canoe was an ideal
+camping site fitted by Nature to that end.
+
+It was a circular bit of high ground, surrounded by big trees whose
+spreading branches, draped in moss, shaded it on all sides, while an
+immense growth of wild grape-vine canopied it overhead. The water
+that flowed past the camp was pure and sweet, fresh from the
+Everglades. There was heavy timber about the camp and more than once
+during the night the boys heard the tread of a wild animal. Once it
+seemed to be the step of a deer in shallow water near the camp, then
+it was the soft footfall of some catlike animal and when Ned raised
+himself on his elbow to listen to a heavier tread, the "_wouf_" of
+the startled beast told that Bruin had caught the offensive scent of
+the white man's camp. As the boys lay awake and talked while they
+watched the stars peeping through the canopy of vines above them,
+they heard the distant bellowing of a Bull alligator.
+
+"Dick," said Ned, "do you s'pose we could find that 'gator? He must
+be fifteen feet long, from the noise he makes. I'd like mighty well
+to rope him. We could stake him out so he'd never, never get away
+and he would live for weeks if it took us that long to get him
+carried to Fort Myers. Dad would sure be delighted and pay all the
+bills like a major."
+
+"Don't you think he'd throw in new rifles with silver plates and our
+names on 'em?"
+
+"He sure would."
+
+"Well, we haven't got the big alligator yet, but we'll hunt for him
+to-morrow."
+
+Just as Dick spoke the distant report of a gun was heard.
+
+"There goes your fifteen-foot alligator and both of our new rifles
+with silver plates and our names on them. Good-night."
+
+The boys started out across the meadow in the morning on the hunt
+for the big 'gator. They carried a rope for the 'gator and Ned took
+his rifle to be ready for the bear that spoke to them in the night.
+There was no more danger of their losing their camp, for Ned had
+made a chart every night, of their course during the day, until his
+memory had learned to map every scene his eyes looked upon. As they
+crossed a bit of wooded swamp, they heard the step of some heavy
+animal in a jungle near them, but they could get no sight of the
+creature and the slushy mud through which it had waded left no
+prints that inexperienced eyes could read. They found little ponds
+from which small 'gators rose to their calls, but none of a size
+worth thinking of. They saw one big alligator sunning itself on a
+dry bank, and spent an hour in creeping near it only to find that it
+was not over ten feet long. As it grew late and they turned
+homeward, Dick said:
+
+"Ever since that otter of yours died I've wanted a pet in camp. We
+need one for a watchdog. 'Most any night we might be eaten up for
+want of one. Let's take home a young alligator and I'll train it.
+These ponds are full of 'em."
+
+"I don't want you to go wading in any more ponds, Dick."
+
+"That's all right. Don't have to. There are 'gator caves all round
+these ponds. You find one of 'em and I'll do the rest."
+
+The boys hunted around several ponds till Ned found a hole in the
+bank of one, just under the surface of the water. Dick handed Ned a
+pole, which he had cut in the last bit of woods they had passed, and
+then made a noose on the end of the harpoon line which he carried.
+He arranged the noose around the hole in the bank and stood a little
+back of it holding the line in his hands.
+
+"Now, Ned, just poke that pole down in the mud, all around, about
+fifteen feet back of this hole, and pretty soon you'll punch
+something. Then, you'll see fun."
+
+Ned poked around in the soft ground for awhile, then:
+
+"Look out, Dick! Something is wiggling."
+
+"I'm all here. Let her come!"
+
+Out came the reptile's head from the cave, straight through the
+noose which tightened around the alligator's neck, as Dick threw his
+weight back on the line. At first it tried to back into the cave,
+but the line held it. Then it plunged into the pond, but Dick soon
+yanked it out on the prairie. It scuttled over the prairie like a
+great lizard and when the boy jerked it back it ran toward him, but
+he side-stepped quickly out of reach of that open mouth. When the
+reptile became a little quiet, Dick dragged it to the pole which Ned
+had left sticking in the ground and walking twice around it had the
+alligator's head fast to the pole. Then stepping quickly up to the
+creature he seized it by the head, holding its jaws firmly together
+with both hands.
+
+[Illustration: "OUT CAME THE REPTILE'S HEAD FROM THE CAVE"]
+
+"Now, Ned, if you'll tie these jaws together, he'll be gentle as a
+lamb and we'll have a real pet that won't get away like a manatee or
+die like an otter."
+
+"I'll tie it, and bully for you, Dick, boy! You did that in great
+shape. I shouldn't wonder if it made a pretty good pet, and I don't
+care how big its mouth is, it couldn't have a bigger bite than that
+otter of ours."
+
+The 'gator was less than five feet long and quite babyish in its
+ways, but it gave Dick a lot of trouble as he was leading it toward
+their camp.
+
+"Just boost him up on my back, Ned. He's only a baby and wants to
+be toted."
+
+Ned found it a pretty vigorous baby when he tried to boost it and he
+got some spanks from its tail that made him think of his tarpon of a
+few days before. Finally Ned stood in front of his companion, and
+with his help the reptile was dragged up Dick's back with its
+forepaws on his shoulder. Dick hung onto the paws, in spite of the
+sloshing about of his pet's tail for about a quarter of a mile, when
+he dumped it on the ground and addressing it, said:
+
+"There! You uneasy little cuss, you've got to walk. I don't mind
+your wiggling your tail, but you tickle my ribs with your hind claws
+and you pound my head with your hard old jaws. Now come along
+straight, or instead of being toted you'll get a lickin'."
+
+When they reached camp Dick staked the pet out with a line long
+enough to let it get into the river when it chose. He took the rope
+from its jaws, leaving them free, and the 'gator never took
+advantage of it by trying to bite. At first the pet got very much
+excited when he was dragged out of the water and up on land, but
+after awhile he got used to it and seemed to almost enjoy it. Dick
+caught fish for his pet which always refused to eat them. Then Dick
+cut the fish in pieces and while Ned held the little 'gator, stuffed
+them in its mouth and then held its jaws together till it swallowed
+its food.
+
+"See the baby 'gator sit up, Ned," said Dick one day, after he had
+been training it for some time. "I'll have him eating with a fork
+and drinking from a cup in a week."
+
+[Illustration: "SEE THE BABY 'GATOR SIT UP, NED!"]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+ENCOUNTER WITH OUTLAWS
+
+
+One day, just after the boys had returned from an unsuccessful hunt
+for deer and Dick was at his usual occupation of training his pet,
+they heard the sound of oars, and a skiff, rowed by a man who looked
+like a product of the swamp, landed beside the camp.
+
+"Kin you fellers let me have a little salt to save my hides? 'Gators
+are pretty thick 'nd my salt's gi'n out."
+
+"We have only about a bushel of salt, but you can have half; yes, we
+can spare you three-quarters of it. We only use it for specimens and
+there'll be enough left for us," said Ned.
+
+"That's mighty kind o' you, 'nd I won't fergit it, tho' that won't
+be any use t' you, bein's ye ain't likely t' see me ag'in."
+
+"Why not? You go to Myers, I suppose. We might meet you there and
+we'd be glad to see you."
+
+"Thar's other folks 'd be glad t' see me thar, perticiler the
+sheriff. Ain't you fellers skeered, now yer know yer talkin' t' an
+outlaw?"
+
+"Not much," laughed Ned. "If you are an outlaw you have probably
+had all the trouble you want."
+
+"You bet I hev."
+
+"Then you aren't looking for any more. So what is there to scare
+us?"
+
+"Not a blame thing. But you boys is plucky. There's men 'd fight shy
+o' staying 'round here."
+
+"Well, it doesn't worry us. We didn't suppose there was any one
+around here, though, and we wondered who it was we heard shooting
+last night and we are glad to find out. Did you get any big
+alligators?"
+
+"'Twasn't me shootin'. I didn't shoot las' night. Say! You've gotter
+look out! I know them fellers. One on 'em's bad and you boys ain't
+safe. I'm goin' ter hang 'round, 'n if you smell trouble jest fire
+two shots 'nd trouble'll cum a-humpin' fur them fellers,"
+
+"All right and much obliged, and if anything does come that we can't
+manage we'll remember you, sure."
+
+Whenever the boys passed a pond on the prairie they stopped and
+grunted till the young 'gators came to the surface. One day Dick
+fired a shot near enough to splash one that had come up, but in ten
+minutes the reptile had forgotten his scare and again answered the
+call. Dick was disposed to wade in the pond and catch the little
+'gator, but Ned coaxed him out of the notion and proposed that they
+find a cave and rope another 'gator to cheer up Dick's pet, which he
+said was getting lonesome. This pleased Dick and the boys spent
+half a day finding an inhabited cave, when they secured its occupant
+with no trouble excepting that, as the alligator came out of his
+hole, Dick slipped on the muddy turf and was dragged into the pond.
+The 'gator was soon brought out on the prairie and its jaws tied. It
+was larger than the one first captured, and Dick didn't try to carry
+it on his back, but led and dragged it the entire distance.
+
+As the boys approached their camp they saw a skiff, with two
+rough-looking men in it, just being pushed from the bank. Ned called
+to the men, but received no reply, and the skiff was rowed rapidly
+away.
+
+"That spells trouble," said Ned. "Those are the fellows that our
+outlaw warned us against."
+
+The boys found their stores in some confusion and a lot of them had
+disappeared, and with them had gone Ned's rifle, which he had left
+in camp. Ned was quite too angry to speak and walked quickly to the
+canoe, followed by Dick.
+
+"What are you going to do, Ned?"
+
+"Going to get that rifle."
+
+"All right. I'm with you."
+
+"Dick, I'm going alone. It's a fool's errand and I don't want you
+mixed up in it."
+
+"Maybe it is a fool's errand, I guess it is, and that's the very
+reason I'm going with you, Ned. You know I'm going, that I wouldn't
+miss going with you for the world and you haven't any right to ask
+me to be a sneak and crawl out of the trouble, for it is trouble
+and probably big trouble."
+
+"Why, Dick, boy, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, and I'm sure
+glad to have you with me, only you must let me manage when we find
+those fellows."
+
+"Of course you'll run the thing and I won't interfere, unless it
+becomes mighty necessary, which is quite some likely."
+
+As they got into the canoe Dick said:
+
+"Don't you want the shotgun?"
+
+"No. Got better weapons than that."
+
+"Glad of it. You'll need 'em."
+
+The boys paddled rapidly down the narrow river for several miles
+before they came up to the men they were seeking, who were then just
+getting out of the little skiff into a larger one which had a canvas
+cover and was evidently used as a camp.
+
+Dick guided the canoe beside the larger boat and Ned spoke quietly
+to one of the men, who was scowling at him.
+
+"You know what I have come for. I want my rifle."
+
+"What rifle? I don't know anything about your rifle."
+
+"I mean the rifle you stole from our camp this afternoon. I want it
+and I'm going to have it."
+
+"See here," said the man, who was purple with rage, as he picked up
+a rifle, "I'll blow the top of your head off if you tell me I lie."
+
+"You lie," said Ned calmly. "You are a liar, a thief and a coward.
+Now give me that rifle. I am not going to ask you for it many more
+times."
+
+"I won't give it to you and I don't know what keeps me from blowing
+your head off. I believe I will yet."
+
+"I can tell you why you don't. Because you know there would be a
+hundred men on your trail who would never leave it while you were
+alive. Because you wouldn't dare show your face to man, woman or
+child, white, black or red, in Lee County or anywhere else. Because
+your own partner would be the first to give you up."
+
+"He would, would he?"
+
+"Yes, he would!" said the man referred to. "Don't be a fool, but
+give the kid his gun, or I will."
+
+The rifle was handed to Ned and the boys paddled back to their camp.
+On the way Dick said:
+
+"I was scared stiff, Ned, when that fellow took up his rifle and I
+saw how mad he was. Weren't you a little bit frightened yourself?"
+
+"Not then. I'm a good deal scared now to think of it."
+
+As the boys that night sat leaning against a log which they had made
+soft with masses of long gray moss, watching the dying out of the
+fire which had cooked their supper, another skiff touched at their
+bank, bringing the man to whom they had given the salt and also
+carrying the carcass of a fine buck.
+
+"There, boys, better smoke what yer can't eat by termorrer. I'll
+show yer how."
+
+"We know how and we're very much obliged. But we must pay for it,
+you know."
+
+"I can't take a cent and it makes me feel bad t' have yer talk about
+it. Have yer seen them fellers yit?"
+
+"Oh, yes. They called on us and we returned the call. We didn't
+happen to be at home when they called, though," said Dick.
+
+"They come here t' your camp?"
+
+"Yes. They certainly came."
+
+"'nd you not here?"
+
+"No."
+
+"What did they take?"
+
+"Stole a rifle," said Dick.
+
+"I'll git it back. Don't yer worry, I'll git it back and I'll start
+now," and the outlaw rose from the log on which he was sitting.
+
+"Don't go. We got the rifle back."
+
+"How did yer do it?"
+
+Dick told the story of the recovery of the rifle. The outlaw sat for
+a minute looking down at the ashes of the fire, and then, speaking
+very slowly and with emphatic little nods between the words, said:
+
+"And them's th' fellers I thought needed lookin' arter."
+
+There was silence for some time and then Ned spoke in a voice that
+was low from suppressed feeling.
+
+"My friend, I don't know your name. I don't know what you did. I
+don't ask it. But I believe you are too good a man to be living the
+life of an outlaw. Now, can't something be done to help you? If some
+men of influence worked for your pardon, couldn't it be got?"
+
+"Reckon not. It's bin tried. I'll tell yer jist how 'twas. I killed
+a man. He worried me 'nd threatened me 'nd tried ter kill me with a
+knife, 'f I'd shot him then, nobody'd said nuthin', but I waited 'nd
+then I got scared, thot he'd kill me, 'nd one day I shot him. I was
+put in th' pen, then I was sent t' the chain gang 'nd set t' boxin'
+trees f'r turpentine. Saw a man flogged day I got thar. Sed I'd
+never git whipped if work would save me. I was the strongest man in
+the gang. Boxed more trees 'n anybody. More I did, more I had t'. I
+don't say I was whipped. If I was I didn't deserve it. If I was 'nd
+ever see th' man that did it I'll kill him. Know how turpentine
+gangs is guarded? Boy sits up on platform with rifle 'nd gives
+orders. S'pose yer sassy to him or he just wants fun with yer. When
+Cap--that's th' man that whips--comes 'long, boy sez feller's bin
+shirkin'. Then feller's tied t' tree 'nd Cap beats him till feller
+begs t' be killed. I don't want t' hurt anybody 'cept one feller,
+but I ain't goin' back t' no chain gang. If the sheriff holds me
+up, 'nd sez 'Come back or I'll shoot,' I'll say 'Shoot!'"
+
+The boys were very silent after the outlaw's story and when he left
+them they shook hands warmly with him and asked what they could do
+for him; ammunition, food, clothing, money, anything they had was at
+his service.
+
+"Don't want nuthin'. You've give me more'n you'll ever know," said
+the outlaw gruffly.
+
+But the gruffness was a bit tremulous and there were tears in the
+man's voice.
+
+The outlaw got in the way of spending his evenings with the young
+explorers and Ned pumped him dry of his knowledge of the Everglades,
+the Big Cypress and the lesser swamps of South Florida. He made
+charts from lines traced in the dirt to show rivers, bays, prairie
+land and swamps. Ned learned of hidden creeks that connected waters
+thought to be completely separated by land and of others that could
+be connected by a short carry.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+DICK AND THE BEAR
+
+
+Dick wanted a bear and the outlaw showed him a near-by swamp where
+several of the creatures lived. Day after day Dick waded, wandered
+and watched in that swamp with the rifle, while Ned tramped in
+another direction carrying the shotgun, making maps of the country,
+and picking up occasionally a duck or Indian hen for dinner.
+Sometimes Dick got sight of a bear, but Bruin was shy and kept well
+out of range. One day, while sitting in some thick woods, hoping
+that a bear would wander near him, Dick heard a loud tearing sound
+that seemed to come from the top of a little group of young
+palmettos. He crept as slowly and silently as possible near the
+trees and saw a bear sitting in the top of a palmetto, tearing away
+the outer husk of the bud of the tree which is the cabbage of the
+Cracker and often serves as his bread. While Dick was creeping
+nearer to get a surer shot, Bruin tore out the bud and, with the
+cabbage in his mouth, dropped from the top of the tree to the
+ground, alighting on its fore shoulder. Dick didn't know that this
+was the way bears in that country usually came down a tree when in
+a hurry, and supposed the bear had met with an accident and was
+killed. He changed his mind the next instant when the creature came
+racing toward him. Dick and the bear were about ten feet apart when
+they saw one another. The bear had to turn quickly to keep from
+running over Dick, and Dick had trouble to keep from punching the
+bear in the ribs with his rifle when he fired at it.
+
+No one was hurt on this first round and the bear thought it had
+escaped and so did the boy. Dick churned a cartridge from the
+magazine to the barrel of his rifle and watched closely the
+undergrowth through which the bear was running, hoping for another
+shot. Just as the splashing in the marsh grew indistinct and Dick
+realized that his last chance had gone, he got one glimpse of the
+bear as it sprang upon a log that lay across its path. Dick threw
+his rifle to his shoulder with the quick motion of the sportsman who
+takes a woodcock on the wing, and fired. The bear, which was distant
+more than a hundred yards, disappeared and it seemed to the boy
+scarcely worth while to follow it. It was only the notion to look
+for the mark of his bullet on some tree near the log that induced
+him to wallow through the swamp to where he had last seen the bear.
+To his amazement he found a piece of bone and some fresh blood on
+the log. He had no thought now of abandoning the trail. He followed
+it through swamp and jungle, sometimes losing it where the ground
+was hard or where it crossed the path of an alligator. Often when he
+became fearful that he had lost the trail a smear of blood on root
+or leaf told him that he was on the track. From former hunts and the
+study of Ned's maps, he knew the general lay of the land, but he
+stopped often and noted his course, for he meant to follow that
+trail and camp on it if necessary until he lost it finally or found
+the bear. The animal seemed to know all the bad stretches of marsh
+and thorny bits of jungle and, as the hours passed and night drew
+near, without his getting a sight of his quarry, he consoled himself
+with the thought of what Mr. Streeter had told him:
+
+"A man is never lost in the swamp so long as he knows where he is
+himself."
+
+Dick knew he wouldn't starve. There were always birds to be shot,
+alligators which he could kill with a club, and palmetto cabbage
+which he could dig out with his knife. He had his matches in a
+watertight box, a little bag of salt in his pocket, the swamp water
+was fresh, and what more could a hunter-boy ask for? He felt so
+cheerful that he began to whistle, which brought him bad luck, for
+he stumbled over a root which caught both feet and threw him
+head-down into a deep pool of mud. He was half strangled before he
+got out and was looking down shudderingly into the morass out of
+which he had crawled, when he missed his rifle and knew he had got
+to get back into the mudhole. It was so deep that he laid a branch
+across it to cling to, before venturing in. A big moccasin crawled
+from under a root beside the pool of mud as Dick stepped in it and
+the boy shut his teeth tight as he forced himself to wallow through
+the slimy, snaky mass from which his flesh recoiled.
+
+He was waist-deep in that broth of mud when his feet found the rifle
+and he stooped down into it and groped around among roots that felt
+like living, squirming reptiles before he recovered the weapon. When
+he had scraped the most of the mud off of himself and out of the
+rifle it was too dark to follow the trail and Dick walked to a
+near-by thicket where he hoped to find better ground for a camp. He
+was peering into a dark recess in the thicket when a fierce growl
+within a few feet startled him terribly, but told him that he had
+found his bear--or another one. Dick was about to run, when a
+picture of Ned facing the outlaw formed itself in his mind and after
+that the bear couldn't have kicked him out of its path. As the boy's
+eyes became accustomed to the gloom he saw the bear lying within six
+feet, with jaws half open, and eyes fixed upon him. Dick believed
+the bear was dying, since he failed to spring upon him, but he
+thought a bullet would make things safer and he raised his rifle. He
+pointed the weapon at the animal's head, but it was too dark to see
+the sight of the rifle, the brain of the creature was small, and
+Dick, remembering that a bear with a sore head is likely to be
+cross, dropped the muzzle of his weapon to the fore shoulder of the
+beast, and fired. The bear scarcely moved, but its eyes closed and
+Dick was prudently waiting before touching it, when he heard the
+distant report of a gun and knew that Ned was worried about him. He
+fired an answering shot and then, finding a bit of dry ground beside
+the body of the bear, decided to eat his supper the next morning and
+lay down to sleep with his head on his new bear robe.
+
+At daylight he heard the report of Ned's gun and fired his rifle in
+reply. The bear was so heavy that Dick had trouble in handling it
+and before he had finished skinning it the report of a gun within
+two hundred yards showed that Ned was out hunting for him and had
+taken the right course.
+
+"Hope you didn't worry about me," was Dick's greeting as the boys
+met.
+
+"Nope, didn't worry after you answered my shot, but I was mighty
+envious of you, for I knew you had got hold of something. I didn't
+believe it was a bear. Were you scared, Dick?"
+
+"Yes, I was, a heap, but I pulled through," and Dick told his chum
+of the thought that braced him up.
+
+Ned tried to speak roughly, but his voice trembled and he looked
+affectionately at his companion as he said:
+
+"See here, Dick, boy, you can cut out all that outlaw talk. The gun
+business was all bluff and you know it as well as I."
+
+"You looked pretty white, Neddy, for a fellow who didn't think he
+was taking any risk. But if you'll tell me now, honest Injun, that
+you didn't think there was any danger when you faced that convict
+and called him a liar, a thief and a coward, why I'll never speak of
+it again. I noticed that your pet outlaw, who said the fellow was a
+murderer, three deep, didn't seem to think that you had done
+anything so very amusing in giving that fellow the lie and all the
+rest of it."
+
+"I see you are round-skinning your bear for mounting. I'm glad of
+that. Some day I'll see it in your house and we'll be talking about
+last night."
+
+"That skin is for you. I want you to have it stuffed and put where
+it can watch your alligator."
+
+"I'm not going to take all the trophies of this trip. You can bet
+your life on that."
+
+"Don't get slangy, Neddy. You aren't used to it and it isn't
+becoming. Besides, we may never get these little souvenirs out of
+the wilderness."
+
+By which remark Dick proved himself to be a prophet.
+
+The trail of the bear had been roundabout and had brought Dick
+within less than a mile of the camp. The buzzards were gathering and
+Dick remained to guard the meat while he finished removing the skin
+and cleaning the skull. Ned made two trips with good loads and then,
+taking all they could carry, the boys returned to camp, leaving a
+big feast for the bird scavengers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+IN THE CROCODILE COUNTRY
+
+
+One evening while Dick had one of his alligator pets sitting up on
+his tail, teaching him to sing, as he told his chum, Ned said:
+
+"Crocodiles are a lot more interesting than alligators and the
+Florida crocodile is nearly extinct. All that are left are in a
+little strip of land near Madeira Hammock, which is only a mile or
+two wide and eight or ten long. Let's go down to Madeira Hammock and
+catch some to look at. We can turn them loose after we are through
+with them."
