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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Wakulla, by Kirk Munroe
+
+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: Wakulla
+       A Story of Adventure in Florida
+
+Author: Kirk Munroe
+
+Posting Date: July 26, 2009 [EBook #4393]
+Release Date: August, 2003
+First Posted: January 22, 2002
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WAKULLA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by Al Haines.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+WAKULLA
+
+A STORY OF ADVENTURE IN FLORIDA
+
+BY KIRK MUNROE
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+     I. PREPARING TO LEAVE THE OLD HOME
+    II. THE SCHOONER "NANCY BELL"
+   III. "CAPTAIN LI'S" STORY
+    IV. A WRECK ON THE FLORIDA REEF
+     V. MARK AND RUTH ATTEND AN AUCTION
+    VI. A QUEER CHRISTMAS DAY
+   VII. ARRIVAL AT THE NEW HOME
+  VIII. THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL AND MORE MYSTERIES
+    IX. MARK DISCOVERS THE GHOST AND FINDS HIM IN A TRYING POSITION
+     X. A RUNAWAY'S STORY, AND ITS HAPPY ENDING
+    XI. "THE ELMER MILL AND FERRY COMPANY"
+   XII. THE GREAT MILL PICNIC
+  XIII. FIGHTING A FOREST FIRE
+   XIV. HOW THE BOYS CAUGHT AN ALLIGATOR
+    XV. A FIRE HUNT, AND MARK'S DISAPPEARANCE
+   XVI. BURIED IN AN UNDERGROUND RIVER
+  XVII. TWO LETTERS AND A JOURNEY
+ XVIII. THE BURNING OF THE "WILDFIRE"
+   XIX. UNCLE CHRISTOPHER'S "GREAT SCHEME"
+    XX. EDNA MAY MARCH
+
+
+
+
+
+WAKULLA
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+PREPARING TO LEAVE THE OLD HOME.
+
+
+Over and over again had Mark and Ruth Elmer read this paragraph, which
+appeared among the "Norton Items" of the weekly paper published in a
+neighboring town:
+
+"We are sorry to learn that our esteemed fellow-townsman, Mark Elmer,
+Esq., owing to delicate health, feels compelled to remove to a warmer
+climate. Having disposed of his property in this place, Mr. Elmer has
+purchased a plantation in Florida, upon which he will settle
+immediately. As his family accompany him to this new home in the Land
+of Flowers, the many school-friends and young playmates of his
+interesting children will miss them sadly."
+
+"I tell you what, Ruth," said Mark, after they had read this item for a
+dozen times or more, "we are somebodies after all, and don't you forget
+it. We own a plantation, we do, and have disposed of our PROPERTY in
+this place."
+
+As Mark looked from the horse-block on which he was sitting at the
+little weather-beaten house, nestling in the shadow of its glorious
+trees, which, with its tiny grass-plot in front, was all the property
+Mr. Elmer had ever owned, he flung up his hat in ecstasy at the idea of
+their being property owners, and tumbled over backward in trying to
+catch it as it fell.
+
+"What I like," said Ruth, who stood quietly beside him, "is the part
+about us being interesting children, and to think that the girls and
+boys at school will miss us."
+
+"Yes, and won't they open their eyes when we write them letters about
+the alligators, and the orange groves, and palm-trees, and bread-fruit,
+and monkeys, and Indians, and pirates? Whoop-e-e-e! what fun we are
+going to have!"
+
+"Bread-fruit, and monkeys, and pirates, and Indians in Florida! what
+are you thinking of, Mark Elmer?"
+
+"Well, I guess 'Osceola the Seminole' lived in Florida, and it's
+tropical, and pirates and monkeys are tropical too, ain't they?"
+
+Just then the tea-bell rang, and the children ran in to take the paper
+which they had been reading to their father, and to eat their last
+supper in the little old house that had always been their home.
+
+Mr. Elmer had, for fifteen years, been cashier of the Norton Bank; and
+though his salary was not large, he had, by practising the little
+economies of a New England village, supported his family comfortably
+until this time, and laid by a sum of money for a rainy day. And now
+the "rainy day" had come. For two years past the steady confinement to
+his desk had told sadly upon the faithful bank cashier, and the
+stooping form, hollow cheeks, and hacking cough could no longer be
+disregarded. For a long time good old Dr. Wing had said,
+
+"You must move South, Elmer; you can't stand it up here much longer."
+
+Both Mr. Elmer and his wife knew that this was true; but how could they
+move South? where was the money to come from? and how were they to live
+if they did? Long and anxious had been the consultations after the
+children were tucked into their beds, and many were the prayers for
+guidance they had offered up.
+
+At last a way was opened, "and just in time, too," said the doctor,
+with a grave shake of his head. Mrs. Elmer's uncle, Christopher Bangs,
+whom the children called "Uncle Christmas," heard of their trouble, and
+left his saw-mills and lumber camps to come and see "where the jam
+was," as he expressed it. When it was all explained to him, his
+good-natured face, which had been in a wrinkle of perplexity, lit up,
+and with a resounding slap of his great, hard hand on his knee, he
+exclaimed,
+
+"Sakes alive! why didn't you send for me, Niece Ellen? why didn't you
+tell me all this long ago, eh? I've got a place down in Florida, that I
+bought as a speculation just after the war. I hain't never seen it, and
+might have forgot it long ago but for the tax bills coming in reg'lar
+every year. It's down on the St. Mark's River, pretty nigh the Gulf
+coast, and ef you want to go there and farm it, I'll give you a ten
+years' lease for the taxes, with a chance to buy at your own rigger
+when the ten years is up."
+
+"But won't it cost a great deal to get there, uncle?" asked Mrs. Elmer,
+whose face had lighted up as this new hope entered her heart.
+
+"Sakes alive! no; cost nothin'! Why, it's actually what you might call
+providential the way things turns out. You can go down, slick as a log
+through a chute, in the Nancy Bell, of Bangor, which is fitting out in
+that port this blessed minit. She's bound to Pensacola in ballast, or
+with just a few notions of hardware sent out as a venture, for a load
+of pine lumber to fill out a contract I've taken in New York. She can
+run into the St. Mark's and drop you jest as well as not. But you'll
+have to pick up and raft your fixin's down to Bangor in a terrible
+hurry, for she's going to sail next week, Wednesday, and it's Tuesday
+now."
+
+So it was settled that they should go, and the following week was one
+of tremendous excitement to the children, who had never been from home
+in their lives, and were now to become such famous travellers.
+
+Mark Elmer, Jr., as he wrote his name, was as merry, harum-scarum,
+mischief-loving a boy as ever lived. He was fifteen years old, the
+leader of the Norton boys in all their games, and the originator of
+most of their schemes for mischief. But Mark's mischief was never of a
+kind to injure anybody, and he was as honest as the day is long, as
+well as loving and loyal to his parents and sister Ruth.
+
+Although a year younger than Mark, Ruth studied the same books that he
+did, and was a better scholar. In spite of this she looked up to him in
+everything, and regarded him with the greatest admiration. Although
+quiet and studious, she had crinkly brown hair, and a merry twinkle in
+her eyes that indicated a ready humor and a thorough appreciation of
+fun.
+
+It was Monday when Mark and Ruth walked home from the post-office
+together, reading the paper, for which they had gone every Monday
+evening since they could remember, and they were to leave home and
+begin their journey on the following morning.
+
+During the past week Mr. Elmer had resigned his position in the bank,
+sold the dear little house which had been a home to him and his wife
+ever since they were married, and in which their children had been
+born, and with a heavy heart made the preparations for departure.
+
+With the willing aid of kind neighbors Mrs. Elmer had packed what
+furniture they were to take with them, and it had been sent to Bangor.
+Mark and Ruth had not left school until Friday, and had been made young
+lions of all the week by the other children. To all of her girl friends
+Ruth had promised to write every single thing that happened, and Mark
+had promised so many alligator teeth, and other trophies of the chase,
+that, if he kept all his promises, there would be a decided advance in
+the value of Florida curiosities that winter.
+
+As the little house was stripped of all its furniture, except some few
+things that had been sold with it, they were all to go to Dr. Wing's to
+sleep that night, and Mrs. Wing had almost felt hurt that they would
+not take tea with her; but both Mr. and Mrs. Elmer wanted to take this
+last meal in their own home, and persuaded her to let them have their
+way. The good woman must have sent over most of the supper she had
+intended them to eat with her, and this, together with the good things
+sent in by other neighbors, so loaded the table that Mark declared it
+looked like a regular surprise-party supper.
+
+A surprise-party it proved to be, sure enough, for early in the evening
+neighbors and friends began to drop in to say good-bye, until the lower
+rooms of the little house were filled. As the chairs were all gone,
+they sat on trunks, boxes, and on the kitchen table, or stood up.
+
+Mark and Ruth had their own party, too, right in among the grown
+people; for most of the boys and girls of the village had come with
+their parents to say good-bye, and many of them had brought little
+gifts that they urged the young Elmers to take with them as keepsakes.
+Of all these none pleased Ruth so much as the album, filled with the
+pictures of her school-girl friends, that Edna May brought her.
+
+Edna was the adopted daughter of Captain Bill May, who had brought her
+home from one of his voyages when she was a little baby, and placed her
+in his wife's arms, saying that she was a bit of flotsam and jetsam
+that belonged to him by right of salvage. His ship had been in a
+Southern port when a woman, with this child in her arms, had fallen
+from a pier into the river. Springing into the water after them,
+Captain May had succeeded in saving the child, but the mother was
+drowned. As nothing could be learned of its history, and as nobody
+claimed it, Captain May brought the baby home, and she was baptized
+Edna May. She was now fourteen years old, and Ruth Elmer's most
+intimate friend, and the first picture in the album was a good
+photograph of herself, taken in Bangor. The others were only tin-types
+taken in the neighboring town of Skowhegan; but Ruth thought them all
+beautiful.
+
+The next morning was gray and chill, for it was late in November. The
+first snow of the season was falling in a hesitating sort of a way, as
+though it hardly knew whether to come or not, and it was still quite
+dark when Mrs. Wing woke Mark and Ruth, and told them to hurry, for the
+stage would be along directly. They were soon dressed and down-stairs,
+where they found breakfast smoking on the table. A moment later they
+were joined by their parents, neither of whom could eat, so full were
+they of the sorrow of departure. The children were also very quiet,
+even Mark's high spirits being dampened by thoughts of leaving old
+friends, and several tears found their way down Ruth's cheeks during
+the meal.
+
+After breakfast they said good-bye to the Wings, and went over to their
+own house to pack a few remaining things into hand-bags, and wait for
+the Skowhegan stage.
+
+At six o'clock sharp, with a "toot, toot, toot," of the driver's horn,
+it rattled up to the gate, followed by a wagon for the baggage. A few
+minutes later, with full hearts and tearful eyes, the Elmers had bidden
+farewell to the little old house and grand trees they might never see
+again, and were on their way down the village street, their long
+journey fairly begun.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE SCHOONER "NANCY BELL."
+
+
+It lacked a few minutes of nine o'clock when the stage in which the
+Elmers had left Norton drew up beside the platform of the railway
+station in Skowhegan. There was only time to purchase tickets and check
+the baggage, and then Mark and Ruth stepped, for the first time in
+their lives, on board a train of cars, and were soon enjoying the novel
+sensation of being whirled along at what seemed to them a tremendous
+rate of speed. To them the train-boy, who came through the car with
+books, papers, apples, and oranges, and wore a cap with a gilt band
+around it, seemed so much superior to ordinary boys, that, had they not
+been going on such a wonderful journey, they themselves would have
+envied him his life of constant travel and excitement.
+
+At Waterville they admired the great mills, which they fancied must be
+among the largest in the world; and when, shortly after noon, they
+reached Bangor, and saw real ships, looking very like the pictures in
+their geographies, only many times more interesting, their cup of
+happiness was full.
+
+Mark and Ruth called all the vessels they saw "ships;" but their
+father, who had made several sea-voyages as a young man, said that most
+of them were schooners, and that he would explain the difference to
+them when they got to sea and he had plenty of time.
+
+The children were bewildered by the noise of the railroad station and
+the cries of the drivers and hotel runners--all of whom made violent
+efforts to attract the attention of the Elmer party. At length they got
+themselves and their bags safely into one of the big yellow omnibuses,
+and were driven to a hotel, where they had dinner. Mark and Ruth did
+not enjoy this dinner much, on account of its many courses and the
+constant attentions of the waiters.
+
+It had stopped snowing, and after dinner the party set forth in search
+of the Nancy Bell. By making a few inquiries they soon found her, and
+were welcomed on board by her young, pleasant-faced captain, whose name
+was Eli Drew, but whom all his friends called "Captain Li."
+
+The Nancy Bell was a large three-masted schooner, almost new, and as
+she was the first vessel "Captain Li" had ever commanded, he was very
+proud of her. He took them at once into his own cabin, which was roomy
+and comfortable, and from which opened four state-rooms--two on each
+side. Of these the captain and his mate, John Somers, occupied those on
+the starboard, or right-hand side, and those on the other, or port
+side, had been fitted up, by the thoughtful kindness of Uncle
+Christopher, for the Elmers--one for Mrs. Elmer and Ruth, and the other
+for Mark and his father.