+
+"Mr. Streeter says there is no way to get through to Florida Bay,
+where Madeira Hammock is, by water from Whitewater Bay."
+
+"Your outlaw says there is, only you have to tote your canoe some."
+
+"He isn't my outlaw. I don't sit up nights making maps with him, and
+anyhow we can't tote the canoe through a mangrove swamp, and that's
+what we're up against if we go that way."
+
+"But our outlaw--the outlaw, if you like--says we can find little
+creeks up toward the Glades that will take us almost through."
+
+"All right. We'll start in the morning. I wish we'd cured about a
+ton or two less of that meat. We'll have to make a lot of trips
+across the carries. You don't see any way to take my alligators
+along, do you?"
+
+Two days were spent in following creeks that led to nothing and then
+one was found with a deeper channel which led them for miles, after
+which it broke up into several little waterways, which were almost
+without current and so shallow that the boys had to wade and drag
+their canoe. Their progress was slow, and they slept on a bed of
+brush which had lumps and knots to bruise every soft spot on their
+bodies. Their next trouble was a strip of mangrove swamp which a cat
+couldn't have crawled through. After following along the mangroves
+for an hour they found a creek which entered it. As they followed
+this creek it grew wider and deepened. There was a slight current
+that flowed with them; the water was brackish, and they knew it led
+to the Bay of Florida and that the Madeira Hammock was near.
+
+The mangrove gave place to a better growth, the soil became richer
+and vegetation more luxuriant. Soon they had to cut away vines and
+branches to clear the way for the canoe, but they counted their
+troubles over. They were paddling gaily ahead when they saw in front
+of them a branch that stretched across the creek about a foot above
+the water. They had met plenty of similar obstructions, but this
+was different. There was a big wasps' nest on the branch and the air
+was filled with flying little pests. It was impossible to get around
+the nest and it was doubtful if there was another creek that would
+take them through.
+
+"Let's get some dry palmetto fans and make torches. Then we can burn
+and smoke the wasps out," said Ned.
+
+"Dunno as I want to wade up to that nest and set it afire. Ouch!"
+said Dick, who had sat down on what he thought was a stump, but had
+turned out to be an ants' nest. "Holy smoke! Don't these things
+bite? I don't believe wasps are in it with them. Anyhow, I'm going
+to find out."
+
+Dick took the oar that was used to pole the canoe and wading
+straight toward the nest struck it a blow that most fortunately
+knocked it to the water, while a second blow sent it under the
+surface. A few of the outlying insects stung the boy and he had a
+dozen little lumps to show for a day or two, but he had captured the
+fort and drowned the garrison and the canoe passed in peace.
+
+The creek emptied into a wide bay on the high bank of which the boys
+camped. It was part of the Madeira Hammock, the most beautiful
+native forest they had seen. At daylight a large crocodile was
+floating on the bay near the camp, but sank out of sight as the
+campers showed themselves. From the bay the canoeists entered a deep
+river with high banks on which were growing madeira, wild sapadillo,
+palms of several kinds and other varieties of trees. In the sides
+of the high banks at the water line the boys saw holes which they
+believed to be the caves of crocodiles. In the mouth of one the
+water was muddied and Dick cut a long pole which he poked into the
+hole. At first he felt something seize the pole, but could not
+afterward find the creature. He then took the pole on the bank and
+thrust it into the ground where he thought the reptile was most
+likely to be. When he had worked thirty feet back from the bank he
+felt something move and the next instant Ned, who had stayed in the
+canoe at the mouth of the cave, was nearly capsized by the rush of a
+great beast nearly the size of the canoe.
+
+"Why didn't you grab it, Ned? What is the use of my driving game to
+you, if you let it slip through your fingers?"
+
+"Perhaps you think that was one of the alligator babies you've been
+nursing. You didn't see the big head with the tusks running out of
+the top of it."
+
+"No, but I mean to see the next one. It'll be your turn to do the
+punching while I rope the critter."
+
+"If you had got your rope on that one and held on, you'd be in his
+cave now, inside the owner's tummy."
+
+The next crocodile was not far away and the hunters saw it crawl
+into its cave. Dick stood on the bank over the cave and arranged the
+noose on the end of the harpoon line around the mouth of the cave,
+while Ned paddled the canoe a few rods down the stream. Dick had the
+line fast to his wrist, but Ned wouldn't punch it until it had been
+made fast to a chunk of wood instead.
+
+"What difference does it make?" grumbled Dick. "If the chunk goes
+overboard I follow it. See?"
+
+Ned hit the crocodile on his first poke and Dick had his hands full
+from the start. He would have been dragged into the river within a
+dozen seconds, but for Ned's coming to his aid. The crocodile was as
+quick as the alligators had been slow.
+
+"If he digs round as fast on land as he does in the water there's
+goin' to be a circus when we get him out on the bank," said the
+panting Dick.
+
+"And you wanted to be tied to his mammy by the wrist. This is only
+an infant. It isn't nine feet long."
+
+But it was, and a foot over that, yet when they got the reptile on
+the bank and drew its head close to a sapling, they tied a piece of
+the line around its knobby head without any trouble. From that
+moment the crocodile was tame, and soon Dick was handling him
+fearlessly, although Ned warned him that if he didn't keep out of
+the way of that tail he'd be knocked endways. But Dick sat on his
+back, pulled his tail and tried to lift him on his own back without
+the crocodile showing displeasure in any way.
+
+"Ned, this thing is a peach. Why not send him to your father? He
+could be taken to New York in a baby carriage or led like a puppy
+dog. There would be no such trouble as there would be with a
+manatee. He's a curiosity, too."
+
+"If it was the big one I believe it would be worth trying. That
+fellow must be as big as they come. I wish we had fixed for him."
+
+"It isn't too late. Let's lay for him to-morrow."
+
+The crocodile hunters camped beside their captive and Dick spent the
+afternoon trying to educate it. He talked of taking the string off
+of its jaws, but Ned stopped that.
+
+"I'm afraid he might eat the wrong thing, by mistake, and then I'd
+have to go home alone. I suppose I could take the crocodile along in
+your place. Your mother might like him as a kind of souvenir."
+
+"But see how gentle he is and how mild his eye. He doesn't whack
+around with his tail like an alligator and I think he likes to have
+me sit on his back."
+
+"That's only his slyness. Look at him now." For the crocodile,
+thinking itself unobserved, was crawling slowly toward the bank of
+the river. When it reached the end of its tether and could go no
+farther, it lay down and, lifting its head, looked all around as
+innocently as if it never dreamed of escaping, but had just moved a
+little way to get a better view of the scenery.
+
+Every hour or two of the next day the boys called at the cave of
+the big crocodile, but never found him in.
+
+"Well, we'll go at it again to-morrow," said Dick.
+
+"We will be doing something else to-morrow. We've got to hike out of
+here, and keep moving, too. Last drop of water has just gone into
+the coffee pot," and Ned turned the empty water can upside down.
+
+"Hope you can find the creek that leads to the fresh-water country.
+I don't believe I could. We came through too many twisty, narrow
+places. We sure don't want to be three or four days finding it. I'm
+awful thirsty now."
+
+"You must stop thinking about it. I believe I won't try for that
+creek. It's a regular Chinese puzzle up among the mangroves, and I'm
+not a bit sure I could follow our trail back to fresh water. I'd
+rather take chances of that river that leads more to the east. I
+know it can't go through to our bay, but it must lead up to the
+Everglade country where the mangroves won't be so bad. We may have
+to do some toting, but we will be sure to find water by to-morrow
+night or the next day at the worst. But I won't go that way unless
+you think best. It's too serious a thing for me to decide alone."
+
+"Oh, I'm with you Ned. I might live till day after to-morrow without
+water, but I wouldn't have a ghost of a chance beyond that, and we
+might be three days in your Chinese puzzle country. Wow! but I'm
+thirsty."
+
+"Say that again, Dick, and I'll confiscate your coffee. I'm going to
+save half of it for breakfast, anyhow. So go slow. You're on
+allowance now. We will have breakfast before daylight. I want to
+start as soon as we can see. It's a lot cooler before sun-up."
+
+"I'll wake easy. I'll be so thirsty--Oh! excuse me, I forgot. But
+Ned, would you mind if I took my crocodile along in the canoe? He
+wouldn't take up much room and I could sit on his back. I could lead
+him across any carry and I've grown quite fond of him."
+
+"You had better stop talking nonsense and get some sleep. You may
+need it."
+
+"Yes, I know. 'Most anything may happen. You'd feel bad to think you
+had refused a poor boy's dying request--and he your chum, too. Can't
+I have my little pet crocodile?"
+
+When the sun rose the young explorers had already paddled several
+miles and were in a labyrinth of little bays from which they
+followed channel after channel until each one shoaled down to a few
+inches in depth. Finally they found one that deepened as they
+advanced, although its banks came nearer together and the branches
+of big trees closed over it.
+
+"This is all right. Fresh water soon," said Dick joyfully.
+
+But he was soon to be disappointed. For the little creek ended in a
+round shallow pond, a hundred yards across and entirely shut in by
+thick bushes. Dick became very blue and even Ned was discouraged.
+
+"I hate to go back for miles and begin all over again, just when we
+are so far along in the right direction. We can get through these
+bushes and walk a mile or two, and perhaps climb a tree and see what
+the country looks like," said Ned.
+
+"I'd rather do anything than go back," replied Dick. "Let's paddle
+round the edge of this pond and see where the bushes are thinnest."
+
+They paddled along the shore of the little lake, finding the water
+so shallow that it barely floated the canoe, until just where the
+bushes seemed thickest it deepened to several feet, and parting the
+bushes disclosed a deep but very narrow creek through which the
+water slowly flowed. There was no room to paddle and for more than a
+mile the boys dragged the canoe by taking hold of overhanging
+branches. Sometimes they could lift branches that crossed the creek
+over the canoe as they passed. Sometimes they had to lie down in the
+canoe to get under the obstructions and often they had to stop to
+cut away limbs of small trees. They were finally stopped by the
+trunk of a large tree which had fallen across and completely blocked
+up the creek. Just beyond it two palmettos had fallen in the stream,
+one of which lay lengthwise in the channel. It would have taken days
+to remove the obstructions and the young explorers explored the
+swamp near them to find a possible carry. They found that a hundred
+feet behind them the woods were thinner and they could cut a path
+through which they could carry the canoe and stores.
+
+"This is going to take all the rest of the day," said Ned, "and it
+will be a dry camp after a heap of hot work. What do you say to
+leaving this till to-morrow, and putting in this afternoon hunting
+for the best route and looking for fresh water?"
+
+"That's me," replied Dick. "Let's hike in a hurry. Only don't you
+lose your way. We have got to get back to the canoe and you're the
+guide."
+
+"Don't you worry about that. You may have to go slow, but I won't
+lose myself and I will bring you back to the canoe," said Ned.
+
+Instead of following the creek, Ned bore off to the north where the
+woods seemed more open and soon reached a stretch of dry, open
+prairie. On the border of it stood a tall mastic tree with a
+lightning-blasted top and many branches which made it easy to climb.
+Ned was soon in the top of the tree making a mental map of the
+country round about.
+
+"It is all right now," said he as he climbed down. "I can see the
+open Everglades within four or five miles, and there is something
+that looks like a slough that is only half as far away. We'll leave
+the creek in the morning and cut our path this way, instead of
+around those trees. It won't be as much work, either. We can do
+some of that work to-night and camp right here. Then in the morning,
+at daylight, we will start out with the canoe on our shoulders and
+tramp till we find water to float it."
+
+"But how about water to drink? I need it worse than the canoe."
+
+"Where there's water for the canoe, there will be water for you.
+It's Everglade water from now on."
+
+"I wish it would begin this minute. There's a little mud-hole that
+looks pretty wet. Do you think that might be fresh?"
+
+"Only way to find out is to try it." A minute later Dick called out.
+
+"Come here, Ned, it's muddy, but it's fresh. Oh, isn't it good!"
+
+As Ned approached the pool Dick, who was lying on the prairie beside
+it, lifted his face from the water of which he had been drinking,
+and was turning to speak to his companion when the head of a great
+alligator, with wide open jaws, was thrust violently out of the
+pool, just touching the boy's face. Dick fell back on the prairie
+and scrambled away from the pool. It was a minute before he spoke
+and then he said to Ned:
+
+"Let's get back to work. I don't want another drink for a month. It
+makes me sick to think of it."
+
+The slough was farther away than Ned thought and the road to it lay
+through a marsh. Often they sank to the waist and wallowed for
+rods, carrying the canoe which seemed to weigh a ton, or dragging it
+beside them. Moccasins were plentiful, but the boys were too tired
+to be worried by them. They had to make two more trips to carry
+their cargo, and on the last one, as Dick was staggering under a
+load of smoked meat and a heavy, salted skin, he was heard to say:
+
+"I wonder why I killed that bear. I will never kill another one."
+
+There was dry ground beside the slough, under some willow trees, and
+the explorers were glad to rest there for the night. A duck flew
+down by the willows as if seeking to camp with them and he
+succeeded, for they had him for supper.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+AMONG THE SEMINOLES
+
+
+The young explorers had found an uncharted route from the Bay of
+Florida to the Everglades and the work before them was now easy.
+
+The water was deeper than was needed to float their canoe, and the
+grass too light to trouble them. They sheered off and avoided all
+bands of saw-grass unless they found trails across them. The Glades
+were dotted with little keys of bay, myrtle and cocoa plum. These
+were small and usually submerged. A few larger keys were covered
+with heavier timber, pine, oak, mastic, palmetto and other woods. In
+these, deer were plentiful and bear and panther sometimes found.
+
+The boys went to several keys before they found one with dry land
+enough for a camp. It had been used for camping by the Seminoles for
+many years and was the only bit of land above the surface of the
+water for miles. On it were piles of turtle shells, while scattered
+about were bones of deer and alligator and skulls of bear and
+smaller animals. A cultivated papaw which some Indian had planted
+within a few years, stood twelve feet high and was filled with
+great melon-like papaws, each one of which weighed from five to ten
+pounds.
+
+"Better than cantaloupe," said Dick as he finished half of a big one
+as a preliminary to his supper, "but what's this you are giving us
+for coffee?"
+
+"Coffee's out," replied Ned. "The fellows that took the rifle
+cleaned out most of the coffee."
+
+"Why didn't you make 'em give it back when you had 'em on the run?"
+
+"Reckon I was glad to get out of it as easy as I did. Then I had
+said enough unkind things to them for one time."
+
+"Sorry you think you were unkind. Your feelings must be a good deal
+torn up. But you haven't told me what I'm drinking. Tastes something
+like the sassafras tea I used to get dosed with when I was a kid.
+It's pretty good, though."
+
+"It's something like it. It's made from the leaves of the sweet bay
+tree, which grows on all these islands and all over this country.
+Sweet-bay tea is all you're going to get to drink, excepting water,
+from now on."
+
+"What is that fruit that looks like a big stubby pear on that
+curious-looking tree there?" inquired Dick.
+
+"Custard apple."
+
+"Does it taste like custard?"
+
+"Yes, if the custard has been mixed with turpentine."
+
+The explorers made little progress the following day. Bunches of
+thick saw-grass turned them back. They found shallow water where for
+long distances they had to paddle slowly to avoid little pillars of
+coral rock that came close to the surface and endangered their
+fragile canoe. Most of the afternoon was vainly spent in searching
+for a camping site. They found a key where the water was shoal and
+made a bed of poles and branches. Both of them chose to sleep on the
+bed they had made. Whether this was simply politeness or because
+both were afraid of rolling out of the canoe nobody else knows. The
+poles and branches sagged under their weight until both were wet.
+Then such a deluge of rain as is seldom seen outside of the tropics
+fell on them. They got out in the dark and tied their canvas sheet
+over the canoe. They didn't need it for themselves. They were
+already as wet as they could be.
+
+In the morning they dried themselves--so Dick said--by rolling into
+the water and sloshing around. They made a cold lunch of smoked
+bear, cold hominy, or grits as it is called in Florida, and water,
+choosing to wait for breakfast until they should find land enough
+for a fire. During the day they saw high trees to the eastward and
+made for them. Here they found a Seminole camp of several families.
+
+As they landed from their canoe they saw several pickaninnies, for
+Seminole children are not called papooses like children in other
+tribes of Indians, watching them from behind trees and boats. The
+squaws whom they met were equally shy and kept their faces hidden.
+Ned spoke to several of them, but they gave no sign that they even
+heard him.
+
+"They don't like your looks," said Dick. "Let me speak to the next
+one."
+
+The next one was a young girl and Dick was very confident, as he
+addressed her, with his very best smile. But he was turned down as
+badly as his chum, for the girl didn't see him at all. At the camp
+they found one old Indian and several squaws. The Indian welcomed
+them with a grunt and the question,
+
+"_Whyome_ (whiskey), you got um?"
+
+"_Whyome holowaugus_ (bad), no got um," replied Ned. The Indian
+grunted again and conversation ceased. Dick was sitting on the edge
+of the table which serves also as floor in a Seminole camp, when he
+heard a low growl just over his head. He looked up and saw, crouched
+on a shelf within four feet of him, a full-grown wild-cat, or bay
+lynx, which seemed disposed to spring at him. Dick tried to keep
+from showing how much he was scared, but he asked Ned to find out if
+the wild-cat would bite. To Ned's question, the Indian nodded
+emphatically and replied,
+
+"Um, um, _unca, ojus_ (yes, heap)." Dick moved away, but the
+creature fascinated him and he came back. Dick never could resist
+the temptation to play with wild animals and he put out his hand to
+the wild-cat, saying:
+
+"If that Injun can tame that beast, I can."
+
+"That Injun understands you, just as well as I do. He only pretends
+he doesn't so as to make us try to talk his confounded lingo."
+
+A half smile stole over the stolid face of the Indian, either on
+account of what Ned was saying or because Dick's hand was slowly
+approaching the wild-cat. The paw of the lynx flashed out and back
+so quickly that it could scarcely be seen, but the blood began to
+flow from several deep, parallel cuts on the back of the boy's hand.
+Dick still held out his hand, scarcely moving a muscle, while Ned
+called out:
+
+"Come away, Dick, that beast'll scratch out your eyes."
+
+"Wonder what it would do if I cuffed it?"
+
+The Indian appeared to understand this, for he spoke sharply to the
+lynx, and going up to it patted its head and stroked its body
+lightly. He then motioned to Dick to do the same. To Dick's great
+delight the wild-cat not only allowed him to stroke it, but even
+purred as well as a wild-cat can.
+
+"Ned, I've got to have that cat. I've given up all my other pets
+because you didn't want them in the canoe, or there wasn't room. Now
+Tom will take care of himself and won't need any toting. Shouldn't
+wonder if he'd feed himself, too."
+
+"That's what I'm most afraid of.
+
+"Don't worry. I won't let him eat you. Ask old Stick-in-the-mud
+there what he wants for his beastie."
+
+Ned talked with the Indian and reported to Dick.
+
+"He says he will sell for one otter skin like that one in the
+canoe."
+
+"How could he see that skin from here? Tell him it's a whack. Only
+he must make Tom go with me if there is any trouble about it."
+
+"He says wild-cat go with you, you brave boy, not afraid of him.
+Says somebody get scared, he eat 'em up."
+
+"Ned, you old hypocrite, you made that up."
+
+"Honest Injun, I didn't. I told it straight, just as I got it. That
+Indian likes you."
+
+"Why don't he talk white man lingo to me, then, instead of his old
+gibberish that he can't possibly understand himself? Ask the old
+snoozer what's cooking in that pot. It smells bully and I'm hungry."
+
+Ned turned to the Indian and pointing to the steaming pot, said:
+
+"_Nar-kee?_ (What is it?)"
+
+"_Lock-a-wa._ (Turtle.)"
+
+"_Esoka bonus che._ (I want some.)"
+
+"_Humbuggus cha._ (Come eat.)"
+
+The boys took turns with the big, wooden, family spoon and found the
+mess very good. There was another kettle of which the Indians ate
+freely into which Dick dipped his spoon. He made a wry face as he
+swallowed the portion he had scooped up and said to Ned:
+
+"Tell your copper-faced friend that he had better give that swill
+back to the pigs he stole it from."
+
+"Be careful, Dick, he understands."
+
+"Then let him say so in a decent language and I'll apologize for
+hurting his feelings, but I won't say that stuff is fit to eat, not
+if I am tied to the stake."
+
+Dick spent one afternoon getting acquainted with the Indian
+children, in which he succeeded so well that when he came back to
+the camp streaming with water, the whole bunch, although they were
+quite as well soaked as he, followed him screaming with laughter,
+quite like white children.
+
+"What is the trouble?" inquired Ned as soon as the youngsters gave
+him a chance to be heard.
+
+"Only the usual thing. These Indians don't know how to manage their
+roly-poly canoes and I'm afraid I'll be drowned before I get 'em
+taught."
+
+Dick had found a big family canoe that looked as if it couldn't
+capsize and had made signs to an Indian boy to go out in it with
+him. Before they were fairly afloat all the pickaninnies belonging
+to the camp had piled into the craft. From the smallest squab to the
+biggest boy, the Indian children danced about in the canoe without
+disturbing its equilibrium. The boy in the stern, standing on the
+extreme point of the craft, set his pole on the coral bottom and
+threw his weight back upon it until his whole body stood out almost
+parallel with the water behind the canoe. Dick stood on the tiny
+deck on the bow of the boat, but with every thrust of his pole the
+canoe wabbled till the pickaninnies balanced it. But Dick improved
+with practice and as he grew confident, threw his weight on the pole
+in true Seminole fashion. He would have pulled through with credit,
+but for the slipping of his pole on a point of coral rock, when he
+fell heavily in the water, capsizing the craft as he went overboard.
+At first the boy was alarmed for the safety of his cargo of
+children, but soon saw that they were as much at home in the water
+as on land and were quite capable of caring for themselves. After
+Ned had heard what had happened he called the attention of the
+squaws to the ducking of their babies without causing the faintest
+gleam of interest to cross their stolid faces.
+
+After another day of eating with the Seminoles and sleeping on their
+tables, Dick announced that Tom and he were tired of Injuns and
+wanted to light out. The whole Indian family saw them off, even the
+squaws coming half way to the canoe from their camp. Dick carried
+Tom on his shoulder and the lynx stepped into the canoe as if it had
+always owned it and curled up on the canvas of the tent.
+
+"Where do you want to go, Dick?"
+
+"What's the use of asking me? You have been talking Everglades and
+Big Cypress in a steady streak, for two days to that old Injun. You
+must have a map of his brain by this time."