+
+"Ain't they perfectly lovely?" exclaimed Ruth. "Did you ever see such
+cunning little beds? They wouldn't be much too big for Edna May's
+largest doll."
+
+"You mustn't call them 'beds,' Ruth; the right name is berths," said
+Mark, with the air of a boy to whom sea terms were familiar.
+
+"I don't care," answered his sister; "they are beds for all that, and
+have got pillows and sheets and counterpanes, just like the beds at
+home."
+
+Mr. Elmer found that his furniture, and the various packages of tools
+intended for their Southern home, were all safe on board the schooner
+and stowed down in the hold, and he soon had the trunks from the
+station and the bags from the hotel brought down in a wagon.
+
+The captain said they had better spend the night on board, as he wanted
+to be off by daylight, and they might as well get to feeling at home
+before they started. They thought so too; and so, after a walk through
+the city, where, among other curious sights, they saw a post-office
+built on a bridge, they returned to the Nancy Bell for supper.
+
+Poor Mr. Elmer, exhausted by the unusual exertions of the day, lay
+awake and coughed most of the night, but the children slept like tops.
+When Mark did wake he forgot where he was, and in trying to sit up and
+look around, bumped his head against the low ceiling of his berth.
+
+Daylight was streaming in at the round glass dead-eye that served as a
+window, and to Mark's great surprise he felt that the schooner was
+moving. Slipping down from his berth, and quietly dressing himself, so
+as not to disturb his father, he hurried on deck, where he was greeted
+by "Captain Li," who told him he had come just in time to see something
+interesting.
+
+The Nancy Bell was in tow of a little puffing steam-tug, and was
+already some miles from Bangor down the Penobscot River. The clouds of
+steam rising into the cold air from the surface of the warmer water
+were tinged with gold by the newly-risen sun. A heavy frost rested on
+the spruces and balsams that fringed the banks of the river, and as the
+sunlight struck one twig after another, it covered them with millions
+of points like diamonds. Many cakes of ice were floating in the river,
+showing that its navigation would soon be closed for the winter.
+
+To one of these cakes of ice, towards which a boat from the schooner
+was making its way, the captain directed Mark's attention. On this
+cake, which was about as large as a dinner-table, stood a man anxiously
+watching the approach of the boat.
+
+"What I can't understand," said the captain, "is where he ever found a
+cake of ice at this time of year strong enough to bear him up."
+
+"Who is he? How did he get there, and what is he doing?" asked Mark,
+greatly excited.
+
+"Who he is, and how he got there, are more than I know," answered
+"Captain Li." "What he is doing, is waiting to be taken off. The men on
+the tug sighted him just before you came on deck, and sung out to me to
+send a boat for him. It's a mercy we didn't come along an hour sooner,
+or we never would have seen him through the mist."
+
+"You mean we would have missed him," said Mark, who, even upon so
+serious an occasion, could not resist the temptation to make a pun.
+
+By this time the boat had rescued the man from his unpleasant position,
+and was returning with him on board. Before it reached the schooner
+Mark rushed down into the cabin and called to his parents and Ruth to
+hurry on deck. As they were already up and nearly dressed, they did so,
+and reached it in time to see the stranger helped from the boat and up
+the side of the vessel.
+
+He was so exhausted that he was taken into the cabin, rolled in warm
+blankets, and given restoratives and hot drinks before he was
+questioned in regard to his adventure.
+
+Meantime the schooner was again slipping rapidly down the broad river,
+and Mark, who remained on deck with his father, questioned him about
+the "river's breath," as he called the clouds of steam that arose from
+it.
+
+"That's exactly what it is, the 'river's breath,'" said Mr. Elmer.
+"Warm air is lighter than cold, and consequently always rises; and the
+warm, damp air rising from the surface of the river into the cold air
+above is condensed into vapor, just as your warm, damp breath is at
+this very moment."
+
+"But I should think the water would be cold with all that ice floating
+in it," said Mark.
+
+"It would seem cold if we were surrounded by the air of a hot summer
+day," answered his father; "but being of a much higher temperature than
+the air above it, it would seem quite warm to you now if you should put
+your bare hand into it. We can only say that a thing is warm by
+comparing it with something that is colder, or cold by comparison with
+that which is warmer."
+
+When Mark and his father went down to breakfast they found the rescued
+man still wrapped in blankets, but talking in a faint voice to the
+captain; and at the table the latter told the Elmers what he had
+learned from him.
+
+His name was Jan Jansen, and he was a Swede, but had served for several
+years in the United States navy. On being discharged from it he had
+made his way to New Sweden, in the northern part of Maine; but, a week
+before, he had come to Bangor, hoping to obtain employment for the
+winter in one of the saw-mills. In this he has been unsuccessful; and
+the previous night, while returning from the city to the house on its
+outskirts in which he was staying, he undertook to cross a small creek,
+in the mouth of which were a number of logs; these were so cemented
+together by recently formed ice that he fancied they would form a safe
+bridge, and tried to cross on it. When near the middle of the creek, to
+his horror the ice gave way with a crash, and in another moment he was
+floating away in the darkness on the cake from which he had been so
+recently rescued. That it had supported him was owing to the fact that
+it still held together two of the logs. He had not dared attempt to
+swim ashore in the dark, and so had drifted on during the night,
+keeping his feet from freezing by holding them most of the time in the
+water.
+
+After breakfast Mr. Elmer and the captain held a consultation, the
+result of which was that the former offered Jan Jansen work in Florida,
+if he chose to go to the St. Mark's with them; and Captain Drew offered
+to let him work his passage to that place as one of the crew of the
+Nancy Bell. Without much hesitation the poor Swede accepted both these
+offers, and as soon as he had recovered from the effects of his
+experience on the ice raft was provided with a bunk in the forecastle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+"CAPTAIN LI'S" STORY.
+
+
+All day the Nancy Bell was towed down the broad river, the glorious
+scenery along its banks arousing the constant enthusiasm of our
+travellers. Late in the afternoon they passed the gray walls of Fort
+Knox on the right, and the pretty little town of Bucksport on the left.
+They could just see the great hotel at Fort Point through the gathering
+dusk, and soon afterwards were tossing on the wild, windswept waters of
+Penobscot Bay.
+
+As they cleared the land, so as to sight Castine Light over the port
+quarter, the tug cast loose from them and sail was made on the
+schooner. The last thing Mark Elmer saw as he left the deck, driven
+below by the bitter cold, was the gleam of the light on Owl's Head,
+outside which Captain Drew said they should find the sea pretty rough.
+
+The rest of the family had gone below some time before, and Mark found
+that his mother was already very sea-sick. He felt rather uncomfortable
+himself, and did not care much for the supper, of which his father and
+Ruth eat so heartily. He said he thought he would go to bed, before
+supper was half over, and did so, although it was only six o'clock.
+Poor Mark! it was a week before he again sat at table or went on deck.
+
+During this week the Nancy Bell sailed along the coasts of Maine, New
+Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland,
+Virginia, and North Carolina. She went inside of Martha's Vineyard,
+through Vineyard Sound, in company with a great fleet of coasters; but
+when they passed Gay Head, and turned to the westward into Long Island
+Sound, the Nancy was headed towards the lonely light-house on Montauk
+Point, the extreme end of Long Island. From here her course was for the
+Cape May lightship on the New Jersey coast, and for some time she was
+out of sight of land.
+
+So they sailed, day after day, ever southward, and towards the warmth
+which was to make Mr. Elmer well again.
+
+Although Mark was very ill all this time, Ruth was as bright and well
+as though she were on land. This was very mortifying to her brother;
+but "Captain Li," who went in to see him every day, comforted him by
+telling him of old sailors he had known who were always sea-sick for
+the first few days of every voyage they undertook.
+
+The schooner was off Cape Hatteras before Mark felt able to leave his
+berth. At last, one evening when the sea was very quiet, "Captain Li"
+said, "Come, Mark, I want you to turn out and go on deck to see the
+last of Hatteras Light. You know Cape Hatteras is one of the worst
+capes along our entire Atlantic coast, and is probably the one most
+dreaded by sailors. When coming home from the West Indies, they sing an
+old song which begins:
+
+    "'Now if the Bermudas let you pass,
+    Then look for Cape Hatteras.'"
+
+Slowly dressing, with the captain's aid, Mark, feeling very weak, but
+free from the horrible sickness from which he had suffered so long,
+managed to get out on deck. He was astonished at the change that one
+week's sailing southward had made in the general appearance of things.
+When he was last on deck, it and the rigging were covered with snow and
+ice. Now not a particle of either was to be seen, and the air was mild
+and pleasant. A new moon hung low in the western sky, and over the
+smooth sea the schooner was rippling along merrily, under every stitch
+of canvas that she could spread.
+
+Mark received a warm welcome from his father, mother, and Ruth, who
+were all on deck, but had not expected to see him there that evening.
+
+"Quick, Mark! Look! Hatteras is 'most gone," said Ruth, pointing, as
+she spoke, to a little twinkle of light so far astern that it seemed to
+rest on the very waters. Half an hour later the captain said, "Now
+let's go below, where it is warmer; and if you care to hear it, I will
+spin you a yarn of Hatteras Light."
+
+"Yes, indeed," said Ruth and Mark together.
+
+"By all means; a story is just the thing," said Mr. and Mrs. Elmer,
+also together, at which they all laughed, hooked little fingers, and
+wished.
+
+When they had made themselves comfortable in the cabin, Mark being
+allowed to occupy the lounge on account of his recent illness, the
+captain began as follows:
+
+"Ten years ago this winter I made my first voyage of any length, though
+before that I had made some short runs on a little coaster between New
+York and down-East ports. Getting tired of this, and wanting to see
+something more of the world, I shipped in New York, early in December,
+on board the very prettiest craft I ever set eyes on, for a voyage to
+the West Indies. She was the hundred-ton schooner-yacht Mirage, and her
+owner had determined to try and make her pay him something during the
+winter by running her as a fruiter. She carried a crew of five men,
+besides the captain, mate, and steward--all young and able seamen. I
+was the youngest and least experienced, but was large for my age, and
+passed muster with the rest.
+
+"We had a pleasant run down to Havana, passing Moro Castle and dropping
+anchor on the seventh day out from New York, but found some trouble
+there in getting a cargo for the home voyage. The delay worried our
+skipper considerably, for he had calculated on being home with his wife
+and baby at Christmas; but we of the crew enjoyed the city, and I for
+one got leave to go ashore whenever I could, and made the most of my
+opportunity to see the sights.
+
+"We had laid there about ten days, when one morning, as the old man
+came up the after companion-way from the cabin, a big gray rat rushed
+out on deck ahead of him, scampered to the side, and plumped overboard.
+We all saw it in the water, swimming for the quay, which was but a
+short distance from us, and, quick as a thought, the skipper had jumped
+back into the cabin for his pistol, and before the beast had got more
+than half-way he had fired several shots at it. The bullets struck all
+around the rat, but didn't hit it, and we saw him disappear through a
+crevice between the stones of the quay.
+
+"Our captain was a very superstitious man, and this incident troubled
+him, for I heard him say to the mate that he never knew any ship to
+have good luck when once the rats began to leave her.
+
+"Soon after this we took in our cargo of pineapples and bananas and
+started for home. Our first three days' run was as pretty as ever was
+made, and with the Gulf Stream to help us, it seemed as though we might
+make New York in time for Christmas, after all. Then there came a
+change--first a gale that drove us to the westward, and then light
+head-winds, or no winds at all; and so we knocked round for three days
+more, and on the day before Christmas we hadn't rounded Hatteras, let
+alone made Sandy Hook, as we had hoped to do.
+
+"It was a curious sort of a day, mild and hazy, with the sun showing
+round and yellow as an orange. The skipper was uneasy, and kept
+squinting at the weather, first on one side and then the other. We
+heard him say to the mate that something was coming, for the mercury
+was falling faster than he had ever seen it. Things stood so until
+sunset, when the haze settled down thicker than ever. I was at the
+wheel, when the skipper came on deck and ordered all canvas to be
+stripped from her except the double-reefed main-sail and a corner of
+the jib. He sung out to me to keep a sharp lookout for Hatteras Light,
+and then went below again.
+
+"When I caught sight of the light, about an hour later, and reported
+it, it wasn't any brighter than it looked when you came on deck, a
+while ago, Mark, and we were heading directly for it. When the skipper
+came up and looked at it he told me to 'keep her so' while he took a
+squint at the chart.
+
+"He hadn't more than gone below again when there came such a gust of
+wind and rain, with thunder and lightning close after, as to hide the
+light and keep me busy for a few minutes holding the schooner up to it.
+
+"The squall passed as suddenly as it came, and there was the light,
+right over the end of the flying-jib-boom, burning as steady as ever,
+but looking mighty blue, somehow. I thought it was the effect of the
+mist, and tried to keep her headed for it. As I was getting terribly
+puzzled and fussed up by what I thought was the strange action of the
+compass, and by the way the little spiteful gusts of wind seemed to
+come from every quarter at once, the skipper came on deck. Before he
+had cleared the companion-way he asked,
+
+"'How does Hatteras Light bear?'
+
+"'Dead ahead, sir,' said I.
+
+"As he stepped on deck he turned to look at it, and I saw him start as
+though he saw something awful. He looked for half a minute, and then in
+a half-choked sort of voice he gasped out, 'The Death-Light!'
+
+"At the same moment the light, that I had took to be Hatteras, rolled
+slowly, like a ball of fire, along the jib-top-sail stay to the
+top-mast head, and then I knew it was a St. Elmo's fire, a thing I'd
+heard of but never seen before.
+
+"As we all looked at it, afraid almost to say a word, there came a
+sound like a moan over the sea, and in another minute a cyclone, such
+as I hope never to see again, laid us, first on our beam ends, and then
+drove us at a fearful rate directly towards the coast.
+
+"We drove this way for an hour or more, unable to do a thing to help
+ourselves, and then she struck on Hatteras sands. Her masts went as she
+struck, and as they fell a huge sea, rushing over the poor craft, swept
+overboard the captain and two men. It was some time before we knew they
+were gone, for we could see nothing nor hear anything but the howl of
+the tempest.
+
+"At last we got rid of the floating wreck of spars by clearing the
+tangled rigging with our knives, and, thus relieved, the schooner was
+driven a good bit farther over the sands. Finally she struck solid, and
+began to break up. One of her boats was stove and worthless, and in
+trying to clear away the other, a metallic life-boat, another man was
+swept overboard and lost.
+
+"The mate and two of the crew besides myself finally got away from the
+wreck in this boat, and were driven in to the beach, on which we were
+at last flung more dead than alive.
+
+"The next morning we made our way to the light-house, where we were
+kindly cared for, but where our Christmas dinner was a pretty sad
+affair.
+
+"The captain's body was washed up on the beach, and a week from that
+day we took it and the news of his death together to his wife in New
+York.
+
+"Since then I have always felt easier when I have left Hatteras Light
+well astern, as we have for this time, at any rate. Well, there's eight
+bells, and I must be on deck, so good-night to you all, and pleasant
+dreams."
+
+"Is there any such thing as a 'death-light' that warns people of coming
+disaster?" asked Ruth of her father, when the captain had left them.
+
+"No, my dear," he answered, "there is not. The St. Elmo's light, or St.
+Elmo's fire, is frequently seen in tropical seas, though rarely as far
+north as Cape Hatteras; and as it is generally accompanied by cyclones
+or hurricanes, sailors have come to regard it as an omen of evil. It is
+not always followed by evil consequences, however, and to believe that
+it foretells death is as idle and foolish as superstitions of all kinds
+always are."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+A WRECK ON THE FLORIDA REEF.
+
+
+After leaving Hatteras not another evidence of land was seen by the
+passengers of the Nancy Bell for three days. At last one afternoon
+"Captain Li" pointed out and called their attention to a slender shaft
+rising apparently from the sea itself, far to the westward. He told
+them that it was the light-house at Jupiter Inlet, well down on the
+coast of Florida, and they regarded it with great interest, as giving
+them their first glimpse of the land that was so soon to be their home.
+
+The weather had by this time become very warm and instead of wearing
+the thick clothing with which they had started, the Elmers found the
+very thinnest of their last summer's things all that they could bear.
+
+Mark had almost forgotten his sea-sickness, and spent much of his time
+with Jan Jansen, who taught him to make knots and splices, to box the
+compass and to steer. Both Mark and Ruth were tanned brown by the hot
+sun, and Mr. Elmer said the warmth of the air had already made a new
+man of him.
+
+Before the light but steady trade-wind, that kept the air deliciously
+cool, the Nancy Bell ran rapidly down the coast and along the great
+Florida Reef, which, for two hundred miles, bounds that coast on the
+south.
+
+Captain Drew stood far out from the reef, being well aware of the
+strong currents that set towards it from all directions, and which have
+enticed many a good ship to her destruction. Others, however, were not
+so wise as he, and at daylight one morning the watch on deck sang out,
+
+"Wreck off the starboard bow!"
+
+This brought all hands quickly on deck, and, sure enough, about five
+miles from them they saw the wreck looming high out of the water, and
+evidently stranded. As her masts, with their crossed yards, were still
+standing, "Captain Li" said she must have struck very easily, and stood
+a good chance of being saved if she could only be lightened before a
+blow came that would roll a sea in on her.
+
+"Are you going to her assistance?" asked Mr. Elmer.
+
+"Certainly I am," answered the captain. "I consider that one of the
+first duties of a sailor is to give aid to his fellows in distress.
+Besides, if we succeed in saving her and her cargo, we stand a chance
+of making several thousand dollars salvage money, which I for one do
+not care to throw away."
+
+"You are quite right," said Mr. Elmer. "It is seldom that we are
+offered an opportunity of doing good and being well paid for it at the
+same time, and it would be foolish, as well as heartless, not to render
+what assistance lies in our power."
+
+The schooner was already headed towards the wreck, but approached it
+very slowly, owing to the light breeze that barely filled her sails. As
+the sun rose, and cast a broad flood of light over the tranquil scene,
+the captain anxiously scanned the line of the reef in both directions
+through his glass.
+
+"Ah, I thought so!" he exclaimed; "there they come, and there, and
+there. I can count six already. Now we shall have a race for it."
+
+"Who? what?" asked Mark, not understanding the captain's exclamations.
+
+"Wreckers!" answered the captain. "Take the glass, and you can see
+their sails coming from every direction; and they have seen us long ago
+too. I actually believe those fellows can smell a wreck a hundred miles
+off. Halloo there, forward! Stand by to lower the gig."
+
+"What are you going to do?" asked Mr. Elmer.
+
+"I am going to try and reach that wreck before any of the boats whose
+sails you can see slipping out from behind those low keys. The first
+man aboard that ship is 'wreck-master,' and gets the largest share of
+salvage money."
+
+So saying, "Captain Li" swung himself over the side and into the light
+gig, which, with its crew of four lusty young Maine sailors, had
+already been got overboard and now awaited him. As he seized the tiller
+ropes he shouted, "Now, then, give way! and a hundred dollars extra
+salvage to you four if this gig is the first boat to lay alongside of
+that wreck."
+
+At these words the long ash oars bent like willow wands in the grasp of
+the young Northern giants, and the gig sprang away like a startled
+bonito, leaving a long line of bubbles to mark her course.
+
+The wreck was still three miles off; and, with the glass, small boats
+could be seen shooting away from several of the approaching wrecking
+vessels.
+
+"It's a race between Conchs and Yankees," said Jan Jansen to Mark.
+
+"What are Conchs?" asked the boy.
+
+"Why, those fellows in the other boats. Most of them come from the
+Bahama Islands, and all Bahamians are called 'Conchs,' because they eat
+so many of the shell-fish of that name."
+
+"Well, I'll bet on the Yankees!" cried Mark.
+
+"So will I," said the Swede. "Yankee baked beans and brown bread make
+better muscle than fish, which is about all the fellows down this way
+get to live on."
+
+As seen from the deck of the schooner, the race had by this time become
+very exciting; for, as their boat approached the wreck on one side,
+another, manned by red-shirted wreckers, who were exhibiting a
+wonderful amount of pluck and endurance for "Conchs," as Jan called
+them, was rapidly coming up on the other. It was hard to tell which was
+the nearer; and while Mark shouted in his excitement, Mrs. Elmer and
+Ruth waved their handkerchiefs, though their friends were too far away
+to be encouraged by either the shouts or wavings.
+
+At last "Captain Li's" boat dashed up alongside the wreck, and almost
+at the same instant the wrecker's boat disappeared from view on the
+opposite side.
+
+With their glasses, those on the schooner saw their captain go up the
+side of the ship, hand over hand, along a rope that had been thrown
+him, and disappear over the bulwarks. They afterwards learned that he
+reached the deck of the ship, and thus made himself master of the
+wreck, just as the head of his rival appeared above the opposite side.
+
+The wreck proved to be the ship Goodspeed, Captain Gillis, of and for
+Liverpool, with cotton from New Orleans. During the calm of the
+preceding night she had been caught by one of the powerful coast
+currents, and stealthily but surely drawn into the toils. Shortly
+before daylight she had struck on Pickle Reef, but so lightly and so
+unexpectedly that her crew could hardly believe the slight jar they
+felt was anything more than the shock of striking some large fish. They
+soon found, however, that they were hard and fast aground, and had
+struck on the very top of the flood tide, so that, as it ebbed, the
+ship became more and more firmly fixed in her position. As the ship
+settled with the ebbing tide she began to leak badly, and Captain
+Gillis was greatly relieved when daylight disclosed to him the presence
+of the Nancy Bell, and he greeted her captain most cordially as the
+latter gained the deck of his ship.
+
+By the time the schooner had approached the wreck, as nearly as her own
+safety permitted, and dropped anchor for the first time since leaving
+Bangor, a dozen little wrecking craft, manned by crews of swarthy
+spongers and fishermen, had also reached the spot, and active
+preparations for lightening the stranded ship were being made. Her
+carefully battened hatches were uncovered, whips were rove to her lower
+yards, and soon the tightly pressed bales of cotton began to appear
+over her sides, and find their way into the light draught wrecking
+vessels waiting to receive them. As soon as one of these was loaded,
+she transferred her cargo to the Nancy Bell and returned for another.
+
+While the wreckers were busily discharging the ship's cargo, her own
+crew were overhauling long lines of chain cable, and lowering two large
+anchors and two smaller ones into one of the wrecking boats that had
+remained empty on purpose to receive them. The cables were paid out
+over the stern of the ship, and made fast to the great anchors, which
+were carried far out into the deep water beyond the reef. Each big
+anchor was backed by a smaller one, to which it was attached by a
+cable, and which was carried some distance beyond it before being
+dropped overboard.
+
+When the anchors were thus placed in position, the ends of the cables
+still remaining on board the ship were passed around capstans, and by
+means of the donkey-engine drawn taut.
+
+At high tide that night a heavy strain was brought to bear on the
+cables, in hopes that the ship might be pulled off the reef; but she
+did not move, and the work of lightening her and searching for the leak
+continued all the next day.
+
+While all this work was going on the Elmers spent most of their time in
+exploring the reef in the captain's gig, which was so light that Mr.
+Elmer and Mark could easily row it.
+
+As the clear water was without a ripple, they could look far down into
+its depths, and see the bottom of branching coral, as beautiful as
+frosted silver. From among its branches sprang great sea-fans, delicate
+as lace-work, and showing, in striking contrast to the pure white of
+the coral, the most vivid reds, greens, and royal purple. These, and
+masses of feathery seaweeds, waved to and fro in the water as though
+stirred by a light breeze, and among them darted and played fish as
+brilliant in coloring as tropical birds. The boat seemed suspended in
+midair above fairy-land, and even the children gazed down over its
+sides in silence, for fear lest by speaking they should break the
+charm, and cause the wonderful picture to vanish.
+
+By noon the heat of the sun was so great that they sought shelter from
+it on a little island, or key, of about an acre in extent, that was
+covered with a luxuriant vegetation, and shaded by a group of stately
+cocoa-nut palms. Mr. Elmer showed Mark how to climb one of these by
+means of a bit of rope fastened loosely around his body and the smooth
+trunk of the tree, and the boy succeeded in cutting off several bunches
+of the great nuts that hung just below the wide-spreading crown of
+leaves. They came to the ground with a crash, but the thick husk in
+which each was enveloped saved them from breaking. The nuts were quite
+green, and Mr. Elmer with a hatchet cut several of them open and handed
+them to his wife and children. None of them contained any meat, for
+that had not yet formed, but they were filled with a white, milky
+fluid, which, as all of the party were very thirsty, proved a most
+acceptable beverage.
+
+After eating the luncheon they had brought with them, and satisfying
+their thirst with the cocoa-nut milk, Mark and Ruth explored the beach
+of the little island in search of shells, which they found in countless
+numbers, of strange forms and most beautiful colors, while their
+parents remained seated in the shade of the palms.
+
+"Wouldn't it be gay if we could stay here always?" said Mark.
+
+"No," answered the more practical Ruth; "I don't think it would be at
+all. I would rather be where there are people and houses; besides, I
+heard father say that these little islands are often entirely covered
+with water during great storms, and I'm sure I wouldn't want to be here
+then."
+
+It was nearly sunset when they returned to the schooner, with their
+boat well loaded with the shells and other curiosities that the
+children had gathered.
+
+At high tide that night the strain on the cables proved sufficient to
+move the stranded ship, and, foot by foot, she was pulled off into deep
+water, much to the joy of Captain Gillis and those who had worked with
+him.
+
+The next morning the entire fleet--ship, schooner, and wrecking
+boats--set sail for Key West, which port they reached during the
+afternoon, and where they found they would be obliged to spend a week
+or more while an Admiralty Court settled the claims for salvage.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+MARK AND RUTH ATTEND AN AUCTION.