+
+"We can go through the Everglades to Lake Okeechobee, out through
+the canal and down the Caloosahatchee, but the Everglades will be
+much the same as we have seen, only more and worse saw-grass and so
+harder work. If we go to the east we will pretty soon come out at
+the coast which we want to avoid. I think we had better strike
+across to the prairies and the border land between the Everglades
+and the Big Cypress Swamp. Bear, deer, panther and wild turkey are
+to be found in that country, and we won't have to hurry so much to
+get through in the time we talked of for the trip. What do you say?"
+
+"The woods for me, every time. Then I think it would be better for
+Tom's health. I am afraid he would get melancholy if we kept him on
+the water too much. Let's put in a big day's work and get somewhere.
+I can stand sleeping in the water once in a while, but don't like it
+as a regular thing."
+
+They put in their big day's work without getting very far. They
+struck shoal water in the morning where little pillars of coral,
+rising almost to the surface, threatened to tear a hole in their
+canoe. When they got overboard and waded, the same sharp points of
+coral hurt their feet and bruised their shins. During the afternoon
+they held their course, as best they could, for a tall palmetto,
+which, lifting its head above a waste of water and grass, gave
+promise of land enough for a camp beneath it. They dragged the
+canoe through a narrow strand of saw-grass, but were turned westward
+by a heavier band of the same obstacle, and finally made their camp
+for the night on a bushy little submerged key, where Ned lay on top
+of the canoe and was kept from sleeping by the fear of rolling over
+into the water, and Dick lay on a bed of brush that soon settled
+into the water with him. At first Tom climbed a little tree, but
+didn't seem pleased with his quarters. He looked at Dick's bed for a
+moment and turned in for the night with Ned in the canoe. Good
+progress was made on the following day, for the boys were tired of
+trying to sleep on the water and meant to find land enough for a
+camp before another night. They found much open water, most of the
+grass was light and the few strands of saw-grass they encountered
+were easily avoided. They saw few keys and all of those were
+submerged. So again when night came there was no dry land for a camp
+and the bed of branches was built up in the shallow water. About
+midnight Ned, noticing that his companion was restless, said to him:
+
+"Dick, can you sleep any more?"
+
+"Sleep any more?" said the indignant Dick. "I haven't slept any,
+yet."
+
+"Then let's get out of this and paddle the rest of the night. It's
+full moon, paddling isn't half as hard as trying to sleep on that
+bed and we may get somewhere."
+
+"Good thing, and I move that we keep paddling till we get to those
+woods you talked about, if it takes a week. Tom votes with me.
+Motion carried."
+
+About the middle of the forenoon they saw a clump of palmettos on a
+key, for which they headed at once, where they found ground which
+had been often camped upon. Dick climbed a tree and could make out a
+forest near the horizon, in the west. A few more hours' work would
+see them out of the Glades, but they chose to rest for the remainder
+of the day.
+
+"There goes your pet. That's the last of him," said Ned, pointing to
+the lynx in the top of the tree, which Dick had climbed.
+
+"He'll come back all right. If he doesn't I'll go up and fetch him
+by the scruff of his neck."
+
+[Illustration: "THERE GOES YOUR PET. THAT'S THE LAST OF HIM"]
+
+Dick was right, for when the wild-cat saw the stores broken into for
+dinner he came down for his portion of meat and then curled up for a
+nap on his canvas in the canoe. Tom tolerated Ned, but never
+permitted any familiarities from him, while Dick could handle him as
+he chose and the lynx only smiled, in his own fashion.
+
+To reach the woods they were aiming for the boys left the Indian
+trail they were on and, after forcing their way through a strand of
+saw-grass, found themselves on a prairie, bounded on the west by a
+heavy growth of cypress, oak and other heavy timber, while the
+prairie itself was made beautiful by picturesque little groups of
+palmettos which were scattered through it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+DICK'S WILDCAT AND OTHER WILD THINGS
+
+
+The Everglades had been crossed and that great region of romance was
+no longer a mystery to our explorers, who found a dry, shaded site
+for their camp on the border of the swamp which they planned to
+explore and there fitted up for a long stay. They stretched their
+canvas, tent fashion, and gathered grass and moss for their beds. A
+round, deep pool of clear fresh water was just beside the camp, and
+after one rattlesnake and a few moccasins that claimed squatter's
+title had been killed they felt that nothing was lacking. In the
+evening the distant gobbling of a turkey told the hunters what would
+be the first duty of the next day. When they started out on the hunt
+prepared to be gone for one or more days Dick was troubled for fear
+Tom might not understand his long absence and skip out. He had a
+long talk with the lynx and told Ned that he thought Tom would be
+good. Then he got out two days' rations for the animal, which it ate
+up at once. There was more dry land in this swamp than in those
+farther south to which they had become accustomed, and traveling
+was better, or rather, less bad. Yet to persons with less experience
+than the young explorers it would have seemed to be as bad as it was
+possible for it to be. For half a day the boys tramped and waded in
+the swamp without finding the game they were looking for. They had
+found other birds, some of which they would have shot for their
+dinner had they not been afraid of frightening the wary turkeys,
+which they believed were not far from them. Alligators were
+plentiful, large and small, but the boys were not hunting for hides
+and Dick said that Tom was all the pet he cared to have charge of
+for the present. Early in the afternoon they sat down to rest under
+a big tree and were eating their lunch of smoked meat and cold
+hoe-cake when a turkey gobbler lit on a branch of the tree under
+which they were sitting. The turkey was in plain sight and less than
+twenty feet from them, but Dick's shot-gun was resting against a
+tree fifteen feet from its owner, while Ned's rifle lay on the
+ground five feet from his hand. Both kept as quiet as graven images,
+for they knew that at the motion of a hand the big bird would take
+flight. If Dick's gun had been within five feet he would have jumped
+for it, trusting to be ready with it to cut down the turkey before
+it could get out of sight among the trees. But a run of fifteen feet
+made his chances too small and he waited to see what Ned would do.
+Ned's rifle lay just out of his reach, and before he could lay his
+hand on it the bird would be on the wing and quite safe from
+anything he could do with a rifle. At last Ned began to push himself
+inch by inch toward the rifle, while Dick sat silent and breathless
+with excitement. Very slowly Ned progressed until his hand touched
+the rifle. Before he could move it the fraction of an inch, the
+turkey saw the trouble in store for him and was off. Ned grabbed the
+rifle and took a harmless snapshot at the bird, while Dick rushed
+for his gun and sent after the turkey, which was then a hundred
+yards distant, a shower of shot which could never have overtaken it.
+
+"Next time I eat I'm going to feed myself with one hand and hold my
+gun in the other," said Dick. "I think I'll stay home to-morrow and
+keep camp. Tom will go hunting with you. He's got sense and he
+always keeps his weapons handy."
+
+"Keeps 'em too handy for me. I don't like the way he looks at me
+sometimes. He acts as if he wanted to feel of my ribs to see if I am
+fat enough for his purposes. I reckon I'm the one to keep camp. My
+rifle was right at my elbow, but I didn't seem to know enough to use
+it. Dick! Look at that hole in that tree and all those insects
+around it. It's a bee-tree. There's a barrel of honey there that
+belongs to us!"
+
+"Do you s'pose the bees know that it belongs to us, or will they
+make trouble for us?"
+
+"Of course they'll make trouble. You can't rob a hive without being
+stung."
+
+"I'm going to keep camp to-morrow, just as I told you, and let Tom
+go with you. Wonder how he'd like to climb that tree."
+
+"We will chop down that tree to-morrow and likely get stung a lot,
+but you know, Dick, you wouldn't stay away for a farm."
+
+"Better not try me. I wish I had a sheet-iron jacket and stove-pipe
+pants. Let's go home. I want to see Tom and tell him about it. I'm
+afraid he's lonesome."
+
+But Dick didn't tell Tom anything, for when they got back to camp
+Tom had gone. Dick scarcely tasted his supper and his sleep was
+restless and troubled. He woke with a scream, from a terrible
+nightmare in which a wild beast had him by the throat and was
+crushing him to death under his tremendous weight. He was happy when
+he woke to find that his dream was true. For Tom had come home and
+showed his joy at the sight of Dick by leaping on the boy's chest
+and licking his face and neck. Even Ned rejoiced that Tom had
+returned and stroked his back, which for once the lynx graciously
+permitted.
+
+"You are glad that Tom has come back, aren't you, Ned?" said Dick as
+he laid his face against the soft fur of the wild-cat whose purring
+sounded so like a low growl.
+
+"Oh, yes. I'm glad. 'Course I am. Only wish all of 'em would come
+back, the two alligators, the crocodile and the dead otter. Then
+we'd start a menagerie and I'd tell fearful stories of man-eaters
+while you went into their cages with a big whip in one hand and a
+small cannon in the other."
+
+When the boys started for the bee-tree they carried a bundle of dry
+palmetto fans, an axe, and a bucket for the honey.
+
+"Shall we tote the guns?" asked Ned.
+
+"What's the use? Don't either of us know how to use 'em. Better
+leave 'em with Tom."
+
+But the guns did not stay with Tom, or rather Tom did not stay with
+the guns, but quietly followed the boys as a pet dog might have
+done. He stepped daintily from root to root and walked along fallen
+logs and the branches of trees which he climbed, easily keeping up
+with the bee hunters, without muddying his paws, while they wallowed
+in mud which was usually knee-deep and occasionally a foot more.
+Before tackling the tree they built a fire some fifty yards away,
+which they made smoke by putting on rotten wood and wet moss. They
+intended to hide in this smoke if the bees attacked them while they
+were chopping down the tree. The palmetto leaves were to be kept
+until the tree had fallen and were then to be made into smoky
+torches, under cover of which the boys hoped to secure the honey.
+They took turns in slinging the axe and resting, yet the exercise
+and the bees together kept them pretty well warmed up. For, after a
+while the bees began to take notice of the knocking at their door
+and occasionally a few of them dropped down and stung the chopper
+and the looker on, quite impartially. The art of wood-chopping has
+to be learned before one is born. The children of back-woodsmen can
+sling an axe as soon as they can stand. Boys born as near New York
+City as Dick and Ned were, never can learn. They think when they go
+up in the Adirondacks and chew down some trees with an axe, that
+they are chopping wood, but their guides who lie around smoking
+their pipes while the sportsmen sweat over the task, know better and
+slyly wink at each other while they praise aloud the skill of their
+employers.
+
+When the boys stopped work and went back to their smudge to give the
+bees a chance to rest, and to find out if mud really drew the poison
+out of the little lumps that covered them, the tree had been cut
+nearly half through. Any Nature-lover would have known that a beaver
+had been at work, while everyday folks would have suspected a
+saw-mill.
+
+Dick missed Tom and at first was troubled, but finally discovered
+him sitting on a branch behind a tree around which he could look
+without making himself conspicuous.
+
+"Shall we wait till to-morrow to finish the job?" asked Ned.
+
+"Not much. By to-morrow my face will be so swollen that I can't see
+and the rest of me so sore that I can't move. Let's make a big
+smudge at the foot of the tree. I'd rather be smothered by smoke
+than stung and poisoned to death by those little beasts."
+
+[Illustration: "A FEW OF THE HOMELESS BEES LIT ON THE COMB"]
+
+The smudge worked and the bee hunters had no more trouble until the
+tree fell, when they got into the thickest of the smoke they had
+made. This did not save them altogether, for the bees were very
+numerous and very mad and a few dozen of them got far enough in the
+smoke to leave their marks on their enemies. When the insects had
+quieted down and were gathered in bunches on logs and stumps,
+looking stupidly at the wreck of their home, the boys made another
+smudge near the hole in the fallen tree which led to the home of the
+bees. They sounded the hollow tree and found it only a shell where
+the honey was stored and a little work with the hatchet laid open
+the storehouse of the insects. A few of the homeless bees lit on the
+comb they had made, other bees gathered on the cypress knees which
+abounded in the swamp and through which the great cypress trees
+breathed, but their spirit was gone and they made no attack on the
+destroyers of their home. Of the comb and honey which the boys found
+in the tree they were able to carry away less than half and they
+wondered if the bees would have the sense to save what was left or
+if some wandering bear would scoop it in for his supper.
+
+As the young bee hunters started for camp laden with their spoils,
+Tom stepped softly out of a nearby thicket, licking his chops and
+apparently thinking of the delicate lunch of fat tree-rat he had
+just eaten.
+
+"Dick," said Ned, as they were lazily resting against a log, after a
+supper that was mostly dessert, having consisted of a little smoked
+bear and a lot of honey, "something has got to be done for the
+larder. We go for honey when we need meat. We let Indian hens which
+we can get, escape on the chance of turkeys which we can never bag.
+We are looking for deer that are miles away and overlooking ducks
+that are trying to fly into the pot."
+
+"I'm not overlooking much, Neddy, since that turkey biz. I've got my
+gun in my hand this minute and here's a chance to use it."
+
+As Dick spoke he raised the gun to his shoulder and fired. A little
+black creature, thirty yards away in the grass, sprang into the air
+and fell to the ground. Both of the boys started for it, but Tom was
+ahead and looked back upon them, growling fiercely, with his fangs
+fixed in the throat of the dying creature. Dick tried to coax the
+lynx to give up the creature he had seized, but the animal was
+filled with the fierceness of his race and even Dick dared not touch
+him. The creature which the cat held in its claws was clearly a
+rabbit, little and jet black, unlike anything which either of the
+boys had ever seen before.
+
+"I've heard of these little Everglade rabbits," said Ned. "Tommy
+told me of a key in the Everglades where there were plenty of them.
+If we had time we might look it up."
+
+"How much time have you got, Neddy?"
+
+"Another month will use up the time I said I would be gone. I left
+that word for Dad in Myers. Guess he's there now and maybe my sister
+with him. He won't worry a minute till the time I set is up, after
+that there'll be trouble."
+
+"What kind of trouble?"
+
+"'Most anything," laughed Ned. "Might be a lot of nurses out looking
+for a lost baby."
+
+"He won't be frightened about you if you're not quite up to time,
+will he?"
+
+"Not exactly frightened, but he will want to see me, and I'll be
+glad enough to see him, and sis, too."
+
+"I knew you had a sister, but you never talked about her much."
+
+"She's a nice child, alle samee. I think you're going to like her.
+She's a little your style of foolishness."
+
+"What's that?"
+
+"Oh, it isn't very bad. But you haven't had much to say about your
+own self, lately. You never told me exactly what took you around by
+Key West. Why didn't you come straight to Fort Myers instead of
+taking the tiny little chance of finding me in the big Everglades?"
+
+"Well, I'll tell you. You see, mother knew how much I wanted to go
+with you on this hunt and she begged me to let her foot the bills.
+Of course I couldn't stand for that, you know, and--"
+
+"Oh, Of course not, you stuck-up little donkey," interrupted Ned.
+
+"So I started as a stowaway on the Key West steamer--"
+
+"You cheeky little imp! Did they put you in command of the ship when
+they found you?"
+
+"No, only put me in the fireroom, shoveling coal in the furnace."
+
+"But that's not boy's work. What business--"
+
+"Hold on, Ned, wait till I get through. The captain was bully. So
+was everybody else. I went to him soon as we were outside Sandy Hook
+and asked for a job. I was independent about it. I believe I offered
+to swim ashore if he didn't happen to have a job for me. He gave me
+an easy one, for a boy, but I struck and asked for a man's work, and
+got it--in the fireroom. But I pulled through, Neddy, and made good,
+though once or twice I did have to call myself hard names and think
+how you'd have hung on, if you'd been in my place. Yes, everybody
+was good to me. One passenger wanted to pay for a first-class
+passage for me and I had hard work to beg off, and--but that's all."
+
+"Dick, you mustn't talk that way about me. You make me ashamed. I
+wouldn't have stuck it out in that fireroom for one day. Now how
+about your time for the trip? Will a month suit you?"
+
+"Yes, that's all right. I wrote mother from Key West and told her
+the hunt would be a long one without any chance to mail a letter and
+that she was not to worry because there wasn't a show of danger in
+the whole business. Of course mothers do worry a little when there
+isn't any reason."
+
+"Yes, mothers do worry, foolishly. Pity yours couldn't know how
+faithfully Tom looks after you. She'd be so relieved."
+
+On the day after cutting down the bee tree the boys were glad to
+stay quietly in camp. Ned's neck and arms were badly swollen and
+Dick's eyes could scarcely be seen. Both of them lay awake nearly
+all night, but it was uncertain whether this was due to the pain of
+the stings or the quantity of honey they had eaten.
+
+Tom shed his fierceness soon after he had disposed of the rabbit and
+again became friendly to Dick, who, even while he petted him,
+explained that he could never quite trust him again.
+
+Every evening turkeys could be heard in the swamp near the camp.
+Every morning they had departed. One morning Ned said to Dick:
+
+"I'm turkey hungry and I'm tired of shilly-shallying. The way to get
+anything is to get it. Let us get a turkey. We'll start out for it
+now and come back after we have got it, and not before."
+
+"All right, Neddy, we goes for it, we gits it and we comes back when
+we gits it and not afore."
+
+The boys started out with their usual equipment of weapons, salt,
+matches and axe. They crossed the swamp without finding the bird
+they sought and then, as they were hungry and tired, Dick shot a fat
+young ibis and broiled it for their dinner. After dinner they
+crossed the meadow to a narrow strip of woods, beyond which, on a
+wide stretch of prairie, they saw three bunches of turkeys. The
+bunch nearest them appeared to be a hen turkey with her family, each
+member of which was about as large as its mother. They were a long
+rifle-shot away, and a shot, if it missed, would send every turkey
+to cover for the day. The same thing would happen if either of them
+set foot on the prairie.
+
+"Our best chance," said Ned, "is to wait for them at the edge of the
+prairie. It's getting late and pretty soon they'll be looking for
+places to roost among these trees. They may come right here. Anyhow,
+by spreading out we will cover quite a stretch of woods. It may be
+too late for the rifle but the shotgun ought to do something."
+
+"That means that you're tired of my society, Neddy. So I'll go and
+hide myself on the edge of the prairie, a little further off than
+you can hit anything, in case of you mistaking me for a turkey."
+
+Soon after Dick had reached his station, the turkeys began to feed
+toward the woods. Two of the bunches went to the opposite side of
+the prairie. The hen turkey with her grown-up family fed slowly
+toward Dick's hiding place, but, when just out of range, appeared to
+become suspicious and turned toward Ned. Slowly she walked, darting
+her quick-moving head in every direction as she searched trees and
+bushes for hidden enemies. The younger turkeys put much faith in the
+wariness of the old lady and stalked fearlessly behind her. Ned
+waited for a chance which he thought couldn't be missed and,
+avoiding the mother turkey, shot down one of her brood. Instantly
+the flock was in the air, following its leader down along the edge
+of the forest. This brought them directly over Dick, who neatly cut
+down another member of the family. While Ned was dressing the
+turkeys and building the fire for the broiling of one of them, Dick
+was climbing a young cabbage palm and cutting the bud from its top.
+
+"Couldn't tell this palmetto cabbage from big fresh chestnuts, by
+the taste," said Dick. "I'm going to roast that other turkey at the
+camp to-morrow with his whole inside crammed full of chestnut
+stuffing."
+
+While the turkey hunters were eating their breakfast of cold turkey
+a doe, followed by a fawn which was still in the spotted coat,
+walked out on the open prairie within fifty yards of them and gazed
+at them without a sign of fear.
+
+"They know we wouldn't shoot a doe or a fawn," said Ned. "That's
+what makes them feel so safe."
+
+"Wonder if they would have felt as safe last night, before we got
+those turkeys?"
+
+On their return Tom, met the turkey hunters a quarter of a mile from
+their camp and they wondered whether he had heard them coming, or
+happened to be strolling that way. He looked so earnestly at the
+turkey which Dick was carrying that the boy said to him:
+
+"See here, Tom, that's my turkey and I won't stand for your laying a
+paw on him. So you had better be good unless you are looking for a
+mix-up with me." Tom looked cowed, but showed his friendly feelings
+by walking beside Dick, rubbing against his legs and purring in his
+half-growling fashion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+A PRAIRIE ON FIRE
+
+
+"Dick," said Ned as they rested against a log, having their regular
+after-dinner, heart-to heart talk, "we had better _hiepus_ (light
+out), if we mean to get to the coast and bring up at Myers on time,
+besides taking in all we want to on the way. We know the Harney's
+River route like a book and we've been over the Indian trail to
+Lawson's River, so we've got to find some new way out. There is a
+chain of salt-water lakes between the Everglades and the rivers of
+the west coast and we must get into them. I have made a pretty fair
+chart of the country and can tell how far across the swamps and
+prairies it is to almost any point, but how much of that distance is
+easy water and how much tough swamp or boggy prairie is what I don't
+know, but what we have got to find out. We have explored the country
+right around here pretty well and now let's put in a day working the
+canoe through the grass to the south, then leg it westward till we
+strike salt water."
+
+"That sounds well," replied Dick, "and then, you know, if your
+charts don't pan out straight, you can always ask Tom or me. Wonder
+if you half appreciate your privileges, having us along to take care
+of you."
+
+The young explorers "lit out" as proposed and, after a day of hard
+work and easy work, of open water and thick saw-grass and of clear
+channels and half dry meadows, camped beside a little slough on the
+border of a swamp, in the jungle of which it soon lost itself.
+
+The first excitement of the new camp came in the night when Tom, who
+was sleeping, as usual, beside Dick, sprang up with a fierce cry,
+which they had never before heard from him, and dashed into the
+woods near the camp. There came from the woods the battle cries of
+warring animals, but soon all became quiet and the cat came back,
+but he growled at intervals throughout the night.
+
+"What got into you, Tom?" said Dick to the lynx the next morning,
+after he had looked him over in vain for marks of a fight. "Was it
+jimjams, or only a bad nightmare?"
+
+Tom listened gravely and looked as if he could have explained a good
+deal if only Dick had understood his language.
+
+Tom followed the boys through the swamp on the morning of their
+first tramp, but when they struck a marshy meadow where the water
+was knee deep and the mud as much more, with no trees to make it
+pleasant for a poor cat, he looked reproachfully at Dick and turned
+back toward the camp. At the end of the meadow was a dense thicket
+which Ned entered first. He had only advanced a few steps when he
+turned back and held up his hand in warning to Dick. The thicket in
+which they stood was on the border of a big prairie of rich grass in
+which more than a dozen deer, nearly all bucks, could be seen
+feeding, with only their backs and antlers showing above the tall
+grass, excepting when some buck of a suspicious mind lifted his head
+high and gazed warily about him.
+
+[Illustration: "ALL BEYOND THE DARK MEADOW WAS A LIVING MASS"]
+
+"Isn't it us for the big luck, Neddy?" whispered Dick. "When I ate
+that very last bit of turk this morning I wondered when I'd get
+another meal and Tom asked me in confidence if we meant to let him
+starve. And now, just look. There's venison enough for the rest of
+the trip."