+
+
+Although Mr. and Mrs. Elmer regretted the delay in Key West, being
+anxious to get settled in their new home as soon as possible, the
+children did not mind it a bit; indeed, they were rather glad of it. In
+the novelty of everything they saw in this queerest of American cities,
+they found plenty to occupy and amuse them.
+
+The captain and their father were busy in the court-room nearly every
+day, and Mrs. Elmer did not care to go ashore except for a walk in the
+afternoon with her husband. So the children went off on long exploring
+expeditions by themselves, and the following letter, written during
+this time by Ruth to her dearest friend, Edna May, will give an idea of
+some of the things they saw:
+
+
+"KEY WEST, FLA., December 15, 188-.
+
+"MY DEAREST EDNA,--It seems almost a year since I left you in dear old
+Norton, so much has happened since then. This is the very first chance
+I have had since I left to send you a letter, so I will make it a real
+long one, and try to tell you everything.
+
+"I was not sea-sick a bit, but Mark was.
+
+"In the Penobscot River we rescued a man from a floating cake of ice,
+and brought him with us. His name is Jan Jansen, but Mark calls him
+Jack Jackson. A few days before we got here we found a wreck, and
+helped get it off, and brought it here to Key West. Now we are waiting
+for a court to say how much it was worth to do it. I shouldn't wonder
+if they allowed as much as a thousand dollars, for the wreck was a big
+ship, and it was real hard work.
+
+"This is an awfully funny place, and I just wish you were here to walk
+round with Mark and me and see it. It is on an island, and that is the
+reason it is named 'Key,' because all the islands down here are called
+keys. The Spaniards call it 'Cayo Hueso,' which means bone key, or bone
+island; but I'm sure I don't know why, for I haven't seen any bones
+here. The island is all made of coral, and the streets are just hard
+white coral worn down. The island is almost flat, and 'Captain
+Li'--he's our captain--says that the highest part is only sixteen feet
+above the ocean.
+
+"Oh, Edna! you ought to see the palm-trees. They grow everywhere, great
+cocoa-nut and date palms, and we drink the milk out of the cocoa-nuts
+when we go on picnics and get thirsty. And the roses are perfectly
+lovely, and they have great oleanders and cactuses, and hundreds of
+flowers that I don't know the names of, and they are all in full bloom
+now, though it is nearly Christmas. I don't suppose I shall hang up my
+stocking this Christmas; they don't seem to do it down here.
+
+"The other day we went out to the soldiers' barracks, and saw a
+banyan-tree that 'Captain Li' says is the only one in the United
+States, but we didn't see any monkeys or elephants. Mark says he don't
+think this is very tropical, because we haven't seen any
+bread-fruit-trees nor a single pirate; but they used to have them
+here--I mean pirates. Anyhow, we have custard apples, and they sound
+tropical, don't they? And we have sapadilloes that look like potatoes,
+and taste like--well, I think they taste horrid, but most people seem
+to like them.
+
+"It is real hot here, and I am wearing my last summer's best straw hat
+and my thinnest linen dresses--you know, those I had last vacation. The
+thermometer got up to 85 degrees yesterday.
+
+"Do write, and tell me all about yourself and the girls. Has Susie Rand
+got well enough to go to school yet? and who's head in the algebra
+class? Mark wants to know how's the skating, and if the boys have built
+a snow fort yet? Most all the people here are black, and everybody
+talks Spanish: it is SO funny to hear them.
+
+"Now I must say good-bye, because Mark is calling me to go to the fruit
+auction. I will tell you about it some other time.
+
+"With love to everybody, I am your own lovingest friend,
+
+"RUTH ELMER.
+
+"P.S.--Don't forget that you are coming down here to see me next
+winter."
+
+
+Before Ruth finished this letter Mark began calling to her to hurry up,
+for the bell had stopped ringing, and the auction would be all over
+before they got there. She hurriedly directed it, and put it in her
+pocket to mail on the way to the auction, just as her brother called
+out that he "did think girls were the very slowest."
+
+They had got nearly to the end of the wharf at which the schooner lay,
+when Ruth asked Mark if he had any money.
+
+"No," said he, "not a cent. I forgot all about it. Just wait here a
+minute while I run back and get some from mother."
+
+"Well," said Ruth, "if boys ain't the very carelessest!" But Mark was
+out of hearing before she finished.
+
+While she waited for him, Ruth looked in at the open door of a very
+little house, where several colored women were making beautiful flowers
+out of tiny shells and glistening fish-scales. She became so much
+interested in their work that she was almost sorry when Mark came
+running back, quite out of breath, and gasped, "I've got it! Now let's
+hurry up!"
+
+Turning to the left from the head of the wharf, they walked quickly
+through the narrow streets until they came to a square, on one corner
+of which quite a crowd of people were collected. They were all
+listening attentively to a little man with a big voice, who stood on a
+box in front of them and who was saying as fast as he could,
+
+"Forty, forty, forty. Shall I have the five? Yes, sir; thank you.
+Forty-five, five, five--who says fifty? Fifty, fifty,
+forty-five--going, going, gone! and sold at forty-five to Mr.--Beg
+pardon; the name, sir? Of course, certainly! And now comes the finest
+lot of oranges ever offered for sale in Key West. What am I bid per
+hundred for them? Who makes me an offer? I am a perfect Job for
+patience, gentlemen, and willing to wait all day, if necessary, to hear
+what you have to say."
+
+Of course he was an auctioneer, and this was the regular fruit auction
+that is held on this same corner every morning of the year. Many other
+things besides fruit are sold at these auctions; in fact, almost
+everything in Key West is bought or sold at auction; certainly all
+fruit is. For an hour before the time set for the auction a man goes
+through the streets ringing a bell and announcing what is to be sold.
+This morning he had announced a fine lot of oranges, among other
+things, and as Mrs. Elmer was anxious to get some, she had sent Mark
+and Ruth to attend the auction, with a commission to buy a hundred if
+the bids did not run too high.
+
+The children had already attended several auctions as spectators, and
+Mark knew enough not to bid on the first lot offered. He waited until
+somebody who knew more about the value of oranges than he should fix
+the price. He and Ruth pushed their way as close as possible to the
+auctioneer, and watched him attentively.
+
+"Come, gentlemen," said the little man, "give me a starter. What am I
+to have for the first lot of these prime oranges?"
+
+"Two dollars!" called a voice from the crowd.
+
+"Two," cried the auctioneer. "Two, two, two and a half. Who says three?
+Shall I hear it? And three. Who bids three? That's right. Do I hear the
+quarter? They are well worth it, gentlemen. Will no one give me the
+quarter? Well, time is money, and tempus fugit. Going at three--at
+three; going, going, and sold at three dollars."
+
+Several more lots sold so rapidly at three dollars that Mark had no
+opportunity of making himself heard or of catching the auctioneer's
+eye, until, finally, in a sort of despair he called out "Quarter," just
+as another lot was about to be knocked down to a dealer at three
+dollars.
+
+"Ah!" said the auctioneer, "that is something like. It takes a
+gentleman from the North to appreciate oranges at their true value. A
+quarter is bid. Shall I have a half? Do I hear it? Half, half, half;
+and sold at three dollars and a quarter to Mr.---what name, please?
+Elder. Oh yes; good old name, and one you can live up to more and more
+every day of your life. John, pick out a hundred of the best for Mr.
+Elder."
+
+The oranges selected by John were such beauties that neither Mark nor
+his mother regretted the extra quarter paid for them. After that,
+during the rest of their stay in Key West, whenever Mark went near a
+fruit auction he was addressed politely by the auctioneer as "Mr.
+Elder," and invited to examine the goods offered for sale that day.
+
+One day Mark and Ruth rowed out among the vessels of the sponging fleet
+that had just come in from up the coast. Here they scraped acquaintance
+with a weather-beaten old sponger, who sat in the stern of one of the
+smallest of the boats, smoking a short pipe and overhauling some
+rigging; and from him they gained much new information concerning
+sponges.
+
+"We gets them all along the reef as far as Key Biscayne," said the old
+sponger; "but the best comes from Rock Island, up the coast nigh to St.
+Mark's."
+
+"Why, that's where we're going!" interrupted Ruth.
+
+"Be you, sissy? Wal, you'll see a plenty raked up there, I reckon. Did
+you ever hear tell of a water-glass?"
+
+"No," said Ruth, "I never did."
+
+"Wal," said the old man, "here's one; maybe you'd like to look through
+it." And he showed them what looked like a wooden bucket with a glass
+bottom. "Jest take an' hold it a leetle ways down into the water and
+see what you can see."
+
+Taking the bucket which was held out to her, Ruth did as the old man
+directed, and uttered an exclamation of delight. "Why, I can see the
+bottom just as plain as looking through a window."
+
+"To be sure," said the old sponger; "an' that's the way we sees the
+sponges lying on the bottom. An' when we sees 'em we takes those
+long-handled rakes there an' hauls 'em up to the top. When they fust
+comes up they's plumb black, and about the nastiest things you ever did
+see, I reckon. We throws 'em into crawls built in shallow water, an'
+lets 'em rot till all the animal matter is dead, an' we stirs 'em up an
+beats 'em with sticks to get it out. Then they has to be washed an'
+dried an' trimmed, an' handled consider'ble, afore they's ready for
+market. Then they's sold at auction."
+
+The sponge crawls of which the old man spoke are square pens make of
+stakes driven into the sand side by side, and as close as possible
+together. In some of them at Key West Mark and Ruth saw little negro
+boys diving to bring up stray sponges that the rakes had missed. They
+did not seem to enjoy this half as much as Mark and his boy friends
+used to enjoy diving in the river at Norton, and they shivered as
+though they were cold, in spite of the heat of the day.
+
+When the children told Mr. Elmer about these little, unhappy-looking
+divers that night, he said,
+
+"That shows how what some persons regard as play, may become hard and
+unpleasant work to those who are compelled to do it."
+
+Several days after this Mr. Elmer engaged a carriage, and took his wife
+and the children on a long drive over the island. During this drive the
+most interesting things they saw were old Fort Taylor, which stands
+just outside the city, and commands the harbor, the abandoned
+salt-works, about five miles from the city, and the Martello towers,
+built along the southern coast of the island. These are small but very
+strong forts, built by the government, but as yet never occupied by
+soldiers.
+
+In one of them the Elmers were shown a large, jagged hole, broken
+through the brick floor of one of the upper stories. This, the sergeant
+in charge told them, had been made by a party of sailors who deserted
+from a man-of-war lying in the harbor, and hid themselves in this
+Martello tower. They made it so that through it they could point their
+muskets and shoot anybody sent to capture them as soon as he entered
+the lower rooms. They did not have a chance to use it for this purpose,
+however, for the officer sent after them just camped outside the tower
+and waited patiently until hunger compelled the runaways to surrender,
+when he quietly marched them back to the ship.
+
+In all of the forts, as well as in all the houses of Key West, are
+great cisterns for storing rain-water, for there are no wells on the
+island, and the only fresh-water to be had is what can be caught and
+stored during the rainy season.
+
+It was a week after the orange auction that Mr. Elmer came into the
+cabin of the schooner one afternoon and announced that the court had
+given its decision, and that they would sail the next day.
+
+This decision of the court gave to the schooner Nancy Bell five
+thousand dollars, and this, "Captain Li" said, must, according to
+wrecker's law, be divided among all who were on board the schooner at
+the time of the wreck. Accordingly, he insisted upon giving Mr. and
+Mrs. Elmer each two hundred dollars, and Mark, Ruth, and Jan each one
+hundred dollars. As neither of the children had ever before owned more
+than five dollars at one time, they now felt wealthy enough to buy the
+State of Florida, and regarded each other with vastly increased
+respect. While their father took charge of this money for them, he told
+them they might invest it as they saw fit, provided he and their mother
+thought the investment a good one.
+
+At daylight next morning the Nancy Bell again spread her sails, and
+soon Key West was but a low-lying cloud left far behind. For three days
+they sailed northward, with light winds, over the warm waters of the
+Gulf of Mexico. On the evening of the third day a bright light flashed
+across the waters ahead of them, and "Captain Li" said it was at the
+mouth of the St. Mark's River. As the tide was low, and no pilot was to
+be had that night, they had to stand off and on, and wait for daylight
+before crossing the bar and sailing up the river beyond it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+A QUEER CHRISTMAS-DAY.
+
+
+All night long the Nancy Bell sailed back and forth within sight of the
+light that marked the mouth of the river. Soon after day-light a
+pilot-boat was seen approaching her in answer to the signal which was
+flying from the main rigging. As the boat ran alongside, a colored
+pilot clambered to the deck and declared it did him good to see a big
+schooner waiting to come into the St. Mark's once more.
+
+"Uster be a plenty of 'em," said he to "Captain Li," "but dey's
+scurcer'n gole dollars now-adays, an' I'se proud to see 'em comin'
+ag'in."
+
+By the time breakfast was over and the Elmers came on deck, they found
+the schooner running rapidly up a broad river, between wide expanses of
+low salt-marshes, bounded by distant pine forests, and studded here and
+there with groups of cabbage palms. The channel was a regular zig-zag,
+and they ran now to one side and then far over to the other to escape
+the coral reefs and oyster bars with which it is filled. This occupied
+much time; but the breeze was fresh, and within an hour they had run
+eight miles up the river, and were passing the ruins of the old Spanish
+Fort of St. Mark's. A few minutes later sails were lowered, and the
+schooner was moored to one of the rotten old wharves that still remain
+to tell of St. Mark's former glory.
+
+"And is this St. Mark's?" asked Mrs. Elmer, looking with a feeling of
+keen disappointment at the dozen or so tumble-down frame buildings
+that, perched on piles above the low, wet land, looked like dilapidated
+old men with shaky legs, and formed all that was to be seen of the town.
+
+"Yes, miss," answered the colored pilot, who seemed to consider her
+question addressed to him. "Dis yere's St. Mark's, or what de gales has
+lef' of hit. 'Pears like dey's been mighty hard on de ole town, sence
+trade fell off, an' mos' of de folkses moved away. Uster be wharves all
+along yere, an' cotton-presses, an' big war'houses, an' plenty ships in
+de ribber; but now dey's all gone. Dem times we uster hab fo' trains of
+kyars a day; but now dere's only one train comes tree times in de week,
+an' hit's only got one kyar. Ole St. Mark's a-seein' bad times now, for
+sho."
+
+As soon as he could get ashore, Mr. Elmer, accompanied by Mark and the
+captain, went up into the village to find out what he could regarding
+their destination and future movements. In about an hour he returned,
+bringing a package of letters from the post-office, and the information
+that Uncle Christopher Bangs's place was at Wakulla, some six miles
+farther up the river. As the river above St. Mark's is quite crooked,
+and bordered on both sides by dense forests, and as no steam-tug could
+be had, the captain did not care to attempt to carry the schooner any
+farther up. Mr. Elmer had therefore chartered a large, flat-bottomed
+lighter, or scow, to carry to Wakulla the cargo of household goods,
+tools, building material, etc., that they had brought with them.
+
+As "Captain Li" was anxious to proceed on his voyage to Pensacola as
+quickly as possible, the lighter was at once brought alongside the
+schooner, and the work of discharging the Elmers' goods into her was
+begun.
+
+"By-the-way, Mark," said Mr. Elmer, as the schooner's hatches were
+removed, "I am just reminded that this is Christmas-day, and that there
+is a present down in the hold for you from your Uncle Christmas. It
+will be one of the first things taken out, so see if you can recognize
+it."
+
+He had hardly spoken before the sailors, who had gone down into the
+hold, passed carefully up to those on deck a beautiful birch-bark
+canoe, with the name Ruth painted on its bows.
+
+"That's it, father! that's it! I'm sure it is. Oh! isn't she a beauty?"
+shouted Mark, wild with delight. "Oh! father, how did he know just
+exactly what I wanted most?" and the excited boy rushed down into the
+cabin to beg his mother and Ruth to come on deck and see his Christmas
+present.
+
+The canoe was followed by two paddles painted a bright vermilion, and
+as they were placed in her, and she was laid to one side of the deck,
+she was indeed as pretty a little craft as can be imagined, and one
+that would delight any boy's heart.
+
+"I knew we were going to live near a river, my dear," said Mr. Elmer,
+in answer to his wife's anxious expression as she looked at the canoe,
+"and as Mark is a good swimmer and very careful in boats, I thought a
+canoe would afford him great pleasure, and probably prove very useful
+to all of us. So when Uncle Christopher asked me what I thought the boy
+would like most for a Christmas present, I told him a canoe."
+
+"Well, I hope it will prove safe," sighed Mrs. Elmer; "but I wish it
+were flat-bottomed, and built of thick boards instead of that thin
+bark."
+
+"Oh, mother!" said Mark, "you might as well wish it were a canal-boat
+at once."
+
+"Yes, I believe canal-boats are generally considered safer than
+canoes," answered his mother with a smile. "By-the-way, Mark"--and she
+turned to her husband--"one of the letters you brought was from Uncle
+Christopher, and he says he thinks he forgot to tell us that there is a
+house on his place, which he hopes we will find in a fit condition to
+occupy."
+
+Mr. Elmer had expected to have to build a house, and had accordingly
+brought with him sashes, doors, blinds, the necessary hardware, and in
+fact everything except lumber for that purpose. This material was now
+being transferred from the schooner to the lighter, and now it seemed
+almost a pity to have brought it; still they were very glad to learn
+that they were likely to find a house all ready to move into.
+
+It wanted but two hours of sundown when the last of the Elmers' goods
+were stowed in the lighter, and as there was nothing to detain him any
+longer, "Captain Li" said he should take advantage of the ebb tide that
+night to drop down the river and get started for Pensacola. As rowing
+and poling the heavy lighter up the river would at best prove but slow
+work, and as there was no hotel or place for them to stay in St.
+Mark's, Mr. Elmer thought they too had better make a start, and take
+advantage of the last of the flood tide and what daylight still
+remained.
+
+So good-byes were exchanged, and feeling very much as though they were
+leaving home for the second time, the Elmers left the comfortable cabin
+that had sheltered them for nearly a month. Followed by Jan, they went
+on board their new craft, and the lines were cast off. The crew of four
+strong colored men bent over the long sweeps, and followed by a hearty
+cheer from the crew of the schooner, the scow moved slowly up the
+river. In a few minutes a bend hid St. Mark's and the tall masts of the
+Nancy Bell from sight, and on either side of them appeared nothing but
+unbroken forest.
+
+The river seemed narrow and dark after the open sea to which the Elmers
+had been so long accustomed, and from its banks the dense growth of
+oak, cedar, magnolia, palm, bay, cypress, elm, and sweet gum trees,
+festooned with moss, and bound together with a net-work of vines, rose
+like walls, shutting out the sunlight. Strange water-fowl, long-legged
+and long-billed, flew screaming away as they advanced, and quick
+splashes in the water ahead of them told of the presence of other
+animal life.
+
+At sunset they were nearly two miles from St. Mark's, and opposite a
+cleared spot on the bank, where was piled a quantity of light-wood or
+pitch-pine. Here the captain and owner of the lighter, who was a young
+white man named Oliver Johnson, proposed that they should tie up for
+the night.
+
+To this Mr. Elmer consented, and as soon as the boat was made fast to
+the bank, active preparations were begun for cooking supper, and for
+making everything as snug and comfortable as possible.
+
+A large sail was stretched across some poles, in the form of a tent,
+over the after-part of the lighter, and beneath this two comfortable
+beds were made up from the abundant supply of mattresses and blankets
+belonging to the Elmers. Jan Jansen and Captain Johnson, who, Mark
+said, must be related, as their names were the same, spread their
+blankets in the forward end of the boat. On shore the negro crew built
+for themselves a thatched lean-to of poles and palm-leaves beside the
+fire, that was already throwing its cheerful light across the dark
+surface of the river.
+
+While the men were busy arranging the shelters and bedding, Mrs. Elmer
+and Ruth, assisted by one of the negroes, were cooking supper over a
+bed of coals that had been raked from the fire. A huge pot of coffee
+sent forth clouds of fragrant steam, and in two frying-pans some
+freshly caught fish sizzled and browned in a most gratifying and
+appetizing manner. In a couple of kettles hung over the fire hominy and
+sweet potatoes bubbled, boiled, and tried to outdo each other in
+getting done. Fresh-made bread and a good supply of butter had been
+brought from the schooner. When the supper was all ready, and spread
+out on a green table-cloth of palm-leaves, Mark and Ruth declared that
+this picnic was even jollier than the one on the island of the Florida
+Reef, and that this was after all one of the very best Christmases they
+had ever known.
+
+After supper, and when the dishes had all been washed and put away, the
+Elmers, Captain Johnson, and Jan sought the shelter of the canvas
+awning from the heavy night-dew which had begun to fall as soon as the
+sun went down. They lifted the sides, so that they could look out and
+see the fire around which the crew were gathered. After a while one of
+these started a plaintive negro melody, which sounded very sweetly
+through the still air. The others took it up, and they sang for an hour
+or more, greatly to the delight of the children, to whom such music was
+new. Many of the words were composed as they sang, and Mark and Ruth
+could not help laughing at some of them, which, though sung very
+soberly, sounded funny. One song which they afterwards remembered was:
+
+    "Oh, dey put John on de islan'
+      When de Bridegroom come;
+    Yes, dey put John on de islan'
+       When de Bridegroom come;
+    An' de rabens come an' fed him
+       When de Bridegroom come;
+    Yes, de rabens come an' fed him
+       When de Bridegroom come.
+    An' five of dem was wise
+       When de Bridegroom come;
+    Yes, five of dem was wise
+       When de Bridegroom come;
+    An' five of dem was foolish
+       When de Bridegroom come;
+    Yes, five of dem was foolish
+       When de Bridegroom come.
+    Oh, gib us of yo' ile
+       When de Bridegroom come;
+    Oh, gib us of yo' ile
+       When de Bridegroom come;
+    Fo' you'll nebber get to heaben
+       When de Bridegroom come;
+    No, you'll nebber get to heaben
+       When de Bridegroom come;
+    Aless you's ile a-plenty
+       When de Bridegroom come;
+    Aless you's ile a-plenty
+       When de Bridegroom come."
+
+In the midst of the singing a voice called out from the tree-tops,
+
+"Who, who, who, who's there?" or at least so it sounded.
+
+Immediately the singing stopped, and one of the negroes answered,
+
+"Some folkses from de Norf, Marse Owl, an' Cap'n Johnsin, an' me, an'
+Homer, an' Virgil, an' Pete."
+
+"What does he mean by that?" asked Mr. Elmer of the captain.
+
+"Oh," answered he, "it's one of their superstitions that they'll have
+bad luck if they don't answer an owl politely when he asks 'Who's
+there?' and give the names of all the party, if they know them."
+
+Soon after this all hands sought their blankets, good-nights were said,
+the fire died down, and all was quiet in the camp, though several times
+some sleepy negro roused himself sufficiently to answer the owl's
+repeated question of "Who's there?"
+
+It must have been nearly midnight when the camp was startled by a
+crash, a series of smothered cries, and a loud splashing in the water.
+It was evident that something serious had happened, but what it was no
+one could make out in the darkness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+ARRIVAL AT THE NEW HOME.
+
+
+Some light-wood splinters were quickly thrown upon the smouldering
+remains of the fire, and as it blazed up brightly, the lighter, in
+which the whites had been sleeping, was seen to be on its beam ends.
+One side rested high up on the bank and the other down in the mud at
+the bottom of the river, just on the edge of the channel. Some little
+distance down stream a sorry-looking figure, which was hardly
+recognizable as that of Jan, was floundering through the mud and water
+towards the bank. On the lower side of the lighter the canvas, that had
+been spread like a tent over the afterpart, had broken from its
+fastenings, and was now tossing and heaving in a most remarkable
+manner. From beneath it came the smothered cries of the Elmers, who had
+been suddenly wakened to find themselves mixed together in the most
+perplexing way, and entangled in their blankets and the loose folds of
+the canvas.
+
+Captain Johnson seemed to be the only person who had his wits about
+him, and who was in a condition to render any assistance. As soon as he
+could pick himself up he made his way to the other end of the boat and
+dragged the canvas from off the struggling family. First Mr. Elmer
+emerged from the confusion, then Mrs. Elmer and Ruth were helped out,
+and last of all poor Mark, who had been buried beneath the entire
+family, was dragged forth, nearly smothered and highly indignant.
+
+"It's a mean trick, and I didn't think--" he began, as soon as he got
+his breath; but just then his eye fell upon the comical figure of Jan.
+He was walking towards the fire, dripping mud and water from every
+point, and Mark's wrath was turned into hearty laughter at this sight.
+In it he was joined by all the others as soon as they saw the cause of
+his mirth.
+
+After the Elmers had been helped up the steep incline of the boat, and
+were comfortably fixed near the fire, Captain Johnson and Jan, who said
+he didn't mind mud now any more than an alligator, took light-wood
+torches and set out to discover what had happened. As Jan climbed down
+the bank into the mud, and held his torch beneath the boat, he saw in a
+moment the cause of the accident, and knew just how it had occurred.
+
+As the tide ebbed the lighter had been gradually lowered, until it
+rested on the upright branches of an old water-logged tree-top that was
+sunk in the mud at this place. The water falling lower and lower, the
+weight upon these branches became greater and greater, until they could
+support it no longer, and one side of the lighter went down with a
+crash, while the other rested against the bank. Jan, who had been
+sleeping on the upper side of the boat, was thrown out into the water
+when it fell, as some of the Elmers doubtless would have been had not
+their canvas shelter prevented such a catastrophe.