+
+"It don't belong to us yet. You want to be mighty cautious. You can
+sneak up to that tree with the rifle and wait till that nearest buck
+shows up in good shape and then drop a bullet somewhere around his
+fore-shoulder. Don't fire at his head unless you have to. The brain
+is a mighty small mark, and you're not playing to the gallery down
+here."
+
+"Ned Barstow, what are you talking about? Take your own rifle and
+shoot your own buck. If you don't I'll let out a yell that will
+scare the whole bunch to Kingdom Come. I don't run to you with my
+gun, whenever I find game, and ask you to shoot it. You mean well,
+Neddy boy, but sometimes you get mistaken. I'm afraid I didn't
+begin this trip right. I ought to have given you a lickin' every
+day, just to keep you in your place."
+
+Ned crawled out to the tree with his rifle and watched for his
+chance. The nearest buck was within easy range, but the grass hid
+his body and when the creature, scenting his enemy, threw his head
+high in the air Ned sent a bullet through his brain. As the boys
+were dragging the carcass to the woods where they proposed to skin
+and cut it in two for carrying to camp, Dick said to Ned:
+
+"Do you know what hypocrite means?"
+
+"I s'pose so, but what are you trying to get at?"
+
+"Hypocrite means a fellow who tells his friend that the only way to
+shoot a buck is through the body, coz the head is too small to be
+hit, and then goes out himself and sends a bullet plumb through the
+center of the brain of the beast."
+
+"But Dick, I couldn't see the shoulder."
+
+"Neither could I. You can't sneak out that way."
+
+A strong wind from the northwest sprang up while the boys were
+finishing their supper of broiled buck's liver and they built a
+wind-break to protect them while they slept. The wind became a gale,
+but they slept soundly, soothed by its roaring. They were rudely
+wakened by the crashing of some wild animal through the brush of
+their wind-break and, sitting up, saw that the whole western sky was
+lit up and all beyond the dark meadow was a lurid mass of flame.
+The roar of the fire mingled with that of the gale, while, as the
+swirling columns of flame bent to the earth and swept the meadow,
+the crackling of the grass was like the rattling of musketry or the
+spitting fire of a hundred Catlings. Soon the air became filled with
+sparks and cinders, and thick with smoke.
+
+"We've got to mosey, Ned. Reckon there isn't any time to waste,
+either. Shall we take the meat?"
+
+"Got enough to do to take care of our own."
+
+There was plenty of light, but the flickering shadows of the trees
+caused by the wavering flames made the steps of the boys uncertain
+as they fled from the flames that were following so fast. Ned fell
+headforemost into a thicket of the terrible Spanish bayonet and it
+was only the excitement of the hour that made the pain bearable.
+They floundered across the narrow swamp and into the marshy meadow
+often waist deep in the mud and more than once both of them fell
+flat in the water of the marsh. The narrow belt of timber which they
+first crossed checked the fire and although tongues of flame crossed
+it and a few trees took fire, while live coals were scattered
+broadcast over the marshy meadow, the fire died out without crossing
+the belt of woods that first stopped it. The boys crossed the marshy
+meadow to the swamp which they first entered when they left their
+camp the previous morning. As Ned's Spanish bayonet wounds kept him
+from sleeping, the boys sat up and talked till daylight.
+
+In the morning the wind had gone down and a few burning trees and
+little columns of smoke were all that was left of the great fire of
+the night.
+
+"If you will go on to camp, Ned, I'll go back and get that venison.
+It must be well smoked. Hope it didn't burn up. Give my regards to
+Tom. If he isn't good tie him up."
+
+"Guess I'll go with you, Dick. These stickers hurt worse when I keep
+still. Then you will need help to carry the venison. I hope the
+buzzards haven't got at it. We can leave our guns here."
+
+"No, thank you. My gun goes with me. I have had trouble enough from
+not having it handy."
+
+They found the hide of their buck had been destroyed by the fire,
+but the venison had only been roasted and partly smoked and they
+made their breakfast on it. The outsides of the palmettos, on the
+prairie where Ned shot the buck, were still burning and the trees
+looked like big sticks of charcoal, but palmetto trees get used to
+that and are seldom harmed by it, though it does spoil their beauty.
+The boys walked out in the ashes of the grass of the meadow and were
+sorry they did, for it made them look like the burnt ends of
+matches. When they got back to camp Tom came out and sniffed at Dick
+and then, instead of rubbing against his legs, went back and lay
+down. Dick spent the rest of the day working over Ned's face and
+body with tweezers, pulling out bits of thorns. When he got through
+the boys were about equally tired.
+
+Ned's wounds were so painful that for several days the explorers
+stayed around the camp and Dick amused himself and his chum by
+worrying a family of young alligators that lived in a pond near the
+camp. He grunted the little ones to the surface until they were
+tired of being fooled and refused to respond and he drove the
+largest one out of its cave in the bank until the reptile refused to
+play any more and would not come beyond the mouth of his cave. Then
+Dick cut a pole leaving a bit of a branch sticking out like a barb
+at the end and poked that in the hole till the alligator grabbed the
+end of it. Dick now pulled good and hard, the barb caught in the
+reptile's lower jaw and the boy soon had him out of his cave and up
+on the prairie. The 'gator was lively and Dick had to chase around
+the prairie a lot after him and finally get Ned to help before he
+could tie it. Tom didn't approve of the new member of the family,
+but he made no trouble while the camp was awake. The alligator
+became very restless at night and got in the habit of thrashing
+around almost constantly. In the morning his tail was seen to be raw
+and bleeding and day by day it grew worse. Tom was suspected, but
+always denied having had anything to do with it, with an expression
+of such injured innocence when accused that Dick had to believe him.
+One night, however, a heavy blow was heard, accompanied by a yowl
+from Tom and followed by some sort of scrimmage. In the morning Tom
+had a mussed-up look and the reptile had a number of fresh wounds.
+As the camp was moved that day and Ned continued to object to taking
+an alligator in the canoe the reptile was turned loose. He walked
+with dignity out on the prairie until he was near the slough, when
+he scuttled hastily to the water and plunged in.
+
+[Illustration: "THE BARB CAUGHT IN THE REPTILE'S LOWER JAW"]
+
+The new camp was in a little glade on a creek which the explorers
+had followed for about three miles west from the Everglades. They
+paddled through the creek till it melted in the meadows; they poled
+their canoe along the channel which the grass concealed; they
+dragged it by hand under bushes which covered it, until the little
+glade opened to them and showed enough dry ground for a camp and
+several shallow streams winding around clumps of bushes, but always
+stretching out toward the west. At daylight the young explorers were
+again on the move, dragging the canoe along twisting streams not
+deep enough to float it, until they struck a larger stream in a
+heavier growth. The little streams disappeared, the water grew
+deeper, but the jungle became worse, and every yard of their path
+had to be carved out with their knives.
+
+"This doesn't look very hopeful," said Dick as they stopped the
+heavy work for a few minutes' rest. "Hadn't we better go back a ways
+and hunt up a more open trail?"
+
+"Not on your life," replied Ned. "We are on the right track and
+we've got to fight it through. The only thing I'll stop for is a
+mangrove swamp, and I'll try mighty hard to get around that. But we
+won't find any mangrove swamp to trouble us."
+
+"You seem to know just what we're going to find on this trail, if
+you call it a trail."
+
+"I know what we ought to find, and that's better."
+
+"Why is it better?"
+
+"Because then we'll know if we're on the right track."
+
+"All right, Neddy, I quite agree with you. I only wanted to know
+that you were sure of your ground."
+
+The trees became heavier in a narrow belt along the stream, but open
+sky could be seen beyond them.
+
+"Don't you want to walk across to that open place, Ned, to find out
+what kind of country it is?"
+
+"I know now. It's open prairie or swamp and the next big water we
+strike will be the salt-water lakes. We will probably come to a
+fresh-water river first and that pretty soon."
+
+"Conceit's good for the consumption, Neddy. What do you want to bet
+on finding that river in an hour?"
+
+"I'll eat my hat if we don't find it in a quarter of a mile. I won't
+bet on the time, because at the rate you're working it may take
+three weeks to get there."
+
+"Ned, you're a wizard, for there is the river."
+
+The river flowed gently between high banks, densely wooded. The
+waters were alive with fish, and long-legged wading birds of the
+heron family stalked over the shallows in the stream. An hour's
+paddling brought the canoe to the mouth of the river, where camp was
+made. The water beside the camp was fresh, but the salt-water bays
+spread out for miles before them.
+
+"Everything is easy now," said Ned. "These bays are in the Ten
+Thousand Islands and lead to the head waters of the rivers of the
+coast. We may get tangled up in these keys, aground on the flats or
+cornered up in some of the bays and perhaps lose a few days, but
+we're safe to get out without hard work or trouble of any kind."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+DICK'S FIGHT WITH A PANTHER
+
+
+"I've always noticed, Ned, that when everything looks simple and
+easy, it is a good time to expect trouble."
+
+"Not this time, Dick."
+
+But it was this time, and that night Ned had his last care-free
+sleep for weeks.
+
+"How long shall we camp here?" asked Dick.
+
+"Better stay here for a week or two. We can hunt in the woods back
+of us and explore all these bays. This may be the last fresh water
+we will find on the trip, so we don't want to leave it till we are
+ready to pull straight through to Myers."
+
+In the morning the boys started across the woods on the bank of the
+stream, hoping to find a buck on the prairie beyond them. When they
+reached the prairie they saw three deer near its farther end, about
+half a mile away. They went back in the woods and started to work
+their way around the prairie to its farther end where the deer were.
+It took them some hours to get where the deer had been, only to find
+that they had gone. They saw them again on a smaller prairie and
+once more tried to get near the creatures by creeping through the
+woods. When the hunters were as near the game as they could go
+without getting out of cover the animals were yet a hundred and
+fifty yards distant. One of them was a fine buck and Ned watched it,
+rifle in hand, for many minutes, hoping it would come nearer. As the
+deer fed they sometimes came nearer and his hopes rose, only to sink
+into his boots when they turned away. At last he gave up waiting for
+a better chance and fired. The buck threw up his head, looked around
+for a moment and trotted quietly away, entirely unharmed, followed
+by the other deer.
+
+"It isn't our day, Dick," said Ned, ruefully, as he watched the
+disappearing animals.
+
+"Here goes for something to eat, anyhow," replied Dick, as he
+dropped a curlew that was flying over them. After broiling and
+eating the bird, together with some hoe-cake which they had in their
+pockets, the boys resumed their hunt for deer. They saw several more
+during the afternoon, but ill luck followed them and they finally
+set out for camp empty-handed.
+
+As the boys were passing through a thick clump of trees on the bank
+of the river, about two hundred yards from their camp, Ned was
+suddenly held back by a clutch on his shoulder, and turning his
+head, saw Dick's face upturned and his eyes fixed on the large
+branch of a big tree just before them. As Ned looked upward he saw
+the form of a huge panther, or mountain lion, crouching upon the
+limb and apparently about to spring upon him. The animal was within
+ten feet, every muscle was tense, his long tail was waving slowly
+and Ned stood motionless, charmed by the living beauty of the beast,
+until he heard Dick's whisper in his ear:
+
+"Shoot, Ned!"
+
+The hypnotic spell was broken and Ned slowly raised his rifle to his
+shoulder, while the panther crouched lower and waved his tail more
+quickly. In another second it might be too late, and once more Dick
+whispered:
+
+"Shoot, Ned! Quick!"
+
+The bullet struck the beast and the next instant Ned was knocked
+down by the body of the brute. He was unharmed, however, for Dick
+had jumped between them and it was in Dick's arm that the panther's
+teeth were set and Dick's shoulder and side that were being raked by
+its cruel claws. In an instant Ned's clasp knife was being driven
+into the body of the beast whose throat Dick's hand was clutching in
+a feeble effort to keep from his face those long, sharp fangs.
+
+Bullet and knife had done their work and the panther was dead. But
+Dick was unconscious and covered with blood which was flowing from
+deep gashes in his arm and a side that was torn from shoulder to
+waist. Ned half carried and half dragged the unconscious Dick a few
+yards to a level piece of dry ground and examined his wounds. Bad
+as they looked, there was no spouting of blood from an artery, or
+heavy flow from a large vein. With simple bandaging and care the boy
+would get well, and Ned's relief was so great that he was almost
+happy. He removed what the panther had left of Dick's shirt, which
+was sodden with blood, and tearing off his own, bandaged the wounds
+from which blood was still flowing. He then filled his cap with
+water from the river and sprinkled Dick's face, but failed to bring
+him to consciousness. He was wondering what next to try when Dick
+opened his eyes and smiled weakly.
+
+"Did he hurt you, Neddy?"
+
+"No, he didn't hurt me, thanks to you, Dicky boy. Now I'm going to
+bring the camp here, in the canoe. Can you get along without me for
+half an hour?"
+
+"Sure. Don't forget Tom."
+
+Ned didn't forget Tom. He thought so much of him that he took his
+rifle with him when he went to move the camp. For he was without a
+shirt and was stained with Dick's blood and therefore very doubtful
+how the lynx would behave. But Tom merely sniffed at him and when
+the canoe was loaded stepped aboard as coolly as if his passage had
+been paid for. When the canoe landed at the new camping ground Tom
+took a few steps toward Dick and then suddenly sprang into the woods
+and away, as if witches were after him. Ned was surprised at first,
+but remembered that Tommy, the Seminole, had once said to him:
+
+"Wildcat eat 'coon, panther eat wildcat," and he ceased to wonder
+why Tom had run away.
+
+Ned stretched the canvas over Dick, built a camp fire, got out a
+clean shirt for himself and tore up another for bandages. He washed
+Dick's wounds, which had ceased to bleed, with warm water and soap
+and put fresh bandages on them. After he had gathered a lot of moss
+and made a soft bed for the invalid, he picked up Dick's gun and
+walking a few steps down the river bank, shot a curlew that sat on a
+branch by the stream and was young enough to make a broil or stew
+for the invalid.
+
+"Been breaking the law, have you, Neddy?"
+
+"I'd break anything, to get you some nice chicken broth such as I am
+going to make now."
+
+At daylight Ned saw that Dick was sleeping quietly and taking the
+shotgun started out in search of a breakfast suited to a sick boy.
+When he returned, an hour later, he had a brace of ducks, a little
+brown Florida rabbit and a 'possum. Dick was awake when he returned
+and when offered his choice of the game for his breakfast chose all
+of them. Ned stewed the rabbit and broiled a duck, giving Dick a
+little of each, but the 'possum looked fat and greasy and he kept it
+for himself.
+
+"Dick," said Ned after breakfast, "shall I roll that beast into the
+river, or do you want his skin?"
+
+"Want it, of course. I've got no hard feelings against him."
+
+"Want him skinned for mounting or a rug?"
+
+"Rug, I guess. Think I'll enjoy walking on him."
+
+The big cat was nearly eight feet long, including his tail, and was
+so heavy that Ned found skinning him a hard job. After he had
+finished he had to cut a stout stick for a lever, before he could
+get the carcass into the river. The bad luck of the hunters seemed
+to have run out, and game began to come to them. Ducks flew over the
+river beside the camp and plovers often lit on a bank near them. Ned
+went out for deer and came back in an hour with half a buck on his
+shoulders. When he approached the camp he saw Dick sitting up and
+tossing bits of hoe-cake to a 'coon that was watching him with some
+suspicion from a distance of three or four yards.
+
+"You ought to have seen him, Ned. I had him half tamed. He took
+little bits of wet hoe-cake that I threw him and rolled them up into
+balls with his funny little hands before he ate them. In an hour
+more I'd have had him eating out of my hand."
+
+"He'll come back to-morrow, Dick. You've got a way with you that
+wild things understand."
+
+"It's only that I really love them and they know it."
+
+The 'coon did come back the next day while Ned was out exploring the
+bay in the canoe and, although he did not eat out of Dick's hand, he
+came within a few feet of him and showed very little fear. When Ned
+returned, the 'coon scrambled to the top of a little tree and looked
+down on the boys in a friendly way. Day by day the 'coon became
+more intimate with Dick, even to eating out of his hand, but always
+scampered away when Ned came back. On the third day, as Ned came in
+from an exploring trip, instead of the 'coon he found his old friend
+Tom, the lynx, sitting beside Dick with the air of a trained nurse.
+
+"Bully for you, Tom; I'm glad to see you back," said Ned.
+
+"I'm not glad he's come back, the murderer. He has killed my 'coon."
+
+"You remember what my Indian said. 'Panther eat wildcat, wildcat eat
+'coon.' Shall I shoot him, Dick?"
+
+"Shoot Tom? Well I guess not. He didn't know any better. I'm awful
+sorry the 'coon has gone, but I'd hate worse to lose Tom."
+
+"How did it happen?"
+
+"I was feeding the 'coon, and had just put out my hand to rub his
+head when he jumped in the air and started for that tree like a
+streak of lightning. He never got there, though. Something was after
+him like two streaks of lightning. I didn't know it was Tom till it
+was all over. That wasn't very long, either. If there had been any
+time I'd have had Tom by the ears or tail and taught him a thing or
+two."
+
+"Glad you didn't have time, Dick. I'm afraid Tom might have taught
+you a few things. Don't you think you had better get over what one
+cat has done to you before you tackle another?"
+
+"But Tom isn't that kind of a cat, Ned. I'm not afraid of his
+hurting me much. He might scratch me a little at first, but he'd be
+sorry for it, soon as he had time to think it over. Wouldn't you,
+Tom?"
+
+"Cats are cats, Dick, and I don't think it's safe to leave you alone
+with that wildcat. You are too weak to help yourself if he really
+tackled you."
+
+"But he won't attack me. So what's the use of talking about things
+that aren't going to happen? You are a good boy, Neddy, but you've
+got your limitations and you can't appreciate Tom."
+
+[Illustration: "THE COON SCRAMBLED TO THE TOP OF A LITTLE TREE"]
+
+Ned spent much of his time coddling the invalid. He paddled out in
+the lakes and among its keys. He explored the waters and the woods
+and brought Dick wild grapes with much character and cocoa plums
+with little; sea-grapes with juice that had the taste of claret and
+the color of blood; figs, of which Dick said: "De breed am small,
+but de flavor am delicious"; wild sapadillos that were sweet as
+honey, but chewed up into a solid ball of soft india rubber; and
+mastic berries that were delicious to the taste, but stuck like a
+porous plaster to the roof of the mouth. He got out the rod and
+caught mangrove snappers from under the banks and sheephead from
+their hiding places among sunken logs and snags. He dove for turtle
+that he never got and hacked at young palmettos for buds that he did
+get.
+
+Days followed days and though Dick grew better he didn't grow
+strong. Ned got anxious and told his chum that he was going to take
+him to a doctor. Dick laughed and said:
+
+"You are my doctor. I've great confidence in you and don't care to
+make a change."
+
+"Glad to hear it. Your doctor, in whom you have such confidence,
+desires to consult with his brother physicians in Fort Myers
+regarding your case, and you will light out with him to-morrow."
+
+The next morning a little canoe with a cat couchant in the bow, a
+young invalid comfortably reclining amidships and a husky youth in
+the stern started down the river and into the salt-water lakes. The
+first day's run was a short one and the camp was made on a bit of
+high ground covered with thin grass and shaded by a group of
+palmettos. It was bordered about with cocoa plums and sweet-smelling
+myrtle, on one of which flourished an orchid, the vanilla bean,
+which made heavy with its fragrance the whole camping site.
+
+    "But there lurked a taint in the clime so blest,
+    Like a serpent coiled in a ring-dove's nest"--
+
+and as Ned stood dazed by the enchantment of his environment, he was
+brought to earth with a jar by the whirring of rattles almost under
+his feet. Every muscle of the boy was tense with excitement as he
+stood motionless, knowing that death, in a horrible form, was within
+striking distance of him. The strange, paralyzing music of the
+dreaded "King Snake" of the Indians seems to come from all sides
+and until the threatened victim can see the reptile the motion of a
+hand may be fatal. The seconds seemed minutes to Ned as he waited
+and watched, waited and watched, before he saw the fascinating,
+dreadful, gently swaying head and the lightning play of the forked
+tongue within easy striking distance.
+
+[Illustration: "HE SAW THE GENTLY SWAYING HEAD AND THE LIGHTNING
+FLAY OF THE FORKED TONGUE"]
+
+He felt that if he jumped, the snake, so much quicker than he, would
+sink the glistening white fangs of that wide-open mouth deep in his
+flesh before he could get out of reach. He compelled his quivering
+nerves to hold steady while he slowly, inch by inch, moved away from
+the coils of the angry reptile. When Ned was six feet from the
+rattlesnake he sprang back and stood, almost fainting, quite out of
+reach of the reptile, which continued to wave its head and jar its
+rattles, but with less passion. The boy had often been told never to
+leave a rattlesnake alive and he looked around until he found a
+stick about five feet long, with which he returned to the field of
+his fright. The rattler had uncoiled and was creeping away when Ned
+rushed up and struck at him. The snake coiled like a flash and
+striking back, sunk his fangs in the stick within a foot of the hand
+of the boy. Again Ned struck, and the snake returned the blow, both
+of them missing their marks. Then the stick fell on the coils of the
+reptile and the back of the rattlesnake was broken. After a few
+finishing blows Ned dragged the six-foot creature by the tail to
+the bank and was thrusting it into the water when Dick called out:
+
+"Don't you want to save the skin?"
+
+"Don't want to save anything to remind me of it. I never expect to
+get the frightful sight of the open jaws and white fangs of that
+beast out of my dreams."
+
+Dick rested in camp the next day with the lynx, while Ned explored
+with the canoe, looking for the head of some river of the west coast
+that led to the Gulf, or for enough dry land to serve for a camp.
+Every water course that he followed, sooner or later closed up on
+him. He paddled four miles to the west through a long bay, only to
+find that there was no outlet on the western end, excepting a narrow
+creek which he followed until he could drag his canoe no farther. He
+followed floating wisps of manatee grass, freshly torn up by the
+roots, hoping to find the manatee which had spilled them, that he
+might follow him to a channel which would lead out of the
+wilderness. He discovered the manatee and was nearly swamped by the
+first dash of the frightened creature. Then he lost track of the
+animal after a long chase among the innumerable keys of the
+so-called Ten Thousand Islands, and found that he was himself lost.
+He paddled until it was dark and for an hour after that, when he
+gave up hope of finding his camp that night.
+
+He had a map of the country in his brain, but that was for daylight
+use only. He was hungry, and that was nothing; but he was parched
+with thirst from his long labor, and that was everything. He had
+seen no dry land during the day, and it was hopeless to look for it
+at night. It was never easy to keep the canoe balanced; if he dozed
+for an instant he would certainly roll it over. He had made up his
+mind to sentry duty for the night when through the darkness there
+came to him a gleam of light from a far-distant fire. As he
+approached, it brightened and sent up a crackling flame, in the
+blaze of which Ned saw the tall palmettos of his camp.
+
+"Were you worried, Dick?" he asked after the first warm greetings
+were over.
+
+"I sure was. I thought you couldn't get lost and wondered what had
+happened to you. Tom was uneasy, too, and I reckon he is out looking
+for you now. He went away in a good deal of a hurry. I made a
+lighthouse out of those palmetto fans that you cut for my bed, just
+on the chance of your having lost your way."
+
+Tom came home about daylight and lay down beside Dick, where he
+grumbled and growled as if he were a man with a next-morning
+headache.
+
+When daylight came and Ned began to bestir himself, he missed the
+cheery "Good-morning" of his companion, who was not able to lift his
+head from his pillow of palmetto. His wan smile went to Ned's heart,
+and the boy had to busy himself with the fire to hide his emotion.
+Every hour of that day he watched over the invalid, and from time
+to time tempted him with bits of broiled bird, heron soup and sips
+of hot tea made from leaves of the sweet bay. Ned's acquaintance
+with sickness was slight and his apprehension great, so that the
+night was a sleepless one and the day that followed brought no
+relief to his mind. Another day brought new anxieties. Dick was no
+better, and Ned couldn't bear to leave him, for the invalid's thirst
+was continuous, but now the supply of fresh water was running low,
+and a trip back to the river was imperative. He put the bucket, with
+what water was left, beside Dick's bed and said:
+
+"Dick, boy, I've got to go for some water. I'll have to be away a
+few hours, but I'll get back the first minute it is possible."
+
+Dick put out his hand, and his smile was cheery, though his voice
+was weak as he said:
+
+"Don't you worry, Neddy. I'm all right for all day. I don't need
+anything but amusement, and Tom will 'tend to that."
+
+"I'm afraid to leave a big wildcat with you when you are so weak. I
+am going to take Tom with me."
+
+"Don't do it, Neddy. He'd only be in your way, and I do want him for
+company. You don't understand Tom; he likes me and I like him.
+Please don't take him away."
+
+"Of course I won't take him away, Dick, boy, but you will have to be
+very good and keep cheerful and get strong and well to pay me for
+leaving him."
+
+Ned's apprehensions made the day a hard one for him. He was afraid
+of capsizing the canoe and being unable to get back in it. He
+imagined a tarpon jumping into it, a shark swimming against it, or a
+porpoise smashing it. When he reached the river of fresh water he
+carried the canoe up on the bank and tied it to a tree while he
+walked along the river bank and shot a few tender young birds for
+the nourishment of the invalid. His nerves were so unstrung that he
+feared to go far lest he lose his way, and was even apprehensive of
+failing to find on his return the camp where his companion was
+awaiting him, although the path to it was plain as a pikestaff.
+Ned's meeting with Dick was a joyful one, for the boy was clearly
+better and his voice stronger, although his first words were:
+
+"Don't go away again, Neddy. You've been gone a year, and I thought
+you were never coming back."
+
+By careful economy the five gallons of water which their can
+contained was made to last as many days for the three of them, for
+Dick insisted that Tom must share the rations of food and drink of
+the other members of the family. Each day Ned made a little trip
+around the keys nearest the camp by way of doing the marketing for
+his family, and returned when he had shot enough birds for its daily
+needs. He was happy in the thought of the invalid's increasing
+strength, but dreaded the necessary trip for fresh water. Dick
+surprised him by bearing the separation with cheerfulness, and his
+voice was so much firmer and his strength so obviously on the mend
+that Ned began again to plan for his return to civilization.
+
+On one of his marketing excursions Ned saw a skiff containing two
+men about a quarter of a mile distant. He waved his hat to the men
+and paddled toward them, but they rowed away. He followed, but was
+unable to find them, and concluded that they were outlaws, who did
+not care to extend their acquaintance. After this he paddled about
+on the lookout for some one who might help him to carry Dick to the
+outside world, for he had given up the idea of attempting it by
+himself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+CONVALESCENCE AND CATASTROPHE
+
+
+Ned's hopes and plans were suddenly changed, and he no longer hoped
+for help, but planned to take Dick to the coast himself. For Dick
+was getting well. There was no doubt about it. His appetite came
+back, until, instead of urging him to eat, Ned waited for him to ask
+twice for food before giving it to him. He was still thin and weak,
+but his spirits bubbled over, and his laughter was on tap, ready to
+be turned on any minute. He began to clamor for a move toward the
+coast, but Ned was obdurate and refused to stir for a week. Then one
+day Ned started out and paddled some miles toward the coast,
+examining the shores of the keys and the mangrove-lined banks of the
+salt-water rivers for a camping-ground. He could have made his own
+camp on the overflowed meadows almost anywhere, but Dick was still
+an invalid and Ned was always anxious about him. Six miles from the
+camp, where he had left Dick with Tom, Ned found a good camping
+site, marked by a freak palmetto with a trunk that branched into two
+stems about midway up. The ground was covered with palmetto scrub,
+which Ned examined carefully for rattlesnakes, after which he got
+out his fly-rod and caught a mess of fish for supper. On his return
+to camp the lynx sprang into the canoe, seized one of the fish and
+growled so fiercely that Ned thought best to let him keep it.
+[Illustration: "NED FOUND A GOOD CAMPING SITE MARKED BY A FREAK
+PALMETTO"]
+
+"Fresh water is all out, Dick," said Ned that night, "so I'll start
+at daylight and go back to the river and fill up. I'll take it
+slowly and be here about noon. Then we can start out and make easy
+work of being in the new camp long before sun-down."
+
+"Ned, I can paddle all right, and I'm going to help. I am sick of
+being a baby."
+
+"Go 'way, chile, you make me tired. Don't forget that I'm your
+doctor," replied Ned.
+
+"Do you see any chance of getting to the coast?"
+
+"Yes; pretty sure thing. I found a deep channel near the camp with
+some porpoises playing in it, and I think it's near the head of one
+of the big coast rivers. I am almost certain it's Rodgers River."
+
+[Illustration: "THE LYNX SPRANG INTO THE CANOE AND SEIZED ONE OF THE
+FISH"]
+
+Ned was a tired boy when the day's work was done and the young
+explorers were settled in the new camp, but a night's sleep braced
+him up so that he agreed to his chum's plan to make a dash for the
+coast, for Dick had said:
+
+"What is the use of losing a lot of time in prospecting for a soft
+spot for me to sleep? We can be on the coast to-night within sight
+of houses and help if we need it, which we don't, for I'm going to
+do my share of the paddling. I know that coast and you don't, so
+I'll naturally be boss."
+
+When the little canoe had been loaded with all their stores and
+trophies, and the boys were ready for their final trip, Tom stepped
+gravely aboard, and seating himself in the bow, turned to Ned with
+an expression which Dick translated as:
+
+"I am here, you may start the engine."
+
+Ned dipped his paddle deeply in the water, that with his every
+stroke flowed more swiftly. The banks became well defined, and
+although the stream was so crooked that it flowed by turns to every
+point of the compass, its general trend was to the west. The river
+broadened and the channel deepened, the forest on the banks became
+more heavily timbered, and the boys recognized the beautiful Rodgers
+River. Curlews and water-turkeys watched them from the trees; herons
+flew lazily up from the shoals as the canoe approached; porpoises,
+going out with the tide, rolled their backs out of water and gave
+sniffs of affright as they saw the canoe beside them. The fin of a
+great shark, longer than their canoe, cut the water as its owner
+swiftly pursued a six-foot tarpon, which escaped by leaping in the
+air within thirty feet of the canoe, toward which it was headed.
+Another clash of the shark brought its huge body within its length
+of the boys, while the great mouth, with its rows of serrated
+teeth, razor-sharp, opened wide to take in the tarpon, which leaped
+wildly ten feet in the air, and turning, plunged head-down straight
+for Ned as he sat in the canoe, paddle in hand. Dick started up from
+his seat, while Ned tried to fend off with the paddle, but the hard,
+pointed head of the big tarpon tore through the bottom of the
+fragile canoe as if it had been paper. A minute later the shattered
+canoe was floating down the river, while everything sinkable had
+gone to the bottom.
+
+[Illustration: "PORPOISES ROLLED THEIR BACKS OUT OF THE WATER"]
+
+Tom, who had been asleep in the bottom of the canoe, was swimming
+for shore, and Ned, who had not for a second lost his presence of
+mind, was treading water and supporting the unconscious Dick, who
+had been struck by the tail of the tarpon as the big fish crushed
+the canoe. Even as the tarpon struck the canoe Ned was reaching out
+for Dick, and the boys went down together.
+
+Then to Ned came the struggle for life--for two lives. His only
+thought was of Dick. Dick mustn't drown; Dick's face must be kept
+out of the water; he must get Dick ashore. He swam high, wasting his
+efforts to keep Dick's head above the surface. Strength goes fast
+when one struggles in the water, and Ned was soon gasping for
+breath. As he struck out more and more feebly for the bank, while
+the current swept him down the stream, he sank lower and lower,
+until only his eyes were above the surface and his lungs seemed
+bursting for want of air. A great shark swept past him, and the wave
+from the big fish rolled over him. He felt his senses going, his
+muscles refused to respond to the call of his brain. His grasp on
+Dick was loosening, and the thought of this roused him to renew the
+struggle. To save Dick he must save himself; he must breathe; he
+must not exhaust himself, and above all his mind must not wander. He
+was _so_ tired; for himself he would have given up the struggle and
+dropped into rest, but for Dick--never! A great calmness came to
+him. He rolled over with his head thrown back until all but his face
+was under water. This floated clear of the surface as he lay back
+and drew air into his smothered lungs in great gulps. He began to
+kick out with his feet and was soon swimming on his back toward the
+bank, making fair progress with little effort. Some of his strength
+came back, and he found that he was easily dragging Dick along,
+happily with his face upward. Hope took the place of despair, and
+Ned felt that now he could swim for hours. He saw the overhanging
+branches of trees above him and knew he was nearing the bank. Then
+suddenly he found himself aground on a shoal with water less than
+knee-deep. He dragged the unconscious form of his companion into the
+jungle on the bank, and a great wave of thankfulness rolled over him
+as he felt the weak beating of Dick's heart, which was followed by
+the familiar smile as the boy opened his eyes.
+
+[Illustration: "THE HARD, POINTED HEAD OF THE BIG TARPON TORE
+THROUGH THE BOTTOM OF THE FRAGILE CANOE"]
+
+"Well, Neddy, what have you been doing now, and what are you going
+to do? Last time I saw you a thousand-pound fish was dropping on
+your head. Seems as if he hit me, too."
+
+"Going to make a camp for the two of us, feed us, and get us out of
+the wilderness. That's what I am going to do," replied Ned.
+
+"You'll do it, all right; but what have you got to work with?"
+
+"Pocket-knife and some matches. First thing I'll make a fire to dry
+you. Then I'll forage. You see, Dick, we've got to stay right here
+until you get strong enough to travel. I can make a palmetto shack
+big enough to keep the rain off in half a day. The worst trouble
+will be fresh water, but I think I can fix that. I know how to get
+things to eat. I have picked up a couple of old cocoanuts, and I'll
+bring them to you in an hour full of water. Then to-morrow I will
+start early and find that old shack where we camped in the
+graveyard. You remember that old kettle there? Well, I'll bring it
+here full of fresh water. Then if you don't get well pretty quick
+I'll leave you plenty to eat and drink and find my way to the coast.
+I can do it in a day, and have your old friend, who don't believe we
+know a manatee from a tarpon, up here with his boat the next day
+sure."
+
+"Don't do it, Neddy. I'd be thinking of a hundred things happening
+to you, and the night would be pretty lonesome without even Tom."
+
+Ned started away from the river through a wooded swamp, and before
+he had gone a quarter of a mile struck a prairie on which several
+deer were feeding. The animals seemed to know that he had no weapon,
+for they showed no alarm until he had walked some distance toward
+them. There were a number of small ponds near him, and as Ned
+approached the nearest one a small alligator slipped from the bank
+into the water. The boy had provided himself with a short, heavy
+pole, and he waded fearlessly in after the 'gator; but although the
+pond was not thirty feet across and he explored every foot of it, he
+could not find the reptile. He finally came across an opening in the
+bank, in which he thrust his pole, when it was promptly seized by
+the alligator. Ned tried to pull the reptile within reach, but when
+the head came out of the cave it was larger than he had looked for,
+and before he had made up his mind to tackle it the creature had let
+go of the pole and gone back in his cave. Then the boy got earnest
+and determined to have that alligator if he had to crawl into the
+cave after him. He sharpened a bit of branch that stuck out beside
+the big end of his pole like the barb of a harpoon, and again thrust
+it in the cave. Soon he had the reptile fighting mad with his head
+out of the cave, when he pushed the pole into his open mouth, and
+catching the barb in the soft skin under the alligator's jaw, just
+as Dick had done weeks before, hauled him out of the cave and
+dragged him out on the bank. When a few yards from the pond the
+reptile broke loose from the barb and started back for the pond.
+Ned was after him like a tiger and struck two or three smashing
+blows on the creature's head with his pole, and then, as the reptile
+neared the water, threw himself on its back and seizing its jaws
+held them together while he turned the brute on its back. At first
+the alligator lashed out with its tail, but soon became quiet; and
+then Ned got out his knife and severed the spine of the reptile.
+
+The water of the pond was so nearly fresh that its taste was only
+slightly sweetish, and after Ned had drank all he could hold he
+filled his two cocoanuts for Dick. On his way to camp he hunted up a
+young palmetto for the bud or cabbage which grew in the top of the
+tree. The sharp edges of the great, tough leaves tore his flesh as
+he climbed through them, and it was only after more than an hour of
+hard work with his knife that he secured the cabbage he was working
+for. By this time the water he had drunk had oozed out through his
+pores. He was so parched with thirst that he took a long walk back
+to the pond and filled up again.
+
+That night Dick and Ned had broiled alligator steak and palmetto
+cabbage for supper. Both suffered so much for want of water that Ned
+started out at daylight to find the old abandoned plantation. Dick
+was pale and his smile so wan that Ned's heart was sore at leaving
+him. He was too earnest to think of trivial things, and he sloshed
+through the swamp without thought of the swaying heads of little
+speckle-bellies in his path, or the great, ugly cotton-mouth
+moccasins that moved slowly aside as he wallowed through their
+lairs. He stopped long enough on the border of the prairie to find a
+club, with which he fiercely pounded to death a rattlesnake, upon
+whose coils he had nearly stepped when the locust-like warning found
+its way to his consciousness.
+
+After about three miles of tramping, during which he waded
+waist-deep across two sloughs, the prairie opened upon familiar
+ground, and Ned knew that he was opposite the plantation he sought.
+In the decaying building he found an old bucket that would hold
+three or four gallons, and a couple of quart cans in which water
+could be boiled. From a tamarind tree he gathered the half-dried
+fruit with its sweet acidity, and in the old garden he discovered a
+few stalks of sugar-cane. He picked up a rusty fish-hook and from an
+old net got a quantity of string. Then filling his bucket with rain
+water, he started back to Dick and the camp. The journey was a hard
+one, and though he refused to drink a drop of the water, half of it
+was lost on the way. The weight of it pressed him down in the mire
+of the sloughs until he sank to the armpits as he held the heavy
+bucket on his head. Dick laughed aloud with joy, even if it was a
+bit hysterical, when Ned got home to camp.
+
+"Been lonesome?" asked Ned after Dick had drank a quart of water
+and looked as if he wanted a gallon more.
+
+"Not very. Tom has amused me," replied Dick, as he pointed to a
+branch over his head. Ned looked up, and there was Tom gazing
+benignly down upon him.
+
+"Wonder if Tom is hungry?" said Ned.
+
+"Guess not. I tried him with a piece of alligator steak, and he
+turned his nose up at that."
+
+"What do you think he would say to a mess of fish?" and Ned produced
+his fish-hook and line. Dick's eyes glistened.
+
+"Oh! I am so hungry for some broiled fish."
+
+Most Florida streams are alive with fish that are not fussy about
+the tackle with which they are taken. Ned baited his hook with a
+piece of alligator, which was promptly seized by a salt-water cat.
+The cat-fish was given to the wildcat, which grabbed it fiercely.
+Two mangrove snappers were the result of a few minutes' fishing. Ned
+put some tamarinds in one of the quart tins, which he filled with
+water and then stirred with a stick of sugar-cane which had been
+peeled and split.
+
+Dick perked up a good deal during his supper of broiled fish,
+palmetto cabbage and tamarind water, after which Ned made him a tin
+of tea from the leaves of the sweet bay. In the days that followed
+Ned gathered oysters, which he found some distance down the river,
+caught fish and killed several heron and a young curlew with sticks.
+The broils, roasts and stews which he made would have done credit
+to a professional cook. He wanted to set snares for rabbits and
+birds, but had to give it up owing to the difficulty of making a
+snare which would distinguish between Tom, whom he didn't wish to
+catch, and the rabbits which he wanted.
+
+Dick was improving, but so very slowly that Ned determined to find
+his way to the coast and get help. He put it off, at Dick's request,
+for several days, until they had been in camp a week, when one
+afternoon it was agreed that Ned should start early the next
+morning. Dick, who was feeling very blue at the prospect of Ned's
+leaving him, was lying on his bed of moss when suddenly he sat up.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+THE RESCUE
+
+
+"Listen, Ned, listen! There is a motor-boat in the river. Don't you
+hear it?"
+
+"I don't hear it, Dick."
+
+"But you must hear it. It's growing plainer every minute. It's a
+four-cycle engine, and a fast boat, too. I can tell you that. Who
+can it be? Do you suppose it is your father looking for you?"
+
+"I hear it now. No, it isn't Dad. My time isn't up for several days
+yet. After that anything might happen, but until then Dad won't lift
+a finger toward looking me up."
+
+"Oh, Ned! It's coming nearer, nearer, nearer! There! It's 'round the
+bend. Of course, you see it now. How it is coming!"
+
+"You bet it's coming. You ought to see the water pile up against the
+bow. It's a glass-cabin launch. There's a man standing on top of the
+cabin. I think he sees us, for he is pointing this way, and--the
+boat's headed straight for us--hear that whistle, and--Dick, Dick,
+boy!--there's a tall man and a girl standing in front of the
+pilot-house, and--oh, Dick! it's too good to be true, but it's Dad
+and Molly!"
+
+"Molly?" said Dick.
+
+"Yes, my sister, you know. Sometimes we call her Mary."
+
+"I didn't know your sister's name was Molly. What does she look
+like?"
+
+"Just watch that girl who is waving her hat as if she was crazy.
+That's Molly."
+
+Ned was in the launch before it touched the bank, and Mr. Barstow
+was holding his son by the hand, although neither spoke, while Molly
+had her arms around Ned's neck and was laughing, crying and talking
+by turns.
+
+"You blessed, blessed Neddy! What did happen to you? We were
+frightened, oh! so frightened."
+
+"Ned," said Mr. Barstow, "your friend, young Williams, was with you.
+I never saw him, but I hope no harm came to him."
+
+"No, daddy; Dick will be all right, now you are here, but he has
+been very, very sick, and I was dreadfully afraid he wouldn't get
+well, and all his trouble came because he saved my life without
+thinking of his own. Come right ashore and see him."
+
+"Shall I come, too?" asked Molly.
+
+"Sure," replied Ned. "He wants to see you especially."
+
+A moment later Mr. Barstow had one of Dick's hands in both of his
+own.
+
+"My boy, my boy, what made you run away? The hue and cry is out for
+you in Key West. Why did you never tell me that you were Ned's
+nearest friend? Why didn't you tell Molly who you were? Ned has
+talked to her for years about you. Come here, Molly, and tell your
+friend Dick Williams what you think of him for hiding his name from
+you."
+
+But Molly didn't tell him just then. For Dick's strength had been
+overtaxed, and when his eyes met Molly's he promptly fainted.
+
+When Dick had recovered, Ned invited his father and sister to dine
+before going aboard the motor-boat, and as he was busy preparing the
+meal and his father had much to hear from him, the care of the
+invalid fell upon Molly, a duty which she performed to the apparent
+satisfaction of her patient.
+
+"Those oysters are lovely," said the girl as she speared with a
+chop-stick a small one which had been roasted in the shell.
+
+"Yes. Ned waded through half a mile of mud to get them."
+
+"I wondered how Neddy got so muddy. I was so glad to see him that I
+just hugged him, and now I ought to be in a wash-tub. Just look at
+me."
+
+Dick obeyed her so literally that she added a moment later:
+
+"I mean look at the mud on my dress."
+
+The broiled snappers were pronounced the finest fish ever served,
+the palmetto cabbage better than cauliflower, and then the girl
+asked:
+
+"This white meat is pretty good. What is it?"
+
+"Alligator."
+
+"Really?"
+
+"Really and truly. You said you liked it."
+
+"I didn't know it was a reptile. Why didn't you tell me? I wouldn't
+have eaten it if I had known."
+
+"Ned wouldn't have liked it if I had told. He is my doctor, you
+know, and I have to mind him."
+
+"You don't need a doctor any more. What you want is a nurse."
+
+"That's so. I could mind her easy," said Dick.
+
+"Oh, I meant a man nurse," said the girl.
+
+Ned produced some joints of sugar-cane for dessert, and made a can
+of after-dinner sweet-bay tea, and then began to ask questions.
+
+"Daddy, I want to find out whether you and Molly are crazy or
+whether I am. You never saw Dick before. You said so half an hour
+ago. Dick never saw you or Molly. He said so half an hour ago--"
+
+"But Ned--" interrupted Dick.
+
+"You keep still. I've got the floor. Now, Dad, you and Molly rush up
+to this chap, whom you never saw before, and fall into his arms--"
+
+"Neddy Barstow, I didn't do anything of the kind. But I had seen him
+and I did know him," said the girl.
+
+"Now, there you go. How ever did you know this chum of mine, who
+never saw you?"
+
+"How did Dick save your life, Ned?" asked Mr. Barstow in a voice
+that wasn't quite as steady as usual.
+
+"I can tell you," broke in Dick. "He didn't do it at all. That's
+how."
+
+"Dad, when our canoe was wrecked, we lost the beautifullest skin of
+the biggest kind of a panther--eight feet from tip to tip. Dick saw
+the panther first, when he was ten feet from us, ready to jump. I
+fired at the beast, and he sprang for me, but Dick jumped at the
+same time and got between us, so the panther landed on him and I was
+saved. That's why he is sick now. I s'pose that is what knocked his
+memory endwise, so he don't remember anything about it."
+
+"Mr. Barstow," said Dick, "I wish you would ask Ned who it was that
+swam ashore with me when the big tarpon smashed the canoe and
+knocked me out. Yes, and he almost lost his own life in saving mine.
+Please ask him. I want to see if he has lost his memory."