+
+The rest of the night was spent around the fire, which was kept up to
+enable Jan to dry his clothes. By daylight the tide had risen, so that
+the lighter again floated on an even keel. By sunrise a simple
+breakfast of bread-and-butter and coffee had been eaten, and our
+emigrants were once more afloat and moving slowly up the
+tropical-looking river.
+
+About ten o'clock Captain Johnson pointed to a huge dead cypress-tree
+standing on the bank of the river some distance ahead, and told the
+Elmers that it marked one of the boundary-lines of Wakulla. They gazed
+at it eagerly, as though expecting it to turn into something different
+from an ordinary cypress, and all felt more or less disappointed at not
+seeing any clearings or signs of human habitations. It was not until
+they were directly opposite the village that they saw its score or so
+of houses through the trees and undergrowth that fringed the bank.
+
+As the Bangs place, to which the children gave the name of "Go Bang"--a
+name that adhered to it ever afterwards--was across the river from the
+village, the lighter was poled over to that side. There was no wharf,
+so she was made fast to a little grassy promontory that Captain Johnson
+said was once one of the abutments of a bridge. There was no bridge
+now, however, and already Mark saw that his canoe was likely to prove
+very useful.
+
+The first thing to do after getting ashore and seeing the precious
+canoe safely landed was to find the house. As yet they had seen no
+trace of it, so heavy was the growth of trees every-where, except at
+the abutment, which was built of stone, covered with earth and a thick
+sod. From here an old road led away from the river through the woods,
+and up it Mr. and Mrs. Elmer and Captain Johnson now walked, Mark and
+Ruth having run on ahead. The elders had gone but a few steps when they
+heard a loud cry from Ruth, and hurried forward fearing that the
+children were in trouble. They met Ruth running back towards them,
+screaming, "A snake! a snake! a horrid big snake!"
+
+"I've got him!" shouted Mark from behind some bushes, and sure enough
+there lay a black snake almost as long as Mark was tall, which he had
+just succeeded in killing with a stick.
+
+Mrs. Elmer shuddered at the sight of the snake, though her husband
+assured her that it had been perfectly harmless even when alive.
+
+Not far from where the snake had been killed they found a spring of
+water bubbling up, as clear as crystal, from a bed of white sand, but
+giving forth such a disagreeable odor that the children declared it was
+nasty. Mr. Elmer, however, regarded it with great satisfaction, and
+told them it was a sulphur spring, stronger than any he had ever seen,
+and that they would find it very valuable. They all drank some of the
+water out of magnolia-leaf cups; but the children made faces at the
+taste, and Mark said it made him feel like a hard-boiled egg.
+
+A path leading from the spring at right angles to the road from the
+river took them into a large clearing that had once been a cultivated
+field, and on the farther side of this field stood the house. As they
+approached it they saw that it was quite large, two stories in height,
+with dormer windows in the roof, but that it bore many signs of age and
+long neglect. Some of the windows were broken and others boarded up,
+while the front door hung disconsolately on one hinge.
+
+The house stood in a grove of grand live-oaks, cedars, and magnolias,
+and had evidently been surrounded by a beautiful garden, enclosed by a
+neat picket-fence; but now the fence was broken down in many places,
+and almost hidden by a dense growth of vines and creepers. In the
+garden, rose-bushes, myrtles, oleanders, and camellias grew with a rank
+and untrained luxuriance, and all were matted together with vines of
+honeysuckle and clematis.
+
+The front porch of the house was so rotten and broken that, after
+forcing their way through the wild growth of the garden, the party had
+to cross it very carefully in order to enter the open door. The
+interior proved to be in a much better condition than they had dared
+hope, judging from the outside appearance of the house. It was filled
+with the close, musty odor common to deserted buildings, and they
+quickly threw wide open all the windows and doors that were not nailed
+up. On the first floor were four large rooms, each containing a
+fireplace and several closets, and up-stairs were four more, lighted by
+the dormer windows in the roof. A broad hall ran through the house from
+front to rear, opening upon a wide back porch which was also much out
+of repair. Beneath this porch Mr. Elmer discovered a brick cistern half
+full of dirty water, which he knew must be very foul, as the gutters
+along the roof were so rotten and broken that they could not have
+furnished a fresh supply in a long time.
+
+Behind the main house, and surrounded by large fig-trees, they found
+another building, in a fair state of preservation, containing two
+rooms, one of which had been the kitchen. In the huge fireplace of this
+kitchen they were surprised to see freshly burned sticks and a quantity
+of ashes, while about the floor were scattered feathers and bones, and
+in one corner was a pile of moss that looked as though it has been used
+for a bed. Beyond the kitchen were the ruins of several out-buildings
+that had fallen by reason of their age, or been blown down during a
+gale.
+
+Having thus made a hasty exploration of their new home, the party
+returned to the landing, to which their goods were being unloaded from
+the lighter by Jan and the crew. Leaving Mrs. Elmer and Ruth here, Mr.
+Elmer and Mark crossed the river to the village to see what they could
+procure in the way of teams and help.
+
+Of the twenty houses in the village, many of which were in a most
+dilapidated condition, only two were occupied by white families, the
+rest of the population being colored. There were no stores nor shops of
+any kind, the only building not used as a dwelling-house being a small
+church very much out of repair. The white men living in the village
+were away from home, but from among the colored people, who were much
+excited at the arrival of strangers in their midst, Mr. Elmer engaged
+two men and their wives to cross the river and go to work at once. He
+also engaged a man who owned a team of mules and a wagon, and who would
+go over as soon as the lighter was unloaded and could be used to ferry
+him across.
+
+On its return to the other side, the canoe was followed by a skiff
+containing the newly engaged colored help, whose amazement at
+everything they saw, and especially at the canoe, was unbounded. One of
+the men expressed his wonder at the little craft by saying, "Dat ar
+trick's so light, I reckon it's gwine leab de water some fine day, an'
+fly in de yair, like a duck."
+
+Mrs. Elmer provided the women with brooms, mops, and pails, and took
+them up to the house, where they proceeded to put the lower story in
+order for immediate occupation. Mr. Elmer armed the men with axes, and
+soon had them engaged in a struggle with the tangled growth in the
+front yard, through which they cut a broad path to the house. While
+they were doing this, Mr. Elmer and Jan cut and placed in position some
+temporary supports under the rickety porches, and Mark was set work at
+the windows. From these he knocked away all the boards, letting in
+floods of blessed sunlight, that drove from their snug retreats numbers
+of bats and several comical little owls.
+
+One of the colored women--"Aunt Chloe Cato," as she called herself,
+because she was Cato's wife--was sent into the kitchen to clean it and
+to make a fire in the great fireplace. She could not explain the traces
+of recent occupation, but "'lowed 'twere de ghoses, kase dis yere ole
+Bang place done bin hanted."
+
+"Well, it'll be 'hanted' now by the Elmer family," said Mark, who
+overheard her, "and they'll make it lively for any other 'ghoses' that
+come round."
+
+"Don't ye, now, honey I don't ye go fo' to set up yo'sef agin de
+ghoses, kase dey's powerful pernickety when dey's crassed," said the
+old woman, whom Mark, with his love for nick-names, had already called
+"Ole Clo."
+
+At noon all hands stopped work to eat a hasty lunch, and soon
+afterwards the lighter, being unloaded, was poled across the river for
+the team. With the help of Captain Johnson and his crew, who had agreed
+to remain over that night, most of the household goods were moved up to
+the house during the afternoon and placed under shelter.
+
+While this work was going on, one of the white men from the village
+came over to see his new neighbors. He brought with him a wild-turkey,
+half a dozen ducks, and a string of freshly caught fish, as cards of
+introduction. His name was Bevil, and he welcomed the Elmers most
+heartily, and said that he considered their coming a sign of better
+times for that section of the country. He told Mr. Elmer that the Bangs
+place used to be considered one of the finest plantations in the
+county, and that its lands were as rich now as ever.
+
+Before night the lower story of the old house looked quite comfortable,
+and almost homelike; and when the family sat down to dinner, it was
+with the keen appetites resulting from hard work. The dinner was a
+bountiful meal, largely composed of Mr. Bevil's game and fish; and
+before they ate it Mr. Elmer offered up a heart-felt thanksgiving for
+the mercies that had been granted them thus far, and prayed for a
+blessing on their new home.
+
+That evening he arranged with Captain Johnson to start at daylight and
+go with his lighter to the nearest saw-mill, sixty miles away, for a
+load of lumber and shingles. He also commissioned him to buy and bring
+back a large skiff, such as were used on the river.
+
+The tired household went early to bed that first night in their new
+home, and though their beds were made down on the floor, they all slept
+soundly.
+
+All but Mark, who, after sleeping for some hours, woke suddenly to find
+himself sitting bolt-upright in bed, and staring at the broken window
+in front of him, through which a flood of moonlight was pouring. He was
+as certain as he could be of anything that he had seen a face at that
+window as he started up--a wild, haggard face, framed by long unkempt
+hair. He sprang from his bed and looked out, but could see nobody, and
+heard no unusual sound except the distant "who-who-whoo" of an owl.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL, AND MORE MYSTERIES.
+
+
+It must be confessed that, before getting to sleep again, Mark thought
+of what Aunt Chloe had said about the "ghoses"; but having been taught
+to disbelieve in such things, and always to seek for some natural
+explanation of whatever appeared supernatural or unreal, he made up his
+mind to wait and make the attempt to unravel this mystery by himself
+before saying anything about it.
+
+The four days that remained of the week were very busy days for the
+Elmers and those whom they had employed to help them. During this time
+the interior of the old house was thoroughly cleansed and sweetened by
+the energetic use of soap and water, and straw matting was laid on the
+floors of the rooms down-stairs. The broken windows were all repaired
+by Mark, who found several boxes of glass and a bladder of putty among
+the building material they had brought from Bangor, and who, after a
+few trials, became quite a skilful glazier. The cistern was emptied of
+its stagnant water and thoroughly cleansed, and the gutters were
+repaired as well as they could be before the arrival of Captain Johnson
+and the lumber.
+
+It was not until the windows and gutters were repaired that Mrs. Elmer
+would allow any of the furniture, not absolutely needed, to be
+unpacked, for fear it might be injured by the dampness. Among the
+packages that thus remained boxed up, or wrapped in burlaps, was one
+which none of them could remember having seen before. It was large and
+square, and different in shape from anything that had stood in their
+house in Norton. What could it be? Mark and Ruth asked each other this
+question a dozen times a day, and, but for their mother's refusal to
+allow them to do so, would have long since solved the riddle by opening
+the package.
+
+On Friday night the house was pronounced to be practically water-tight,
+and at breakfast-time the following morning Mrs. Elmer said they would
+unpack and arrange the furniture that day.
+
+"And the mystery?" cried Mark. "May we open that first?" "Certainly,"
+replied his mother; "you may, if you wish, open that the moment you
+have finished breakfast."
+
+"That's this very minute, ain't it, Ruth? Come along. We'll soon find
+out what's inside those burlaps," exclaimed the boy, pushing back his
+chair, and rising from the table as he spoke.
+
+He brought a hammer with which to knock off the rough frame of boards
+that almost formed a box around the package, and Ruth ran for the
+shears to cut the stitches of the burlaps.
+
+The frame quickly fell to pieces under Mark's vigorous blows, and then
+his penknife assisted Ruth's shears. Beneath the burlaps was a thick
+layer of straw; then came heavy wrapping-paper, and, under this, layers
+and wads of news-paper, until the children began to think the whole
+package was nothing but wrappings.
+
+At last the papers were all pulled away, and there stood revealed, in
+all its beauty of structure and finish, a little gem of a cabinet
+organ. To one of its handles was tied a card, on which was printed in
+big letters:
+
+"A Christmas Present, with wishes for a very merry Christmas, from
+Uncle 'Christmas' to his grandniece Ruth Elmer."
+
+"Oh! oh! oh! ain't it lovely?" cried Ruth. "Dear old 'Uncle Christmas!'
+And I thought he had forgotten me, and only remembered Mark, too."
+
+The organ was placed in the parlor, and from that day forth was a
+source of great pleasure, not only to Ruth and the Elmer family, but to
+their neighbors across the river, who frequently came over in the
+evening to hear Ruth play.
+
+Among the events of that week were two that impressed Mark deeply, as
+they seemed to be connected in some way with the face he had seen at
+the window. One of these was the mysterious disappearance, on that same
+night, of a loaf of bread and a cold roast duck from the kitchen. The
+other was the appearance, two days later, at the kitchen door, of a
+poor wounded dog, who dragged himself out from the woods back of the
+house, and lay down on the step, evidently in great pain.
+
+Ruth saw him as he lay there, panting and moaning, and ran to tell
+Mark, and her father and mother, of their visitor and his wretched
+plight. They all went to see him, and after a careful examination of
+the suffering animal, Mr. Elmer said he had been cruelly treated and
+badly wounded; but that, with proper treatment and care, he could be
+cured. "He is a cross between a pointer and a hound," continued Mr.