+
+Ned tried to speak, but Molly had her arms around his neck, saying
+nice things to him.
+
+"See here, sis, doesn't part of this belong to Dick?" said Ned, and
+got his ears boxed very promptly.
+
+"Did not Dick tell you, Ned, that he came from New York to Key West
+on the steamer with us, and that Molly and I got acquainted with
+him, and that he then slipped away at Key West so that we could not
+find him?" asked Mr. Barstow.
+
+"Never told me a word. Dick, you gay deceiver, you pretended to
+tell me everything, and you left out the most interesting part. You
+probably thought I wasn't interested in Dad or Molly."
+
+"But, Ned, I never knew they were your father and sister until just
+now. I told you everything that seemed worth speaking of."
+
+"Hear that, Molly? This young man says you didn't seem worth
+speaking of. Can't you get even with him for that? Now, tell me how
+you happen to be here, you and Dad. I told Dick that he wouldn't
+move a finger for us till the time of my vacation was up."
+
+"You were all right about that, Neddy. He wouldn't budge an inch,
+for I tried to make him start out and hunt you up, and he refused
+until--Well, one day the boat that carries the mail between Key West
+and Chokoloskee picked up, out in the Gulf of Mexico, a broken canoe
+that everybody seemed to know was the one you and Mr. Williams were
+out in. Then Mr. Streeter made a night run to Myers, got Dad out of
+bed, and things began to happen. Of course, I was coming, so I got
+into a few clothes, skipped my breakfast and was aboard this boat
+barely in time not to be left, for Dad was just plain crazy. But
+before he came away he chartered everything in sight and told the
+men not to leave an unexplored channel in the whole Ten Thousand
+Islands."
+
+Ned held out his hand to his father without speaking, but Dick
+looked at the girl with more gratitude in his eyes than she could
+possibly have deserved, although she seemed willing to accept a good
+deal of it.
+
+"Well, boys," said Mr. Barstow, "if you are ready we will go aboard.
+I don't see much that you will care to take with you."
+
+"Nothing but Tom," said Dick. "Can't he go? He'll be good."
+
+"Of course he can. But who is Tom?"
+
+"Oh, he's nothing but a savage old wildcat," replied Ned. "He'll
+probably eat us all up but Dick. He has eaten some of him already."
+
+"Oh, what a beauty!" cried Molly, when Tom, who had been sitting in
+a tree over their heads, was pointed out to her. Dick soon coaxed
+the lynx, which sat there looking suspiciously at the strangers,
+down to his shoulder.
+
+"Can't I pet him?" asked Molly.
+
+"No!" said Ned.
+
+"Yes," said Dick, and Molly stepped forward and laid her hand
+fearlessly on the soft fur of the beautiful creature. Tom began a
+low growl, but Dick talked soothingly to him, and in a few minutes
+he became quite friendly with the girl.
+
+"There!" said Molly. "Now we're friends, and I can play with him all
+I want to."
+
+"Oh, no, not yet. You must promise that you won't touch him unless I
+am with you," said Dick.
+
+"Of course, I won't promise. I'll pet him when I please."
+
+"Then poor Tom will have to stay here."
+
+"Do you mean to say that if I don't make that ridiculous promise I
+can't have Tom?"
+
+"Tom belongs to you the minute you make that promise, but not
+before."
+
+"Well, Mr. Williams, I make the promise rather than lose Tom, but as
+for you--" And the blank which Molly left was filled with feminine
+possibilities.
+
+A bunk was fixed up in the cabin of the launch for Dick, and the
+throb of the heavy engines became a steady hum as the boat turned
+down the stream, with water and spray curling up from its bow and
+heavy waves from its propeller breaking with a sullen roar on the
+banks of the river. Dick's bunk must have been uncomfortable, for
+very soon he crawled up on deck and, going forward to where he could
+lean back against the cabin, sat down, looking pale, but not
+unhappy. Molly, who happened to be on the bow of the boat, was so
+indignant with him that she told him he ought to have a guardian,
+and then went below and brought back an armful of pillows and
+cushions, with which she proceeded to make life a burden to Dick.
+Then, as she seemed about to go away, Dick began to talk to her
+about the old plantations on the river and tell her the ghost
+stories that belonged to them, until she sat down near him. "I hope
+you don't think I was rude about Tom? I was only--" But Molly
+interrupted him.
+
+"You need to be good and strong before I tell you what I think of
+that." And the girl walked away from him so indignant that she
+didn't return for nearly two minutes.
+
+As the launch neared the mouth of the river a yawl-rigged craft with
+an auxiliary engine had just entered it. Her captain was sitting on
+deck with his right hand grasping the wheel, his body leaning
+forward, rigid as bronze, while his roving eye scanned water and
+sky, reefs, banks and keys. A roll of the wheel, and the launch
+darted toward him. When within a hundred yards the whir of the big
+engine and the chugging of the two-cycle motor of the yawl stopped,
+and as the boats were passing each other, Mr. Barstow hailed the
+skipper of the yawl.
+
+"Oh, Captain Hull! All's well. The boys have been found. Spread the
+news. Hunt up the other boats and all hands report to me at Myers."
+
+"Aye, aye, sir!" came from the bronze statue, and the chugging and
+the whirring began again as the yawl resumed its course, while the
+launch wove in and out among the oyster reefs, that guard the mouth
+of the river, at a speed that would have torn the propeller out of
+her had she struck one of them.
+
+Dick's eyes sparkled as the Gulf opened out, and the launch turned
+down the coast to clear the bar before making her course. Before him
+were the waters where the waterspout destroyed the _Etta_; the
+Shark River bight was near, and in the distance the cocoa-palms of
+the Northwest Cape could be made out. He turned eagerly to the girl
+beside him, and was telling her the story of the waterspout when Mr.
+Barstow came to them and said:
+
+"Run away, little girl, I want to talk to Dick."
+
+"So do I," said Molly as she made a little face at her father, who
+laughed at her.
+
+"You mustn't think you own Dick. Go play with Tom, there. He looks
+pretty amiable just now."
+
+"But he won't let me play with Tom. He's mean about that."
+
+Dick began to explain, but the girl had gone.
+
+"What are your plans for your future, Dick?" asked Mr. Barstow.
+
+"I am going home and going to work at anything I can find to do."
+
+"How would you like to work for me?"
+
+"I don't know of anything else in the world I would like so well."
+And Dick fairly beamed.
+
+"Then, if the work suits you, your engagement will date from
+to-day."
+
+"What will be my duties, sir?"
+
+"First a vacation to get well in and visit your mother. Then you and
+Ned will go to my timber property in Canada, familiarize yourselves
+with the present methods of working it, and suggest any improvements
+that occur to you, and make the best estimate you can of the amount
+and kind of lumber I have. I don't care for present returns, but I
+wish the property administered in accordance with the most advanced
+knowledge of the science of forestry."
+
+"Mr. Barstow, you are good to me, too good, and I am as grateful as
+I can be, but I can't take money for amusing myself. You would be
+paying me for taking the most delightful excursion in the world, and
+there wouldn't be any other side to it. I couldn't make good to you
+in any way. I don't know anything about lumbering, forestry or
+practical surveying."
+
+"Don't begin by criticizing your employer, Dick. Just make believe
+that he knows what he is about. I am not paying you for what you
+know now, but for what you will know in a few months. I am expecting
+great things of you. The science of forestry and economic methods of
+lumbering are fairly well understood in Canada. You will find
+yourselves with young men of education and enterprise, enthusiasts
+who think nothing of starting out alone on snowshoes for a week or a
+month in the woods, where the mercury in the thermometer often
+freezes. You will find your work cut out for you if you only keep up
+with them, and I am hoping that you will get near the head of your
+class. I want you to learn the business from the beginning to the
+end from the planting to the cutting of the tree, and from forest to
+freight car. So don't fear that you will not have a chance to earn
+your salary. Your pay and Ned's will be the same. It will take good
+care of you, but you will not find much over to waste. Here, Molly,
+come back and hear the rest of that romance that I interrupted. And
+don't look so cross at me next time I speak to Dick."
+
+"Isn't he the nice old daddy?" said the girl to Dick, as she sat
+down near him. Dick looked as if he thought so too, but was troubled
+to find words to express all he felt. The launch, which was now
+flying up the coast, was just opposite the shack of the fisherman
+whom the boys had hired to help with the manatee which couldn't be
+found. Dick was telling the girl the story of the manatee when Ned
+put in an appearance.
+
+"Run away, Molly. I want to talk to Dick."
+
+"Neddy Barstow, when daddy says 'Run away, Molly,' I have to go, but
+when you say it, I stay right where I am. See?"
+
+"But this is important, Molly. It's business."
+
+"So am I important, even if I'm not business. If business is in a
+hurry, it can go ahead; if it isn't it can wait."
+
+"Dick," said Ned, "Dad thinks we need a little vacation before going
+to work, and he offers to take us on a cruise in the _Gypsey_ to the
+Bahamas and to Cuba, or to charter a light-draft boat that could go
+through the Bay of Florida and let us finish our cruise in the
+crocodile country, beginning where we turned back when the fresh
+water gave out. Maybe he will let Molly go."
+
+"Let Molly go!" repeated the girl mockingly. "Only question is
+whether she will let you go. But I thought you said it was business.
+That isn't business; it's fun. We choose the small boat and the
+crocodiles. That will be new. I know all about the _Gypsey_ now."
+
+"Shall we let it go at that, Dick?"
+
+"Sure. Wonder if we can find my crocodile again."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+MOLLY AND THE MANATEE
+
+
+A week later the party of five (for both Molly and Dick insisted
+that Tom belonged) was sailing down the coast in the _Irene_, a half
+houseboat with auxiliary engine, which was sailed by Captain Hull.
+An engineer and a darky cook had been engaged, but the three young
+folks held a meeting and then announced that Dick had been elected
+engineer and Molly chief cook, with Ned as assistant. They added
+that the man engineer and the darky could "go bounce." When they
+notified Mr. Barstow of the result of the meeting he told them to
+see Captain Hull and that if they could stand their own cooking and
+engineering he thought the captain and himself might manage to live
+through it.
+
+The captain grimly assented; said that he had been wondering where
+he could sleep his cook when it rained; that Dick couldn't be a
+worse engineer than the one he had engaged, and that he hoped he
+would keep sober more of the time than the other one was in the
+habit of doing.
+
+The _Irene_ was of less than three feet draft, and towed or carried
+on her davits a small launch and a skiff. Excepting when the wind
+was especially favorable, the sails were kept furled, and an awning
+stretched above the cabin-top made of it a pleasant lounging place.
+When the _Irene_ was opposite the mouth of Broad and Rodgers rivers,
+the whole party, including Tom, who kept beside Dick, were sitting
+on the cabin roof, and Mr. Barstow said to his son, as he pointed to
+Broad River:
+
+"Is that the river where you caught your phantom manatee, that
+wasn't there when you brought a fisherman to get it? You know the
+story is all over Myers that you saw a porpoise and imagined the
+rest. How was it, Ned?"
+
+"Yon've made a lot of fun of me, Dad, and Molly has bothered the
+life out of Dick about that manatee ghost. Now, if you will let Dick
+and me boss this boat for three days, no questions to be asked,
+we'll show you a sure-enough manatee and give some folks a chance to
+think up real handsome apologies."
+
+"But supposing you don't make good?"
+
+"Then Dick and I will do a whole lot of kow-towing ourselves."
+
+"What do you say to that, Molly?"
+
+"See here, sis," interrupted Ned, "it's up to you to put up or shut
+up. If you don't give us this chance to make good you are not to say
+'manatee' again on this trip."
+
+"Give 'em what they want, Daddy. They can't do much harm in three
+days, and just think of the fun I'll have with them afterwards."
+
+"Well, hoys, you shall have your chance. It may prove a good lesson
+to you."
+
+"You heard that, Captain? Dick and I are boss for three days, and we
+want this boat to start up Broad River immejit!"
+
+"Tide's jist a-bilin' out of the river. It'll take all day to get
+anywhere. Hadn't you better anchor at the mouth of the river till it
+turns? We can run up the river in the night, so you won't lose any
+time."
+
+The _Irene's_ anchor was dropped behind the bar that lies opposite
+the mouth of the river, and Molly and the boys went out in the skiff
+to call on a family of pelicans which were keeping house on a little
+coral key, surrounded by oyster reefs, between Rodgers and Broad
+rivers. As the skiff neared the key the old birds flew lazily away
+and lit on a mud-flat a hundred yards distant, but the pelican
+children waddled around on the oyster reef without showing much
+alarm until Dick caught one, when the indignant bird struck him with
+its big bill and punched holes in his hat. As the tide fell the
+oyster bars were uncovered, the water shoaled on the mud-flats, and
+the boys gathered oysters from one, and clams weighing from half a
+pound to four pounds each from the other.
+
+[Illustration: "THE INDIGNANT BIRD PUNCHED HOLES THROUGH HIS HAT"]
+
+A fire was built on the reef, bread and coffee brought from the
+_Irene_, and Mr. Barstow and Captain Hull invited to a picnic
+supper which they were polite enough to say they enjoyed greatly.
+After supper Molly and the boys took a walk on the beach on the
+north side of Rodgers River and amused themselves by chasing the
+crabs that were skurrying along close to the shore to keep out of
+the way of their enemies. They had a lot of fun, but caught no
+crabs, until Dick went back to the _Irene_ for a scoop-net and a
+bucket, which he soon filled with the crustaceans. Molly had never
+before seen shell-fish growing on trees, so Dick cut a few
+oyster-bearing branches from a mangrove tree and roasted bunches of
+the bivalves on the beach. When the sputtering of the oysters on the
+branch told Dick they were cooked, he hauled the limb from the
+coals, sat down with his companion on the beach, and with sharpened
+sticks the young people picked the roasted oysters from their
+shells, while Dick told the girl of that other picnic on the coast
+near-by after the waterspout had wrecked the _Etta_. They talked
+after the oysters were eaten and the fire had gone out, until Ned's
+voice came to them:
+
+"Do you kids expect to settle here and grow up with the country?
+Don't you know it's 'most night, the tide's been right for the river
+for an hour, and everybody is waiting for you?"
+
+When they reached the _Irene_, Mr. Barstow proposed putting off
+their start until morning to give Molly and him a chance to see the
+river as they sailed up it. Mr. Barstow replied to a quizzical look
+from his son:
+
+"Of course, this doesn't come out of your time, Ned. You are to have
+your full three days."
+
+"Maybe you'd like to see some fire-hunting," said the captain.
+"There are 'gators in these rivers, and there's time before the moon
+rises to find one or two. If you don't want one killed I'll fire a
+blank cartridge at him, unless you'd like to shine the eyes of one
+yourself."
+
+"I don't think I'll try any fire-hunting, but I should like to see
+it done," said Mr. Barstow.
+
+Dick was proud of his sculling, and at his request it was arranged
+that he should scull the skiff for the captain, while Ned was to
+pole the little motor-boat, in which his father and sister would go
+with him. Before they had gone far Dick found that he had
+overestimated his strength, and that handling the heavy sculling oar
+was too much for him. Mr. Barstow offered to pole the motor-boat,
+and Ned took Dick's place at the oar in the skiff, where Dick
+remained as a passenger. They entered Broad River and Ned sculled
+slowly along the bank, while the beam of light from the lantern,
+which was bound to the captain's forehead, played along the surface
+of the water under the mangroves that overhung the banks and
+sometimes swept the banks above the water. In the shallow places
+mullet leaped wildly as the rays of the bull's-eye lantern fell on
+them, while porpoises sniffed and tarpon splashed in their light.
+Sculling was hard work for Ned, who had none of the easy and
+graceful swing with which Dick threw his weight on a sculling oar, a
+skill which he had acquired during his life on the sponger. Several
+times the oar jumped out of the scull hole in the skiff, and once
+Ned nearly went overboard. But a little extra noise didn't much
+disturb wild creatures that were fascinated by the light; and on the
+land 'coons sat motionless, two dots of greenish light told of a
+hypnotized wildcat, and when all on the skiff saw the light
+reflected from two big, round eyes, while the captain held the beam
+from the lantern steadily upon them, Dick whispered:
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"A big buck. Wish I didn't have a blank cartridge in the rifle,"
+replied the captain.
+
+They cruised for half a mile up Broad River, then back to its mouth
+against a tide that made the captain take the oars of the skiff, to
+which the painter of the motor-boat was then fastened. Then Ned
+sculled to the mouth of Rodgers River, where, upon a little beach,
+the captain first saw the gleam for which he had been looking. Then
+for a few minutes Dick took the oar and slowly and more slowly
+sculled toward those little round stars. Soon the light from the
+bull's-eye on the captain's forehead showed the head and body of the
+reptile, which remained as motionless as if cast in bronze, while
+Dick held the skiff in place that the launch might come near. With
+the roar of the blank cartridge came the scream of a girl and the
+quick scrambling of the alligator into the water. Every one wanted
+to continue the hunt, but the rising of the moon put a stop to the
+sport.
+
+[Illustration: "THE LIGHT FROM THE BULL'S EYE SHOWED THE HEAD AND
+BODY OF THE REPTILE"]
+
+In the morning the tide was rushing up the river, and with it came
+rolling porpoises and schools of leaping tarpon.
+
+"Couldn't you catch one of those tarpon?" asked Molly.
+
+Dick said nothing, but Ned shook his head slowly, and Molly
+understood that he couldn't so quickly forget that desperate
+struggle in the water, during which two lives hung by a thread after
+a tarpon had wrecked their canoe.
+
+As the _Irene_ sailed up the river birds flew from the trees on her
+approach, alligators slid from their beds on the banks, and otters
+lifted their round heads above the surface of the stream. Six miles
+from its mouth the river spreads out into a bay, and as the boat was
+entering it Mr. Barstow called out:
+
+"There is your manatee, sure enough, boys!"
+
+A big, ugly head appeared beside the _Irene_ for an instant,
+followed by a column of water thrown in the air by the huge
+porpoise-like tail of the frightened animal. The anchor was quickly
+dropped and the little motor-boat, with Dick at the wheel and Mr.
+Barstow and Molly as passengers, started in pursuit of the sea-cow.
+Captain Hull and Ned were in the skiff, which was towed by the
+motor-boat. Every few minutes the long eel-grass of the shallow bay
+choked the propeller of the motor-boat. Then the motor was stopped,
+the skiff pulled under the stern of the power-boat, and Ned, with
+half his head and shoulders under water, tore the grass from the
+wheel. For two miles all eyes scanned the surface of the water
+without sight of the quarry; then came a shout from Molly:
+
+"There it is!"
+
+"Take the wheel, Molly; it's your manatee," replied Dick.
+
+And the girl, without a hat and with her loosened hair streaming
+down her back, headed the power-boat straight for the creature,
+which was distant about the eighth of a mile. Twice the grass choked
+the wheel and twice with desperate haste it was cleared by Ned. The
+boat had gone many yards beyond the place where Molly had seen the
+animal when there was a great swirl in the water beside the craft,
+followed by other swirls, which grew less and less as they led in a
+straight line up a broad tideway that opened into the upper end of
+the bay. A moment later another series of swirls was seen and
+followed, after which, for a time, nothing was seen, although four
+pairs of eyes were scanning every inch of the stream ahead of the
+boat. Then came a cry from the captain, who had been cannily
+watching the water behind the craft. The sea-cow had turned around,
+and, swimming silently beneath the boat, would have escaped but for
+the glimpse the captain got of him as he rose to breathe just
+before reaching a bend in the stream, which would have hidden him
+from his pursuers. Soon the motor-boat was again on his trail, never
+to leave it till the creature was a captive. For the manatee was
+tired and had to come to the surface for breath at shorter and
+shorter intervals, until the power-boat almost ran over him at every
+turn.
+
+"Turn us loose!" shouted Ned, and in a moment the skiff was free and
+being sculled by the captain toward the quarry, while Ned stood in
+the bow with a noosed rope in his hand. Soon the manatee rose beside
+the skiff, so near that Ned laid the noose over the creature's nose.
+But it didn't stay there, for a column of water rose in the air, and
+when it subsided Ned was swimming two yards from the skiff.
+
+There was a cry from Molly in the motor-boat which no one noticed,
+for in half a minute Ned was back in the skiff and the pursuit was
+on keener than ever. Every ten seconds the manatee came up to
+breathe, every time he rose he was driven back under water by the
+blow of the rope across his nose. Finally the half-strangled
+creature lifted his whole head out of the water and held it there
+long enough for Ned to slip the noose over it. The next instant the
+blow of the manatee's tail deluged the boy with water and jarred the
+skiff from bow to stern, which was then dragged through the water at
+a rate which for minutes left the motor-boat behind. The sea-cow
+carried the skiff around keys, through deep channels, over shallow
+banks and under bushes that projected from the shore, until the
+animal was fairly tired out. As the speed of the creature slackened,
+Ned drew the skiff close beside him, and plunging overboard, threw
+his left arm over the neck and with his right hand grasped the right
+flipper of the manatee. Then Captain Hull took a hand, and pulling
+the skiff up to the manatee was soon swimming beside him and
+clinging to his left flipper.
+
+Dick slowed down the motor, while Molly kept the boat circling
+around the swimmers until the manatee surrendered and became quiet
+as a cow. The motor was stopped, and the sea-cow was brought beside
+the boat, where Molly patted the head and laid her hand on the soft
+lips of the gentle creature.
+
+"Now, Daddy," said Ned, "Dick and I want a certificate that this
+isn't a phantom manatee or a porpoise."
+
+"I'll certify to that, Ned. You boys have made good, although nobody
+ever doubted it, anyway, for the fisherman was only having a little
+fun with you."
+
+The manatee was so tractable that Captain Hull swam back for the
+skiff, while Ned loosened his hold on the flipper of the creature.
+Suddenly a cascade of water half-filled the power-boat, drenched
+every one in it, and the manatee disappeared. Ned was chagrined, but
+Mr. Barstow cheered him:
+
+"It is all for the best, Ned. He had done all he could do for us. We
+hadn't time to arrange for his shipment, and so had to set him
+free. The only thing I am sorry for is that I didn't go overboard,
+too, and have some of the fun. I am just as wet as you are, without
+having anything-to show for it."
+
+"Me, too," said Molly, whose red cheeks and sparkling eyes shone
+from among streaming mermaid tresses, and whose pretty frock had
+been deluged.
+
+"Dad," said Ned, after they were back on the _Irene_, "you know Dick
+and I are in command for two days more."
+
+"I thought you were to have charge for three days, or until you
+found a manatee."
+
+"No, sir; three days--seventy-two hours, and not a minute less."
+
+"What are you going to do with all that time?"
+
+"I have elected myself senior boss and Dick junior boss, and we are
+going to show you and Molly the Everglades. The _Irene_ will start
+down Broad River at once. But Molly is to take the power-boat
+through the cut-off to Rodgers River, and down that river to its
+mouth, where she will find us. Oh, by the way, Dick will go with her
+as engineer, but subject to her orders."