+Elmer, "and looks like a valuable dog. The wounds from which he is
+suffering are those caused by a charge of small shot, that must have
+been fired into him quite recently. I will do what I can for him, and
+then I shall turn him over to you and Ruth, Mark, and if he recovers he
+shall belong to you both. His present owner has forfeited all claim to
+him by cruel treatment, for without our care now the poor beast would
+certainly die. The first thing to do is to give him water, for he is
+very feverish."
+
+The dog seemed to know, as well as his human friends, that the pain he
+suffered, while most of the shot were extracted on the point of a
+pen-knife, was for his good; for while he moaned and whined during the
+operation, he lay perfectly still, and did not offer the slightest
+resistance. After his wounds had been dressed, he was carefully removed
+to a bed of soft moss on the back porch, and here he lay quietly, only
+feebly wagging his tail whenever any of his new friends came to see him.
+
+"Who could have shot this dog?" and "Why did the animal drag himself to
+our kitchen door?" were questions that puzzled Mark considerably during
+the rest of that day and for some days afterwards.
+
+During that week Jan Jansen and the two negroes had worked hard at
+cutting away the undergrowth immediately around the house, and by
+Saturday night they had wonderfully improved the general appearance of
+things. The garden in front of the house had been cleared of everything
+except the ornamental shrubs properly belonging there. The fence had
+been freed from its crushing weight of vines, and its broken panels
+repaired, so that it now only needed a coat of paint to make it look as
+good as new. Back of the house they had cleared an acre of what had
+formerly been the kitchen-garden, and had opened a broad avenue down to
+the river, so that the back windows of the house now looked out upon it
+and the village beyond.
+
+Late on Saturday evening Captain Johnson returned to Wakulla with a
+lighter-load of shingles, window-blinds, fence-pickets, and assorted
+lumber. He also brought the skiff that Mr. Elmer had commissioned him
+to buy.
+
+The next day being Sunday, every member of the little community was
+prepared to enjoy a well-earned rest. During the morning they all
+crossed the river to the village, leaving "Go Bang" closed, and
+unprotected save by "Bruce," as the children had named the wounded dog.
+
+In the village they found the little church closed and empty; so they
+went to the house of Mr. Bevil, whom they found at home, and who
+introduced them to his family. Mrs. Bevil expressed great pleasure at
+meeting Mrs. Elmer, and apologized for not having called; and Ruth was
+delighted to find that the eldest of the three Bevil children was a
+girl of about her own age, named Grace.
+
+In reply to Mr. Elmer's inquiries, the Bevils said that no regular
+services were held in the church, and that it was only opened when some
+preacher happened to visit them.
+
+Mr. Elmer proposed that they should organize a Sunday-school, to be
+held in the church every Sunday, and that they should make a beginning
+that very day.
+
+To this the Bevils gladly consented, and two servants were immediately
+sent out--one to open the church and ring the bell, and the other to
+invite all the colored people of the place to meet there in an hour.
+
+Then the Elmers and Bevils went together to the house of Mr. Carter,
+the other white man of the village. Here were two children, a girl and
+a boy, both younger than Ruth; and Mr. and Mrs. Carter readily agreed
+to help establish the Sunday-school, and promised to be at the church
+at the appointed time.
+
+When the Elmers entered the church they found nearly fifty men, women,
+and children assembled, and waiting with eager curiosity to see what
+was going to be done. The church was as dilapidated as most of the
+buildings in the village, and many of its windows were broken. In that
+climate, where snow is unknown and frost comes but seldom, this made
+little difference, and this Sunday was so warm and bright that the
+breeze coming in through the broken windows was very refreshing.
+
+Mr. Elmer made a short address to the people, telling them that he and
+his family had come to live among them, and that he thought it would be
+very pleasant for them all to meet in that house every Sunday, for the
+purpose of studying the Bible and mutually helping one another. Then he
+asked all who were willing to help him establish a Sunday-school to
+hold up their hands, and every hand was immediately raised.
+
+Mr. Bevil moved that Mr. Elmer be made superintendent of the
+Sunday-school, Mr. Carter seconded the motion, and it was unanimously
+carried.
+
+The rest of the hour was occupied in forming classes and giving out
+lessons to be learned for the next Sunday. As most of the colored
+people could not read, it seemed important that they should be taught
+this first, and both Mark and Ruth were made teachers of ABC classes
+composed of the younger children.
+
+Before the meeting closed Mr. Bevil made some remarks, in which he
+thanked the Elmers for what they had undertaken, reminded the school
+that the next day was the first of a new year, and said that, as he had
+already told Mr. Elmer, the coming and settling of these strangers
+among them marked the dawn of a new era of prosperity for Wakulla.
+
+As the Elmers neared their home after Sunday-school they heard Bruce
+bark loudly; but when they reached it they found him cowed and
+whimpering. His eyes were fixed upon the point of woods nearest the
+house, and he exhibited signs of great fear. They also found the
+kitchen door standing wide open, though Mrs. Elmer was certain she had
+fastened it before leaving.
+
+Again Mark thought of the "ghoses," but still he said nothing, and the
+opening of the door was finally credited to the wind.
+
+That afternoon Mr. Bevil came over to make a call, and was much
+interested in the improvements already made and proposed. He declared
+that it reminded him of old times, when that side of the river was
+inhabited by a dozen or more families, and when Wakulla was one of the
+most prosperous towns in the State. He showed Mr. Elmer the sites of
+the old foundry and mills that once stood on that side of the river,
+and told him of the wharves that had lined both banks, the great
+cotton-presses, and the many vessels that used to fill it from bank to
+bank as they lay awaiting their loads of cotton. In those days a line
+of steam-ships plied regularly between Wakulla and New Orleans, and a
+steam-tug was kept constantly busy towing vessels between the town and
+the mouth of the river. Then a fine plank-road reached back from
+Wakulla a hundred miles into the country, and the two hotels of the
+place were constantly crowded with invalids, who came to receive the
+benefits of its famous sulphur and mineral springs. In those days six
+large stores were hardly sufficient for the business of the place, and
+then the land on both sides of the river for miles was cultivated, and
+produced heavy crops of cotton.
+
+Now all that remained to tell of this former prosperity were a few
+rotten piles in the river where the wharves had stood, the bridge
+abutments, a handful of tumble-down houses, and here and there in the
+dense woods traces of cultivated fields, and an occasional brick
+chimney or pile of stone to mark the site of some old plantation house.
+
+Mr. Elmer was much interested in all this, and mentally resolved that
+he would do all that lay in his power to revive the old-time prosperity
+of the place in which he had established his home.
+
+"What we most need here now," concluded Mr. Bevil, "is a bridge over
+the river and a mill. It ought to be a saw-mill, grist-mill, and
+cotton-gin all in one."
+
+The next morning Mr. Elmer said that he must go to Tallahassee, the
+nearest city, on business, and that he might be absent several days.
+Before going he laid out the work that he wanted each one to do while
+he was away. Mark was to take him down the river to the railroad
+station at St. Mark's, in his canoe, and on his return he and Jan were
+to go into the woods after as many cedar fence-posts as they could cut.
+The colored men were to prepare the large cleared field in front of the
+house, in which were about ten acres, for ploughing, and to dig
+post-holes around it on lines that he had marked. Captain Johnson and
+his crew were to unload the lighter and haul all the lumber and
+shingles up to the house.
+
+When he and Mark went down to the canoe, it seemed to the latter that
+she was not just where he had left her the day before, and he thought
+she looked as though she had been recently used; but as he could not be
+certain, he said nothing about it to his father.
+
+Mr. Elmer took a light rifle with him in the canoe, saying that there
+was no knowing but what they might find a chance to use it going down
+the river, and that Mark could bring it back. Mark was glad of this,
+for he inherited a love for shooting from his father, and having been
+carefully instructed, was a capital shot.
+
+The day was unusually warm and bright for that season of the year, and
+as they floated quietly down-stream they surprised a number of
+alligators lying on the banks sunning themselves. As they were the
+first of these great reptiles that either Mr. Elmer or Mark had ever
+seen, they watched them with curiosity not unmixed with fear lest they
+should attack and upset the light canoe. They afterwards learned that
+their fears were groundless, and that cases of this kind are almost
+unknown.
+
+They reached St. Mark's in time for Mr. Elmer to catch the train, and
+after he had gone Mark got the mail, of which quite a quantity had
+collected here for them, there being no post-office in Wakulla, and
+started for home.
+
+On the way up the river the boy was strangely oppressed by the solitude
+and almost unbroken silence about him, and was very glad when he found
+himself within a mile of home.
+
+Suddenly the silence was broken by a cry so terrible and agonized that
+he was for a moment nearly petrified with fright. He quickly recovered
+his presence of mind, and the first cry being followed by screams for
+help and a crashing of the bushes on a small wooded point that jutted
+into the river just ahead of him, he hastily ran the canoe up to the
+bank, seized his rifle, and sprang ashore.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+MARK DISCOVERS THE GHOST AND FINDS HIM IN A TRYING POSITION.
+
+
+Mark dashed through the bushes for a hundred yards, heedless of the
+clinging thorns of the rattan vine that tore his clothes, and scratched
+his face and hands until they bled, before reaching the scene of what
+sounded like a terrible struggle. The screams for help told him that at
+least one of the contestants was a human being in sore distress, and in
+thus rushing to his assistance Mark did not give a moment's thought to
+his own safety. As he burst from the bushes he found himself in a
+little open glade on the opposite side of the point from that on which
+he had landed. Here he came upon a struggle for life such as rarely
+takes place even in the wilder regions of the South, and such as but
+few persons have ever witnessed.
+
+On the farther side of the glade, clinging with the strength of despair
+to the trunk of a young magnolia-tree, lay a boy of about Mark's own
+age. His arms were nearly torn from their sockets by some terrible
+strain, and his eyes seemed starting from his head with horror. As he
+saw Mark he screamed, "Fire! Fire quick! His eyes! I'm letting go."
+
+Looking along the boy's body Mark saw a pair of great jaws closed
+firmly upon his right foot, though the rest of the animal, whatever it
+was, was hidden in a thicket of bushes which were violently agitated.
+He could see the protruding eyes; and, springing across the opening, he
+placed the muzzle of the rifle close against one of them, and fired.
+
+The horrid head was lifted high in the air with a bellow of rage and
+pain. As it fell it disappeared in the bushes, which were beaten down
+by the animal's death struggle, and then all was still.
+
+Upon firing, Mark had quickly thrown another cartridge from the
+magazine into the chamber of his rifle, and held it in readiness for
+another shot. He waited a moment after the struggles ceased, and
+finding that no further attack was made, turned his attention to the
+boy, who lay motionless and as though dead at his feet. His eyes were
+closed, and Mark knew that he had fainted, though he had never seen a
+person in that condition before.
+
+His first impulse was to try and restore the boy to consciousness; but
+his second, and the one upon which he acted, was to assure himself that
+the animal he had shot was really dead, and incapable of making another
+attack. Holding his rifle in one hand, and cautiously parting the
+bushes with the other, he peered, with a loudly beating heart, into the
+thicket. There, stretched out stiff and motionless, he saw the body of
+a huge alligator. It was dead--dead as a mummy; there was no doubt of
+that; and without waiting to examine it further, Mark laid down his
+rifle and went to the river for water.
+
+He brought three hatfuls, and dashed them, one after another, in the
+boy's face before the latter showed any signs of consciousness. Then
+the closed eyes were slowly opened, and fixed for an instant upon Mark,
+with the same look of horror that he had first seen in them, and the
+boy tried to rise to his feet, but fell back with a moan of pain.
+
+Mark had already seen that the boy's right foot was terribly mangled
+and covered with blood, and he went quickly for more water with which
+to bathe it. After he had washed off the blood, and bound the wounded
+foot as well as he could with his handkerchief and one of his shirt
+sleeves torn into strips, he found that the boy had again opened his
+eyes, and seemed to have fully recovered his consciousness.
+
+"Do you feel better?" asked Mark.
+
+"Yes," answered the boy. "I can sit up now if you will help me."
+
+Mark helped him into a sitting position, with his back against the tree
+to which he had clung when the alligator tried to drag him into the
+water. Then he said,
+
+"Now wait here a minute while I bring round the canoe. I'll get you
+into it, and take you home, for your foot must be properly attended to
+as soon as possible."
+
+Hurrying back to where he had left the canoe, Mark brought it around
+the point, very close to where the boy was sitting, and pulled one end
+of it up on the bank. Then going to the boy, he said,
+
+"If you can stand up, and will put both arms around my neck, I'll carry
+you to the canoe; it's only a few steps."
+
+Although he almost cried out with the pain caused by the effort, the
+boy succeeded in doing as Mark directed, and in a few minutes more was
+seated in the bottom of the canoe, with his wounded foot resting on
+Mark's folded jacket.
+
+Carefully shoving off, and stepping gently into the other end of the
+canoe, Mark began to paddle swiftly up the river. The boy sat with
+closed eyes, and though Mark wanted to ask him how it had all happened,
+he waited patiently, fearing that his companion was too weak to talk.