+
+When the _Irene_ was opposite the cut-off, the power-boat, with
+Molly and Dick on board, was set adrift and was soon twisting and
+turning at half speed as it followed the channel of the crooked
+creek. Swimming through the creek would have made a snake dizzy, and
+the girl at the wheel had to keep it spinning. There were logs to
+be dodged and sharp-ended stumps to be avoided. Trees lay nearly
+across the stream, leaving barely the width of the boat to spare,
+and others under which the boat had to be driven between flexible
+branches, while the steerswoman crouched low down in the craft.
+There were birds and beasts on the bank, fish and reptiles in the
+water, but the girl could spare them scarcely a glance. Great
+spiders hung in midair on nets that stretched from bank to bank, and
+Molly's face was matted with webs that she could not avoid, while
+her teeth were tightly clenched lest she scream when the hairy legs
+of a spider with a spread of five inches traveled across her face.
+Dick saw her trouble and came forward to where he could lean ahead
+of her and take the brunt of the spider's work. Molly spared him a
+grateful glance, but got in trouble for it the next instant. For
+just then a quick turn of the craft happened to be necessary, and
+although Dick helped to roll the wheel, it was too late, and because
+of the inattention of a moment the motor-boat crashed into the bank.
+The pilot and engineer were thrown violently against the wheel, but
+nothing was injured excepting the temper of the girl, who said to
+her companion:
+
+"That was all your fault, Dick Williams, and I wish you would go
+back to your engine. I will try to manage the wheel by myself."
+
+After two miles of squirmy navigation the boat came out into the
+broad, beautiful Rodgers River, down which they turned; and when
+Dick pointed out where the tarpon had wrecked their canoe and
+stunned him, and told of Ned's struggles to save his life, the
+girl's voice trembled and there were tears in her eyes as she
+listened and asked questions. The tide was low when they arrived at
+the mouth of the river, and Molly ran the boat on one of the oyster
+bars that form a network across the entrance to Broad and Rodgers
+rivers. Almost the instant the boat touched, Dick was overboard
+heaving on the bow, and soon had the craft afloat. Then turning to
+Molly, he said, while mischief sparkled in his eyes:
+
+"I am sorry I ran you on that bar, Miss Barstow."
+
+"You shouldn't bear malice, Dick," replied the girl.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+TO THE GLADES IN THE "IRENE"
+
+
+They found the _Irene_ waiting for them near the mouth of the river,
+with Ned impatient to be off to catch the inflowing-tide from the
+mouth of Harney's River, which was about two miles down the coast.
+
+It was still daylight when they crossed the bar and passed the
+little key inside the mouth of the river, but they sailed up the
+stream by the light of the stars, which gave mystic beauty to the
+smooth water and the shadowy outlines of the tropical forest that
+bordered the banks of the river. Captain Hull anchored the _Irene_
+for the night in Tussock Bay, at the head of the lower division of
+Harney's River, because, as he said, he needed all the daylight he
+could get when he tackled the crooked courses between Tussock Bay
+and the Everglades.
+
+When the anchor was hoisted in the morning, Dick was at the wheel,
+which he held on to when the captain came up to relieve him. The
+captain stood by as the boy steered across the bay, and wondered at
+the chance that kept him for miles on exactly the right course. As
+the boat was passing Tussock Key, Dick headed up to the northeast.
+
+"Too far north," said the captain. "Course is east-southeast."
+
+"No talking to the man at the wheel," said Dick, and Captain Hull
+laughed and waited for the trouble that was coming. But no trouble
+came, and the _Irene_ twisted in and out, always in plenty of water,
+for a mile and a half of crooked creek, until it floated in a wider
+stream, the banks of which were covered with long prairie grass,
+when Dick handed over the wheel to the captain, saying:
+
+"Guess you know the rest of the way, don't you, Captain? If you get
+in any trouble call on me."
+
+"That was one on me," said Captain Hull as he took the wheel. "I
+never came that way before. Wonder who taught you piloting? Mighty
+few pilots can find their way up this river."
+
+"I came that way," said Dick nonchalantly, "because the water is
+deeper and there is less grass. The other river is pretty shallow
+and gets badly choked up at this season."
+
+"That's so," replied the captain, "but I'd like to know who told
+you."
+
+It took the rest of the day to reach the Everglades. There were
+narrow streams so crooked that the _Irene_ had to be poled around
+the sharp corners, broad, shallow rivers, so choked with eel and
+manatee-grass that every five minutes one of the boys went overboard
+to clear the clogged propeller, and twisting creeks, through which
+the water of the Everglades poured so swiftly, that to make headway
+and avoid snags kept the captain busy at the wheel and the boys
+fending off from the banks with oars. Sometimes for miles the
+channel was clear; and while the captain stood at the wheel the rest
+of the exploring family sat upon the cabin roof and chattered like
+children about the turtle and terrapin heads that dotted the
+surface, the leaping young tarpon, grave old alligators, shy otters,
+and birds that flew from the trees or soared overhead.
+
+The sensitive Tom resented Dick's neglect, and was seen sitting on
+the after end of the cabin, in front of the wheel, making friends
+with the captain. Every few minutes Tom put out a paw and rested it
+on the captain's hand as it rolled the wheel. Then Tom would look up
+in his face, and finally rubbed his cheek on the captain's hand, and
+after that became his shadow. That night Tom abandoned his sleeping
+place beside Dick's bunk and turned in with the captain. Dick was a
+little annoyed at first, but his conscience told him that he had
+neglected Tom, and had himself to blame.
+
+When the anchor was dropped, the _Irene_ rested in a solid mass of
+lily pads, with her bowsprit extending over the border of the
+Everglades, which stretched out eastward, a great, grassy,
+overflowed meadow, dotted with keys, to the horizon. A slough of
+clear water, deep enough to float the little power-boat, zigzagged
+out into the Glades, and the captain, with Mr. Barstow, Molly and
+Dick in the craft, followed it for more than a mile. There was
+water enough over the light grass of the Glades to float the skiff,
+which Ned poled through a carpet of white pond-lilies, that here and
+there covered the surface. Many little grassy mounds showed where an
+alligator had his cave. From one of them an alligator slid out and
+started across the Glades at full speed. Ned was soon on his trail,
+poling like mad. He was nearly up to the reptile when it swung
+around and darted away at right angles to its former course, gaining
+many yards on its pursuer, for the grass prevented the quick turning
+of the skiff. Time after time the reptile repeated this dodge, time
+after time the boy was near enough to have touched the alligator
+with a pole, but always he dodged, until Ned was too exhausted to
+follow the creature any farther.
+
+"Oh, I wish you could have caught it," said Molly when Ned returned.
+
+"We'll get one to-morrow sure," said Dick, while Ned's only comment
+was:
+
+"Don't you get Dick to try fool things, sis."
+
+"Captain," said Dick that evening, "I want an alligator, and if you
+will help Ned pole in the skiff in the morning until we are near
+enough to one, I'll either put a rope over his head or go overboard
+and grab him."
+
+"Don't try that on these 'gators; but I'll rig up a harpoon for you,
+and if you can hit one with that there won't be any trouble in
+getting him."
+
+"I don't want to kill the thing with a harpoon."
+
+"I'll fix that. I'll stop down the harpoon so you can't drive it
+more than an inch beyond the hide, and the 'gator will never know
+he's hurt. He'll think a fly lit on him."
+
+In the morning, as they were about to start on the 'gator chase, Ned
+said to his father:
+
+"This is our third day and our last chance, so we have got to keep
+busy."
+
+"Not quite," replied Mr. Barstow. "You and Dick have done so well
+that you can stay in command until I have to call you down."
+
+"Where do I come in?" said Molly. "Haven't I got something to say
+about things?"
+
+"Looks as if you were having too much to say now. You mustn't try to
+influence the officers of this ship or lure them away from their
+duties."
+
+The little face that Molly made at her father wasn't quite
+respectful, but Mr. Barstow only laughed at it.
+
+On this day of the 'gator hunt, Molly took the wheel and her father
+ran the engine of the motor-boat, while Ned and the captain poled
+the skiff and Dick stood in the bow with the harpoon pole. They soon
+started a nine-foot alligator out of his cave, and after a chase of
+ten minutes and a few sudden turns were so near the reptile that
+Dick fixed his harpoon to the end of the pole and stood ready. Twice
+he threw and missed, and each time many yards were lost while the
+pole was being recovered. Dick was so mortified at missing that he
+offered the harpoon to the captain, who refused it, saying:
+
+"You threw all right and almost got him last throw. You'll fetch him
+next time."
+
+The captain's prophecy was fulfilled and at the next throw the
+harpoon pierced the soft hide of the hind leg of the reptile. From
+the beginning of the chase the alligator had been making for the
+river and was within a hundred yards of it when struck. They headed
+it off from the river and Dick dragged on the line while the others
+poled until the skiff was beside the 'gator. A heavy blow on the bow
+of the boat from the tail of the reptile and the big open jaws with
+their rows of great gleaming teeth that swung before Dick's face
+made him drop the line and fall backward into the skiff, while the
+alligator started off in a new direction. On the next approach the
+creature turned on the skiff again and though the captain fended it
+off with an oar the reptile had the best of the battle. Several
+times Dick brought the skiff near the alligator and tried to lasso
+it with the painter of the boat, but the reptile was too wary for
+him. The captain suggested running the reptile into the river,
+saying it would be easier to take it aboard from the deeper water.
+As soon as they gave the brute a chance it plunged into the river
+and towed the skiff two hundred yards down the stream, then turning
+and rising to the surface the alligator came with open mouth at
+Dick, who sprang from his place in the bow and, seizing the
+painter, the boy soon had a rope around the head of the brute and
+its jaws tied. They tried towing the alligator up the river to the
+_Irene_, but it is easier to drag an anchor than an alligator. Then
+as Dick was winded the captain and Ned finally hauled it aboard the
+skiff, where for a time it amused itself by trying to smash the
+skiff or knock somebody overboard with its tail. It became perfectly
+quiet before the _Irene_ was reached, when the captain dragged on
+the rope which bound its jaws while Ned boosted with his arms around
+the tail of the brute. But the alligator was playing 'possum and had
+Ned just where it wanted him and, with a swing of its powerful tail,
+lifted the boy in the air and neatly tossed him overboard. It was
+fortunate for Ned that he was holding the alligator so tightly that
+it was more of a push than a blow that he received. As it was, the
+breath was so completely knocked out of him that for an instant he
+could not swim and was drifting with the current, feebly paddling
+with his hands, just enough to keep afloat, when he felt Dick's
+supporting hand and heard a voice in his ear:
+
+"Don't say you're hurt, Neddy."
+
+"No--no--not a--bit. Nothing but--the talk--knocked out of me. Gee!
+Wouldn't he make a fine spanking machine?"
+
+Both of the boys were glad when the captain came for them with the
+skiff and they were saved a hard swim against the current.
+
+"Where is our alligator?" said Ned to the captain. "Hope you didn't
+turn him loose."
+
+"Nope. He's all right. He slipped back into the water when you went
+in swimming, and of course I knew you wanted him looked after first,
+so I gave his line a turn round the big cleat. When I left he was
+trying to pull it out."
+
+When the boys were back on the _Irene_, Molly clung to her brother's
+hand, hardly able to speak, while Mr. Barstow said to his son:
+
+"Is that the sort of thing you boys have been doing in your odd
+hours when you were not squabbling with panthers or mixing up with
+tarpon? I am afraid you need a traveling guardian to look after
+you."
+
+A hundred feet was added to the rope that held the alligator and he
+was left to pasture in the water until the _Irene_ was ready to
+sail, when he was hauled aboard the skiff and lashed there. While he
+was being tied he was perfectly tame and peaceful, but, though he
+looked as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, no one trusted him
+and even the captain fought shy of his tail.
+
+For two miles from the Glades the river was broad and the
+navigation, excepting for many bunches of moss and manatee grass,
+was easy. Then came half a mile of a twisting narrow creek, in
+places not twice the width of the _Irene_, through which poured
+swiftly the whole volume of the big river. At the head of this
+creek the captain came to anchor.
+
+"We won't get through this creek without a lot of trouble. The
+current will throw us against the bank a dozen times and we haven't
+speed to prevent it and couldn't turn the corners if we had. The
+launch must go ahead and keep the bow of the big boat out of the
+bushes if it can. Then we can't be bothered with the skiff or the
+'gator. We'd likely lose both. Somebody must take the launch and tow
+the skiff through and then come back, if he can get back, and help
+the big boat through. I hate to do it, but we can't tow the skiff
+and, of course, it would be torn off of the davits in two minutes.
+We are going to scrape the sides and perhaps tear out half the
+rigging of the _Irene_, anyhow. Now who volunteers to tow the skiff
+through the creek? I can't go because the launch may not be able to
+buck the current and get back and I must stand by the big boat."
+
+"I volunteer," said Molly, "if you can get anybody to go as
+engineer."
+
+Every one laughed at this, excepting Molly, who blushed a little,
+and Dick pulled the power boat up beside the _Irene_ as if he were
+afraid that somebody would change her mind if there was any delay.
+
+"Can she do it and is it quite safe?" asked Mr. Barstow.
+
+"Do it as well as anybody. They may swamp the skiff or get caught in
+a corner, but they can get out on the bank without anything worse
+than a ducking."
+
+As the power boat started, with Molly at the wheel, Dick standing by
+the motor and the skiff hauled close under the stern, the captain
+called out to Dick:
+
+"Full speed. It's your only chance to get through. Don't bother with
+the skiff, but keep an oar handy to fend off from the bank." The
+speed of the boat was doubled by the current and Dick's heart was in
+his mouth as the banks flew past and some log-guarded point
+threatened to smash the bow of the boat. But Molly was quick to see
+the coming peril and the wheel rolled swiftly to starboard or port,
+always in time to avert it. There were double turns which the boat
+could never have made but for the rush of the current which often
+swept them aside from a stump or log that it seemed impossible to
+avoid. It was a thrilling experience to both pilot and engineer, and
+when the broad, placid river opened before them and the perilous
+trip was past, the girl turned a flushed and beaming face toward her
+companion and said:
+
+"Wasn't it just lovely?"
+
+And the boy replied with enthusiasm:
+
+"It was glorious!"
+
+Dick fastened the skiff to a tree on the bank, gave a look at the
+lashing of the alligator and the return through the creek began.
+There was nothing exciting about this trip. As the craft was working
+against the current, the flow of the water balanced the power of
+the engine, and log stumps and points on the bank were passed
+slowly, inch by inch. Often there was no progress and then the boat
+was steered close beside the bank and Dick pushed with his oar
+against the trees until less swift water was found. The run down the
+creek was made in three minutes. The return 'took half as many
+hours. On the _Irene_ all were anxious but the captain and Tom. At
+the end of an hour Ned was for starting down the creek with the big
+boat, but Captain Hull said:
+
+"No. It may take them three hours. Give them two at least. If we
+start now we'll make sure of a smash-up."
+
+In another minute the motor of the launch could be heard, although
+it was half an hour more before the wanderers were welcomed aboard
+the _Irene_ and their story told.
+
+"It's our turn for trouble now," said the captain, "and we're likely
+to get it, good and plenty."
+
+"Want me to tow?" said Dick.
+
+"Sure," replied the captain.
+
+"Me, too?" inquired Molly.
+
+"No," replied the captain, rather sharply. "It isn't piloting this
+time. You can't steer the launch much while it's fast to the big
+boat. Best you can do is to fend off and then you're likely to get
+caught, and when you do get caught and fifteen tons comes down on
+you at ten miles an hour, somebody has got to be spry."
+
+"Is there much danger to whoever goes in the little boat?" asked
+Mr. Barstow.
+
+"Some, not much. It's the big boat that is likely to get caught and
+if the launch did get stuck and we couldn't sheer off it would only
+mean a quick jump and a little swim and--a busted launch."
+
+The _Irene_ started down the creek with her engine at half speed,
+the captain at the wheel and Dick standing in the bow of the motor
+boat with an oar at hand. Molly stood in the companionway at the
+captain's request because he feared her being swept overboard by
+overhanging branches. Mr. Barstow and Ned were stationed near the
+bow with long poles for fending off from the banks when necessary.
+The first trouble came from a wooded point on the starboard side,
+but Dick swung the power boat to port while Ned nearly went
+overboard as he threw his weight on the pole with which he was
+fending. The bow cleared the point, though the bowsprit swept the
+bushes and a low-growing branch tore out the screens on the
+starboard side. Before the point was passed Dick had the launch on
+the starboard side, working to turn the _Irene_ before she should
+strike the opposite bank. The efforts of all hands failed to make
+the turn in time and a stump by the bank caught in the jib-stay of
+the boat and held her fast. As the stern of the _Irene_ swung on the
+point she had nearly passed, she lay broad-side to the current,
+subject to all its power.
+
+"We're in for it now, if that jib-stay don't part pretty sudden,"
+said the captain.
+
+And before the words were out of his mouth the eye-bolt that held
+the stay broke short off and the _Irene's_ bow swung down the
+stream. The boat was not caught badly again, although her fore
+rigging on the port side was carried away and her sides somewhat
+scarred. The only accident that threatened was prevented by a
+precaution which Dick had taken. He had fastened his tow line to the
+stern of the launch with a knot that could be slipped and led the
+end of the line forward to where he stood by the wheel. It happened
+that when nearly through the creek it became needful to drag the bow
+of the _Irene_ far to port. Dick did this, but found himself in a
+pocket from which he could not escape and in position to be dragged
+stern first under the bow of the big boat. A quick jerk on the
+towing line, and the launch was safe behind the _Irene_. There was
+no more trouble for the big boat, which a minute later was headed
+down the broad but shallow river, at half speed, while Dick picked
+up the skiff with its alligator passenger who slowly opened one eye
+when spoken to. In a few minutes the _Irene_ was traveling at full
+speed toward Tussock Bay while her joyful passengers sat on the
+cabin roof and talked of perils which had passed.
+
+[Illustration: "SLOWLY LIFTING HIS HUGE HEAD OVER THE SIDE OF THE
+SKIFF"]
+
+From Tussock Bay to the coast, the _Irene_ sailed by way of a branch
+of Shark River. The deep water of this river near the Gulf of Mexico
+was roughened by a high wind and the rising and falling of the
+skiff seemed to excite the alligator which for hours had been as
+quiet as if he were asleep or dead. Slowly lifting his huge head
+over the side of the skiff he gave a lurch which strained the rope
+that held him and enough of the weight of the reptile was on the
+side of the skiff to capsize it. The captain, who first heard the
+struggle and saw the upset of the skiff, shouted to Ned, who was
+below oiling the engine, to shut off the power. Before the _Irene_
+lost her headway Ned was in the river with the alligator, resting on
+the bottom of the skiff which he rolled from over the reptile to
+save it from drowning. Instantly the freed jaws of the alligator
+opened wide in his face and the boy threw himself backward in the
+water and swam swiftly away from his dangerous companion. The rope
+had slipped from the head of the reptile, which now seized the
+gunwale of the boat and thrashed about until he had freed himself
+from the rope which bound him, after which he quickly disappeared.
+Half an hour later Ned was pouring his grievances into the ear of
+his chum, who was resting in his bunk from the fatigue of the
+morning.
+
+"Don't you think, Dick, it was bad enough to be scared to death by a
+whopping old alligator that I thought was going to bite me in two,
+without being scolded by everybody on board for recklessness? First
+there was Dad, and he uses pretty powerful language when he gets
+real earnest, then Captain Hull gave it to me like a Dutch uncle,
+and even Molly lectured me and squeezed out a few tears. I told Dad
+it wasn't half as bad as your jumping in the way of that panther,
+but he said that was altogether a different thing and had some sense
+in it."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+IN FLORIDA BAY
+
+
+After the _Irene_ had sailed twenty miles down the coast and was
+about opposite East Cape (Sable) Captain Hull asked for his orders.
+
+"Isn't Madeira Hammock on the coast, about thirty miles from here?"
+inquired Ned.
+
+"Yes, but you will have to go seventy to get there. You've got to go
+way round by the keys."
+
+"Isn't there water enough for the _Irene_ along the coast?"
+
+"Isn't enough to float the skiff. You can go about ten miles. After
+that there's an inch of water and I reckon a mile of blue, soft,
+sticky mud. I've been a few feet down in it and the farther I went
+the softer and stickier it got."
+
+"Suppose we go the ten miles you talk about what will we find?"
+
+"Tarpon, sharks, porpoises, lots of fish, birds and enough sawfish
+to make a picket fence of their saws all around the coast."
+
+"That's us, Captain," said Ned.
+
+And the _Irene's_ mud hook went to the bottom that night in eight
+feet of water off Joe Kemp's Key.
+
+In the shoal water over the broad banks which lay to the south and
+east of the _Irene_ the bayonet fins of many tarpon rose high above
+the surface as the fish beneath them pursued their prey. Often the
+two fins shown by a wandering shark swept swiftly across a bank, or
+three big reddish fins moving in a straight line slowly behind a
+great, swaying, four-foot weapon marked the course of a fifteen-foot
+sawfish. There was water to float the power boat in the channels
+between the banks, and families of porpoises or dolphins were always
+ready to serve as pilots and point the path through these
+labyrinthine waterways. A school of porpoises, rolling in the water
+and leaping in the air, passed the motor boat as if they had been
+telephoned for in the greatest haste. Two minutes later, a quarter
+of a mile away, a great splashing could be seen and huge bodies
+hurled in the air, which seemed to be filled with flying fragments.
+
+The power boat, with Molly at the wheel, started for the fray at its
+best speed and when it reached the battlefield its occupants saw a
+little band of porpoises in the midst of a great school of silver
+mullet. Each blow of a porpoise tail sent several mullet flying in
+the air, each blow that was struck was followed by a quick turn or
+leap of the agile animal for the victim which it caught before it
+fell. Ned and Dick were in the skiff which had been towed by the
+power boat, hoping to harpoon a sawfish or a shark. They had not
+before thought of the swift and wary porpoise. They called to the
+captain to cast them loose, and soon Ned was poling the skiff toward
+the busy porpoises while Dick stood in the bow of the skiff with his
+harpoon handy. Quick as a flash the porpoises separated and
+scattered in every direction and the boys followed several in vain.
+Then Molly took a hand in the game and sent the power boat at one
+after another of them until the captain called to her:
+
+"If you'll stick to one you'll run him down."
+
+Then Molly kept steadily after a single porpoise, until the animal
+came to understand that it was the chosen victim, and quickly put
+half a mile between it and its pursuer. In a few minutes the half
+mile between them had vanished and the creature made another frantic
+dash. After that it swam back and forth as if confused, and traveled
+in narrowing circles, wasting its strength, while the wheel of the
+pursuing boat rolled back and forth without ceasing as it followed
+the course of the animal or took short cuts to head it off. The boys
+came near with the skiff, but the worried quarry paid so little heed
+to them that soon Dick sunk his harpoon in the tail of the porpoise.
+All the life and strength of the creature seemed to come back and it
+threw a column of water in the air which nearly swamped the skiff,
+while Dick's hands were torn and blistered by the outgoing harpoon
+line, before way could be had on the skiff. The frantic creature
+tore back and forth, sometimes striking the skiff a powerful blow
+with its tremendous tail as it passed, sometimes towing it at high
+speed until Dick, who was not yet strong, was more tired than the
+porpoise. He changed places with Ned and the two were nearly worn
+out when the porpoise surrendered.
+
+They took the harpoon from the animal's tail and tried to drag the
+creature over the gunwale of the skiff, but found it too heavy for
+them. At length they lifted and dragged the porpoise up on the
+gunwale of the skiff which they pressed down until the water was
+beginning to flow over it. Half of the animal was now over the side
+of the skiff and the boys threw their weight backward expecting to
+roll the porpoise into the bottom of the craft. This would have
+happened if the porpoise had kept still, which it neglected to do.
+With a blow of its tail on the water the animal threw its own body
+forward and Ned and Dick found assistance instead of resistance as
+they pulled, and promptly went over backward into the water with the
+porpoise and the capsized skiff on top of them. When they got to the
+surface their captive had escaped, but the power boat was beside
+them with three highly edified occupants. After the skiff had been
+righted and bailed out and the floating poles, oar, hats, and line
+tub gathered in, Ned saw the fin and swaying tail of a shark cutting
+the surface of the water near them, and calling on Dick to take the
+harpoon, began to pole the skiff toward the tiger of the sea.
+
+"Look out," shouted the captain. "That's a shark. You'll lose your
+iron if you strike him."
+
+Th captain spoke too late, for the shark was struck and the skiff
+was towed at speed for a hundred feet by the angry fish, which then
+turned and rolled up on the taut line till it caught the rope in its
+mouth and bit it in two as easily as scissors snip thread.
+
+"Told you so," said the captain. "A shark always bites the line and
+often rolls up in it. An alligator always rolls up in it, but can't
+bite it. I've had an alligator roll up against a skiff and pretty
+near come aboard after I'd harpooned it. There's another harpoon on
+the _Irene_, and I'll fix it to-night with a few feet of wire for
+the next shark to bite on. I reckon it'll give him a surprise."
+
+Molly was in full command of the power boat for the day, and as
+harpooning was over, she ran it at her own sweet will. Sometimes the
+captain helped her with a hint when he saw her heading for water
+that was too shoal. The course she took was southerly and brought
+her near Man-o'-war Bush, from which rose hundreds of man-o'-war
+hawks, or frigate pelicans, the most graceful bird on the continent,
+excepting the fork-tailed kite. These birds soared high overhead,
+circling, rising and falling with scarcely a perceptible motion of
+their wings. From another key a flock of roseate spoon-bill, or pink
+curlew, flew at the approach of the boat, while young herons sat
+fearlessly on branches of trees or spread wings and stretched long
+legs as they fled in affright.
+
+That night Mr. Barstow called a council on the cabin top.
+
+"Boys, I would like to have you make Miami in four days from now, if
+you can manage it."
+
+"That's easy," said Ned. "We can make the trip in a day. That leaves
+us one day here and two at Madeira Hammock to find Dick's pet
+crocodile."
+
+"If you're going to Miami by way of Madeira Hammock," said the
+captain, "you'd better allow two days for the trip. You're likely to
+get some tangled up in that country."
+
+"Then we'll cut out our day here. We have had our share of fun out
+of this place. What is there in that bay to the east of us,
+Captain?"
+
+"There's a creek that leads to the Cuthbert Rookery, but it isn't
+the season for that. It's a hard trip anyway, through small
+salt-water lakes and little overgrown creeks where you have to drag
+your skiff most of the way. And you've got to carry all the water
+you drink and you won't find that a joke."
+
+"We have had all we want of that kind of country, Captain, so we'll
+hike out of here at daylight and get to Madeira Hammock quick as you
+can find the way."
+
+"I can find the way now, anyhow as far as Lignum Vitae Key, and if
+the tide doesn't bother me too much in the cut, maybe to Hammer
+Point. Beyond that I want daylight and then I ain't sure. Do you
+want to make a night run?"
+
+"Sure," said both the boys together.
+
+"If you will excuse me from any share in this night navigation,"
+said Mr. Barstow, "I think I will turn in. How is it with you,
+Molly?"
+
+"Oh, I'll stay up a while and help Captain Hull navigate the ship."
+
+The moon rose soon after the anchor was broken out, and its light
+reflected from the white canvas of the bellying sails and the tops
+of the white-capped waves, gave a dream-like beauty to the night.
+Captain Molly called to Engineer Dick:
+
+"Stop that noise in the engine room!" and Dick promptly shut off the
+gasoline from the motor. Captain Hull made no complaint of this
+mutinous interference with his authority, but said:
+
+"That's right, we don't need the engine now and I reckon we ain't
+going to need it to-night."
+
+The wind was fair and strong from the north, and every minute its
+sweep grew wider and the waves bigger as the _Irene_ drew from under
+the shelter of the cape. The captain and Ned stood by the wheel,
+while the girl and Dick sat on the front of the cabin in the
+moonlight, watching the white water that rose from under the bow of
+the clumsy craft, with each heavy blow that it struck upon the
+waves.
+
+[Illustration: "YOUNG HERONS SPREAD WINGS AND STRETCHED LONG LEGS AS
+THEY FLED"]
+
+As they sailed the wind grew stronger and at Horse-neck Shoals the
+crest of breaking waves covered the deck of the _Irene_ with foam.
+Following the swish of each heaving wave as it lifted and swept
+past the boat came a heavy jar as the craft struck in the soft mud
+beneath her and her headway was checked.
+
+"It's all right," said the captain, in answer to Ned's look of
+anxiety. "I expected her to touch, but she'll pull through."
+
+No one else was alarmed, for Mr. Barstow was asleep in his bunk
+below, while Molly and Dick were too busy watching the effect of the
+moonlight on the breaking waves and the distant keys to notice that
+anything unusual was happening. Soon the water became deeper, the
+waves ceased breaking and subsided, and the _Irene_ sailed smoothly
+on till she was hauled up in the wind to enter the cut in the bank
+near Lignum Vitae Key, through which an adverse tide was pouring.
+Dick was called from his post near the bow to start the motor, which
+was kept running until the boat had made her way through the channel
+between the white banks that showed clear under the moon as daylight
+could have made them. Then the motor was shut off and Dick returned
+to his post and resumed his study of moonlight effects as its rays
+fell on the palms of Lignum Vitae, the line of outer keys, the
+Matecumbies, and the jewel of an Indian Key, of which he told Molly
+the legend. At this Molly jumped up and said:
+
+"It's all too lovely for anything and Daddy has got to come on deck
+and see it."
+
+She went below and when she returned had Mr. Barstow in tow, to
+whom she pointed out the beauties of sea and sky, of clouds and
+light just as Dick had been doing to her. Then she went for Captain
+Hull, who turned the wheel over to Ned and came forward, where he
+answered the rapid fire of the girl's questions, about Shell,
+McGinty and other keys as they passed them and about the channel and
+cuts through which their course lay, until he assured her he had
+told all he knew and if she remembered it she was as good a pilot as
+he. But questions continued until, having passed Tavernier Creek and
+neared Hammer Point, the _Irene_ was anchored for the night.
+
+All hands were on deck when the rays of the next morning's sun first
+fell on the mirror-like water about them, but Ned spoke sadly as he
+said:
+
+"I've shipped as cook and I s'pose I've got to get breakfast, but I
+wish my assistant didn't waste so much of her time."
+
+"If you'd let me keep the cook I hired we'd have crawfish for
+breakfast," said Captain Hull.
+
+"Where would we get them?" inquired Ned.
+
+"Every one of these coral keys is built on crawfish and Snake Creek
+here is full of 'em."
+
+"Then after you've shown us a lot of crawfish and we've caught them
+we'll have breakfast."
+
+Captain Hull lashed two tarpon hooks to broomsticks, and getting in
+the skiff with Molly and the two boys, poled to the nearest key.
+Beneath the water the steep coral banks of the key were filled with
+deep holes from out of many of which long feelers projected. Pushing
+a hook into one of these holes the captain gave it a quick turn and
+brought out a squirming, squeaking imitation of a young lobster.
+Then he handed the hooks to the boys. Ned got overboard and began to
+haul out crawfish at the rate of two a minute. Dick was less
+successful, for Molly had promptly commandeered his hook and left
+him nothing to do but watch her when she tried to hook the
+shell-fish. They didn't get many fish and when Ned came along with a
+bunch of crawfish which he dropped in the skiff, he said:
+
+"Here, you kids, you aren't earning your salt. Just take my hook,
+Dick, and catch some crawfish. I'll help Molly do whatever she's
+doing."
+
+On the way to the _Irene_ Molly called out:
+
+"Oh, the beautiful, beautiful, bubble!"
+
+"Don't touch it," shouted Dick.
+
+But he was too late, for Molly had picked up a Portuguese man-o'-war
+and sat wringing her hands with the pain of its poison. For, while
+nothing in nature is more exquisite, few things are more virulent
+than this animated, opalescent, iridescent bubble with its long,
+delicate, purplish tentacles.
+
+Molly's hand pained her all that day and the next, while Dick's
+commiseration was boundless, but was kept in restraint by Ned, who
+frequently assured both of them that, although a surgical case, it
+was probably not quite hopeless. A run of two hours in directions
+that varied, but averaged northwest, brought the _Irene_ to Madeira
+Hammock, where the anchor was dropped.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+MADEIRA HAMMOCK AND--THE END
+
+[Illustration: "THEY SAW A CROCODILE SWIMMING UNDER WATER NEAR
+THEM"]
+
+Mr. Barstow wanted to explore Deer Key which was nearby and Ned took
+him there in the power boat. The captain took Molly and Dick out in
+the skiff to show them a crocodile and Dick stood in the bow with
+the harpoon while Molly sat amidship and the captain poled. Almost
+as they left the _Irene_ they saw a crocodile swimming under water
+near them, but failed to get another sight of him. They cruised
+vainly in open water, beside banks and in narrow channels. Finally
+while going through a narrow creek a wave rolling high ahead of the
+skiff showed that some big creature was fleeing before them. The
+next moment a four-foot weapon of a hand's breadth, armed with a
+double row of teeth, was lifted for a second above the surface and
+was followed by the three fins, tandem, that proved the presence of
+a sawfish. Dick fairly quivered with excitement as he held his
+harpoon at ready.
+
+"Captain," said he sharply, "will there be the least bit of danger
+to Miss Barstow if I strike that fish now?"
+
+"There'll be some, of course. If he turns round and comes back at
+us in this narrow creek the only safe place will be in the bottom of
+the boat."
+
+"Dick Williams, don't you stop for me. I'm not a bit afraid. If you
+don't harpoon that sawfish and give me his saw, I won't speak to you
+for a week," said the excited girl.
+
+"No use, Molly, I wouldn't do it if it meant that you'd never speak
+to me."
+
+"If Miss Barstow will wait on the bank for half an hour you can
+bring her the saw, all right," said the captain, who seemed anxious
+to oblige both of the passengers.
+
+"Put me ashore quick, then."
+
+The girl was soon standing on the bank and the chase was renewed. A
+hundred yards farther up the narrow stream the great sawfish was
+found swimming slowly across a bank where the water was shoal, with
+his two fins and tail showing in line above the water. As the
+harpoon pole was lifted and Dick's every muscle strained for the
+throw, the captain shouted:
+
+"Throw three feet ahead of that forward fin. That's where his back
+is."
+
+The harpoon struck the fish in the middle of his wide back and as
+the freed pole splashed in the water the sawfish made a mighty swirl
+and was off at express speed. The line was strong, the barb of the
+harpoon was under the tough leather of the creature's back, and the
+skiff seemed to fly through the water as Dick gave the line a turn
+around his hand and the captain fended the skiff from the banks when
+sharp turns were made by the flying fish as it followed the channels
+of the crooked creeks. Sometimes the stream broadened, often it
+narrowed; once the sawfish dashed through an overgrown waterway
+where Dick and the captain crouched to the gunwale to avoid the
+arching branches that swept over and tore at the sides of the skiff.
+There was half an hour of this work. Dick's hands were blistered and
+numb and his brain dizzy with the quick turns and changing courses
+of the fish, when suddenly he became panic-stricken and called to
+his companion:
+
+"Captain! Are you perfectly _sure_ you know where you are? _Sure_
+you can find Miss Barstow?"
+
+The captain laughed.
+
+"Find her? Why she's here within a hundred feet of you now."
+
+And, sure enough, the next turn in the creek showed the girl
+standing on the bank by the water's edge.
+
+"Can't I get aboard?" she called out as the skiff swept past, and
+Dick would have said "Yes," but the captain shook his head.
+
+"There's trouble ahead. That fish is just getting ready to fight."
+
+Before they had passed out of sight of the girl, the sawfish turned
+around and for the first time headed for the skiff.
+
+"Down, quick!" yelled the captain and both Dick and he crouched low
+in the skiff as a great broad sword, swung with all the power of the
+tremendous fish, swept over their heads. As the angry creature
+passed them, a second blow which fell upon the skiff and threatened
+to wreck it was echoed by a cry from the girl. The attack on the
+skiff was the last great effort of the fish, and though he still
+swam strongly he could be controlled. The captain ran the skiff on a
+shallow bank and helped Dick with the line until sixteen feet of
+fierceness lay stranded on the bank. As the sawfish is a species of
+shark, Dick had no hesitancy about killing it, but wanted Molly to
+first see his captive and have a look at her saw, before it left the
+place where it grew. The captain brought the girl, and then a rope
+was made fast to the saw of the fish and tied to a tree, after which
+the brute's brain was explored with an axe and the saw cut off as a
+trophy.
+
+[Illustration: "THE HARPOON STRUCK THE FISH IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS
+BROAD BACK"]
+
+"Better wake up," shouted the captain the next morning, before the
+boys were stirring. "There's a shark outside waiting for you, and
+I've wired your harpoon line."
+
+The boys omitted their ablutions that morning and must have hurried
+their devotions, for three minutes after they were called found them
+aboard the skiff which they drove toward a big fin and a swaying
+tail, which was cutting the water a hundred yards from the _Irene_.
+As they neared the shark, Dick took the harpoon pole and made ready
+with the harpoon, while Ned sculled quietly in the wake of the ugly
+fish. Twice the shark heard them and darted away, but on the third
+approach Dick drove the iron deep in the back of the brute. The
+shark lashed out with its tail, sending the water flying as the
+harpoon struck, and then made a straight-away dash for a hundred
+yards while the boys rode in triumph behind it. Then the maddened
+creature turned, and rolling up on the line, bit it savagely but
+vainly.
+
+Again and again the brute dashed away and again and again it turned,
+biting at the line and attacking the boat with its teeth. Dick held
+the skiff close to the shark, which lifted its head and seized the
+gunwale in its huge mouth, when Ned struck the furious creature a
+powerful blow on its nose with the axe. For a moment the brute
+seemed paralyzed, but soon returned to the attack, when the boy
+drove the point of the big gaff through the tough hide of the tiger
+of the sea.
+
+Ned held on to the handle of the gaff, although almost dragged
+overboard during the first wild struggles of his captive, and then
+hauled the head of the brute over the gunwale, where a few blows
+with the axe ended the trouble.
+
+When the boys got back to the _Irene_, Ned was happily surprised to
+find ready a dainty breakfast which his assistant had graciously
+prepared for all hands and which drew from him the unusual praise:
+
+"A girl on a cruise is a mighty nice thing--sometimes."
+
+The day was to be devoted to crocodile hunting and Dick went in the
+skiff with the captain, while Molly was put in command of the power
+boat with Ned as engineer and Mr. Barstow as passenger.
+
+Several crocodile caves were found, but none of the inhabitants were
+at home. One large crocodile showed itself for an instant, but the
+river was deep, the overhanging banks offered good hiding places,
+and the reptile escaped. It was after they had given the hunt up for
+the day and were on their way to the _Irene_ that Dick, who had
+stood faithfully at his post in the bow, with his harpoon ready,
+threw hastily at something he saw crawling on the bottom and found
+on the end of his line a squirming baby crocodile, scarcely four
+feet long. The harpoon had barely touched the side of the little
+reptile and the barb held by a thread-like bit of skin. When the boy
+saw how lightly the iron was held he dropped the line and grabbed
+the baby with both hands. His arms were scratched and his clothing
+torn by the needle-like teeth before he could tie the jaws of the
+creature, after which he took the baby crocodile in his arms and
+tucked it away in the bow of the skiff. Before he had time to tie
+the little reptile in its crib Ned shouted from the power boat:
+
+"There's one under that bank, a big fellow."
+
+The captain sculled the skiff slowly toward the crocodile, which was
+lying on the water, just under the bank. As they approached, the
+creature slowly sank beneath the surface of the water, which was
+shallow, and beneath it a bottom of mud in which the fleeing reptile
+had left his trail. The captain followed the trail by the
+furrow-like track of the tail, the spoor of the paws and the roiled
+water, until Dick got a shot with his harpoon. Then the crocodile
+towed the skiff into the deeper channels of the river, among logs
+and snags and under banks, sometimes rolling up on the line and
+biting at the skiff while Dick vainly tried to get a bight of the
+harpoon line around the creature's jaw. The reptile was too wary for
+him, until finally the captain threatened the crocodile with a pole,
+while Dick got a line around its jaws and took it in the skiff.
+There was so little room in the skiff that Dick sat on the back of
+his captive until they reached the _Irene_. If he had tried this
+with an alligator he would have gone overboard, _pronto_, but when a
+crocodile's jaws are tied he is gentler than most lambs.
+
+[Illustration: "SIXTEEN FEET OF FIERCENESS LAY STRANDED ON THE
+BANK"]
+
+As soon as Dick had his new pets safely on the _Irene_ he examined
+them carefully and then shouted to Ned:
+
+"This is my old crocodile, the very one we turned loose when we were
+here before. I'd know him in a thousand. Don't you remember the
+broken point to the tooth that stuck out through his upper jaw, on
+the right side, too? Why, Crocky, old boy, how are you? I'm mighty
+glad to see you again."
+
+"Don't you want to set them free to-morrow, Dick?" asked Mr.
+Barstow.
+
+"I don't, but I've got to."
+
+"Would you rather send them North to be educated?"
+
+"I surely would. I wish I could."
+
+"I think it can be managed. I know of a zoological collection where
+they will be very welcome. If you think they haven't been injured, I
+will ship both of them North from Miami."
+
+"They are all right. I know that. I made two bad throws and barely
+touched both of them. I don't believe you could find where either of
+them was hit, now."
+
+"Then North they go."
+
+The boys made a box for the little crocodile, gathered a lot of
+grass for his bed and stowed him away in the hold where he would be
+safe from the attentions of Tom. There was not enough lumber on
+board to make a box for the big crocodile and the brute was put
+overboard to pasture at the end of a hundred-foot line. As soon as
+the crocodile was overboard Dick drew it beside the boat and untied
+its jaws. At first it tried to get away, but soon gave it up and
+thereafter rose to the surface every few minutes and gazed gravely
+upon its new friends on the boat. When later the _Irene_ was ready
+to sail, Dick drew his pet up to the side of the boat and tied his
+jaws without remonstrance from the reptile. It took three of them to
+haul the creature aboard, where it was fastened to a ringbolt on
+deck for the first stage of its journey to the Zoo.
+
+[Illustration: "THEY HAULED THE HEAD OF THE BRUTE OVER THE SIDE OF
+THE BOAT"]
+
+"Captain Hull," said Ned, as the whole party were watching the stars
+from the cabin top and waiting for the moon to rise that night, "we
+have got back from the Madeira Hammock every thing we lost there, so
+we will start for Miami to-morrow."
+
+"Aye, aye, sir."
+
+"You know you said we might lose a day round here, and now we have
+got a day to spare."
+
+"You'll be lucky if you don't lose it. There's lots of chances
+between here and Miami, or between here and anywhere. There isn't
+six inches between the _Irene's_ bottom and the rocks this minute
+and we're going to stir the mud a dozen times to-morrow."
+
+"Supposing a storm comes while we are anchored so near the rocks?"
+
+"Anybody who supposes in this country won't ever do anything else."
+
+"Would we make anything by another night run?"
+
+"Make sure to pile up on a bank so high that you'd have time to
+homestead a farm before you got off."
+
+The _Irene_ stirred the mud a few times the next day, but passed
+through Blackwater, Barnes and Card sounds and all the cuts and
+channels to Biscayne Bay without trouble. There a high wind and a
+heavy sea held her back, so that it was dusk when the anchor was
+dropped just outside of the mouth of Miami River. During this, their
+last evening on the cabin roof of the _Irene_, Mr. Barstow said to
+Dick:
+
+"Do you feel perfectly well and strong again?"
+
+"Never felt so well before in my life and am getting my strength
+back fast."
+
+"Then vacation ends for you and Ned to-day. To-morrow morning you
+will take the train for the North, where you will have about two
+weeks to spend with your mother. I will wire her from Miami about
+our arrangement, which I am sure she will approve, and tell her when
+she may expect you. Very soon you will receive your instructions.
+You and Ned will be together, work the same, pay the same, and both
+of you have my perfect confidence that you will justify every hope I
+have of you."
+
+"Mr. Barstow, I haven't any words--"
+
+"Don't say anything, Dick, I understand it all, my boy. Just go
+ahead and make good, both for yourself and me."
+
+[Illustration: "HE TOOK THE BABY CROCODILE IN HIS ARMS"]
+
+In the morning Ned and the captain distinguished themselves by
+waking up a dealer, buying some lumber, hustling it aboard and
+having the two crocodiles boxed up for transportation North in time
+for the train of that day. How much of a feat that was requires a
+residence in South Florida to appreciate.
+
+The _Irene_ was run up the river to the railroad dock, where the
+crocodiles were put on the cars and the boys took their train for
+the North. When the good-byes were said, the captain carried Tom
+across the dock on his shoulder and Dick's last act before leaving
+was to formally present him to Molly.
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Dick in the Everglades, by A. W. Dimock
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DICK IN THE EVERGLADES ***
+
+***** This file should be named 13168.txt or 13168.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/1/6/13168/
+
+Produced by Sandra Brown, the Online Distributed Proofreading Team,
+and Internet Archive; University of Florida, Children
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/old/13168.zip b/old/13168.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b998bf9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13168.zip
author	Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org>	2025-10-15 04:41:31 -0700
committer	Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org>	2025-10-15 04:41:31 -0700
commit	32cdb59678ed477af94d3f5c42671f267b06aacf (patch)
tree	ca28b398540f82763825b41dcad90835d8559286