+He noticed that the boy was barefooted and bareheaded, that his clothes
+were very old and ragged, and that he had a bag and a powder-horn slung
+over his shoulders. He also noticed that his hair was long and matted,
+and that his face, in spite of its present paleness, was tanned, as
+though by long exposure to the weather. It had a strangely familiar
+look to him, and it seemed as though he must have seen that boy
+somewhere before, but where he could not think.
+
+Just before they reached the "Go Bang" landing-place the boy opened his
+eyes, and Mark, no longer able to restrain his curiosity, asked,
+
+"How did the alligator happen to catch you?"
+
+"I was asleep," answered the boy, "and woke up just in time to catch
+hold of that tree as he grabbed my foot and began pulling me to the
+water. He would have had me in another minute, for I was letting go
+when you came;" and the boy shuddered at the remembrance.
+
+"Well," said Mark, a little boastfully, "he won't catch anybody else.
+He's as dead as a door-nail now. Here we are."
+
+Jan and Captain Johnson were at the landing, and they listened with
+astonishment to Mark's hurried explanation of what had happened. The
+captain said they would carry the boy to the house, while Mark ran on
+and told his mother who was coming, so that she could prepare to
+receive him.
+
+Mrs. Elmer was much shocked at Mark's story, and said she was very
+thankful that he had not only been the means of saving a human life,
+but had escaped unharmed himself. At the same time she made ready to
+receive the boy, and when the men brought him in she had a bed prepared
+for him, warm water and castile soap ready to bathe the wounds, and
+soft linen to bandage them.
+
+Captain Johnson, who called himself "a rough and ready surgeon,"
+carefully felt of the wounded foot to ascertain whether or not any
+bones were broken. The boy bore this patiently and without a murmur,
+though one or two gasps of pain escaped him. When the captain said
+that, though he could not feel any fractured bones, the ankle-joint was
+dislocated, and must be pulled back into place at once, he clinched his
+teeth, drew in a long breath, and nodded his head. Taking a firm hold
+above and below the dislocated joint, the captain gave a quick twist
+with his powerful hands that drew from the boy a sharp cry of pain.
+
+"There," said the captain, soothingly, "it's all over; now we will
+bathe it and bandage it, and in a few days you will be as good as you
+were before you met Mr. 'Gator. If not better," he added, as he took
+note of the boy's wretched clothes and general appearance.
+
+After seeing the patient made as comfortable as possible, Mark and the
+two men went out, leaving him to the gentle care of Mrs. Elmer and Ruth.
+
+"Mark," said Captain Johnson, "let's take the skiff and go and get that
+alligator. I guess Miss Ruth would like to see him. One of my men can
+go along to help us, or Jan, if he will."
+
+"All right," said Mark, and Jan said he would go if it wouldn't take
+too long.
+
+"We'll be back in less than an hour," said the captain, "if it's only a
+mile away, as Mark says."
+
+So they went, and it took the united strength of the three to get the
+alligator into the skiff when they found him. He measured ten feet and
+four inches in length, and Captain Johnson, who claimed to be an
+authority concerning alligators, said that was very large for
+fresh-water, though in tide-water they were sometimes found fifteen
+feet in length, and he had heard of several that were even longer.
+
+While Mark was showing them just where the boy lay when he first saw
+him, Jan picked up an old muzzle-loading shot-gun and a pair of
+much-worn boots, that had heretofore escaped their notice. Both barrels
+of the gun were loaded, but one only contained a charge of powder,
+which surprised them.
+
+"What do you suppose he was going to do with only a charge of powder?"
+asked Mark, when this discovery was made.
+
+"I've no idea," answered the captain; "perhaps he forgot the shot, or
+hadn't any left."
+
+When they reached home with the big alligator, the whole household came
+out to look at it, and Mrs. Elmer and Ruth shuddered when they saw the
+monster that had so nearly dragged the boy into the river.
+
+"Oh, Mark!" exclaimed Ruth, "just think if you hadn't come along just
+then."
+
+"How merciful that your father thought of taking the rifle!" said Mrs.
+Elmer. "I don't suppose we could keep it for Mr. Elmer to see, could
+we?" she asked of Captain Johnson.
+
+"Oh no, ma'am, not in this warm weather," answered the captain; "but we
+can cut off the head and bury it, and in two or three weeks you will
+have a nice skull to keep as a memento."
+
+"And what will you do with the body?"
+
+"Why, throw it into the river, I suppose," answered the captain.
+
+"Wouldn't it be better to bury it too?"
+
+"Hi! Miss Elmer; yo' sho'ly wouldn't tink of doin' dat ar?" exclaimed
+Aunt Chloe, who had by this time become a fixture in the Elmer
+household, and had come out with the rest to see the alligator.
+
+"Why not, Chloe?" asked Mrs. Elmer, in surprise.
+
+"'Kase ef you's putten um in de groun', how's Marse Tukky Buzzard gwine
+git um? Can't nebber hab no luck ef you cheat Marse Tukky Buzzard dat
+ar way."
+
+"That's another of the colored folks' superstitions," said Captain
+Johnson. "They believe that if you bury any dead animal so that the
+turkey buzzards can't get at it, they'll bring you bad luck."
+
+"'Taint no 'stition, nuther. Hit's a pop sho' fac', dat's what!"
+muttered Aunt Chloe, angrily, as she walked off towards the house.
+
+So the head of the alligator was cut off and buried, and the body
+disappeared, though whether it was buried or served to make a meal for
+the buzzards no one seemed exactly to know.
+
+That afternoon Captain Johnson went off down the river with his
+lighter, saying that he could always be found at St. Mark's when
+wanted, and Mark and Jan went into the woods to look for cedar
+fence-posts.
+
+After the day's work was finished, and the family were gathered in the
+sitting-room for the evening, Mark had a long and earnest conversation
+with his mother and Ruth. At its close Mrs. Elmer said, "Well, my son,
+wait until we hear what your father thinks of it;" and Ruth said, "I
+think it's a perfectly splendid plan."
+
+Mark slept in the room with the wounded boy, whose name they had
+learned to be Frank March, that night, and was roused several times
+before morning to give him water, for he was very feverish. He talked
+in his sleep too, as though he were having troubled dreams, and once
+Mark heard him say,
+
+"Fire quick! No, it's only powder; it won't hurt him. I didn't kill the
+dog."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+A RUNAWAY'S STORY, AND ITS HAPPY ENDING.
+
+
+During the three days that passed before Mr. Elmer's return, the large
+field was made ready for ploughing, most of the post-holes were dug,
+the soil being so light as to make that an easy matter, and Mark and
+Jan had cut a number of cedar posts, and got them ready to be rafted
+down the river.
+
+During this time, also, Frank March had improved so rapidly that he was
+able to sit up and take an interest in what was going on. He had become
+much attached to Mrs. Elmer, and seemed very happy in her company.
+Neither she nor the children had asked him any questions concerning his
+past life, preferring to wait until he should tell the story of his own
+accord.
+
+On the third evening of his being with them he was helped into the
+sitting-room, and lay on the sofa listening intently to Mrs. Elmer as
+she read to Mark and Ruth a chapter from a book of travels that they
+had begun on the schooner. As she finished and closed the book, the boy
+raised himself on his elbow, and said,
+
+"Mrs. Elmer, I want to tell you something, and I want Mark and Ruth to
+hear too."
+
+"Well, my boy," said Mrs. Elmer, kindly, "we shall be glad to hear
+whatever you have to tell, if it won't tire and excite you too much."
+
+"No, I don't think it will," replied Frank. "I feel as if I must tell
+you what a bad boy I have been, and how sorry I am for it. More than a
+month ago I stole father's gun and dog, and twenty dollars that I found
+in his desk, and ran away from him. Ever since then I have been living
+in the woods around here, hunting and fishing. When the weather was bad
+I slept in the kitchen of this house, and when you folks moved in, it
+seemed almost as if you were taking possession of what belonged to me.
+The first night you were here I crept into the kitchen and stole a loaf
+of bread and a duck."
+
+"There!" interrupted Mark, "now I know where I saw you before. It was
+you who looked into the window and frightened me that first night,
+wasn't it?"
+
+"Yes," said Frank; "and I meant to scare you worse than that, and
+should have if the alligator hadn't caught me. I saw you and your
+father go down the river that morning, and heard him say he was going
+to Tallahassee, and I waited then for you to come back alone. I drew
+out the shot from one barrel of my gun, and was going to fire a charge
+of powder at you when you got close to the point. I thought perhaps you
+would be so scared that you would upset your canoe and lose your rifle
+overboard. Then I thought I might get it after you had gone, for the
+water is shallow there, and I wanted a rifle awfully."
+
+"Oh! what a bad boy you are," said Ruth, shaking her pretty head. "Yes,
+I know I am," said Frank, "but I ain't going to be any longer if I can
+help it."
+
+"How did that alligator get you, anyway?" asked Mark, who was very
+curious upon this point.
+
+"Why, I pulled off my boots because they were wet and hurt my feet;
+then I lay down to wait for you, and went to sleep. I suppose the
+'gator found it warm enough that day to come out of the mud, where he
+had been asleep all winter. Of course he felt hungry after such a long
+nap, and when he saw my bare foot thought it would make him a nice
+meal. I was waked by feeling myself dragged along the ground, and
+finding my foot in what felt like a vise. I caught hold of a tree, and
+held on until it seemed as though my arms would be pulled out. I yelled
+as loud as I could all the time, while the 'gator pulled. He twisted my
+foot until I thought the bones must be broken, and that I must let go.
+Then you came, Mark, and that's all I remember until I was in the
+canoe, and you were paddling up the river."
+
+"Was that the first time you were ever in that canoe?" asked Mark, a
+new suspicion dawning in his mind.
+
+"No; I had used her 'most every night, and one night I went as far as
+St. Mark's in her."
+
+"What made you bring the canoe back at all?" asked Mrs. Elmer.
+
+"'Cause everybody round here would have known her, and known that I had
+stole her if they'd seen me in her," answered the boy.
+
+"And did you shoot poor Bruce?" asked Ruth.
+
+"Who's Bruce?"
+
+"Why, our dog. He came to us more than a week ago, shot so bad that he
+could hardly walk."
+
+"Yes, I shot him because he wouldn't go into the water and fetch out a
+duck I had wounded; but his name is Jack. I didn't kill him though, for
+I saw him on your back porch last Sunday when you were all over the
+river, and he barked at me."
+
+"My poor boy," said Mrs. Elmer, "you have certainly done very wrong;
+but you have been severely punished for it, and if you are truly sorry
+and mean to try and do right in the future, you will as certainly be
+forgiven." So saying, the kind-hearted woman went over and sat down
+beside the boy, and took his hand in hers.
+
+At this caress, the first he could ever remember to have received, the
+boy burst into tears, and sobbed out,
+
+"I would have been good if I had a mother like you and a pleasant home
+like this."
+
+Mrs. Elmer soothed and quieted him, and gradually drew from him the
+rest of his story. His father had once been comfortably well off, and
+had owned a large mill in Savannah; but during the war the mill had
+been burned, and he had lost everything. For some years after that he
+was very poor, and when Frank was quite a small boy, and his sister a
+baby, his father used to drink, and when he came home drunk would beat
+him and his mother. One night, after a terrible scene of this kind,
+which Frank could just remember, his mother had snatched up the baby
+and run from the house. Afterwards he was told that they were dead; at
+any rate he never saw them again. Then his father left Savannah and
+came to Florida to live. He never drank any more, but was very cross,
+and hardly ever spoke to his son. He made a living by doing jobs of
+carpentering; and, ever since he had been old enough, Frank had worked
+on their little farm, about twenty miles from Wakulla. At last he
+became so tired of this sort of life, and his father's harshness, that
+he determined to run away and try to find a happier one.
+
+Mark and Ruth listened in silence to this story of an unhappy
+childhood, and when it was ended, Ruth went over to the sofa where her
+mother still sat, and taking Frank's other hand in hers, said,
+
+"I guess I would have run away too, if I'd had such an unpleasant home;
+but you'll stay with us now, and let mother teach you to be good, won't
+you?"
+
+For answer the boy looked up shyly into Mrs. Elmer's face, and she
+said, "We'll see when father comes home."
+
+At this moment Bruce began to bark loudly, and directly a sound of
+wheels was heard. Then a voice called out,
+
+"Halloo! Go Bang, ahoy! Bring out a lantern, somebody."
+
+"It's father! it's father!" exclaimed Mark and Ruth, rushing to the
+door with shouts of welcome. Mrs. Elmer followed them, leaving Frank
+alone in the sitting-room.
+
+"How glad they are to see him," thought the boy. "I wonder if I should
+be as glad to see my father if he was as good to me as theirs is to
+them?"
+
+While Frank's mind was full of such thoughts, he heard a quick step at
+the door, and looking up, saw the very person he had been thinking
+of--his own father!
+
+"Frank, my boy!" exclaimed Mr. March, "can it be you? Oh, Frank, I
+didn't know how much I loved you until I lost you, and I have tried in
+every way to find you and beg you to come home again." With these words
+Mr. March stooped down and kissed his son's forehead, saying, "I
+haven't kissed you since you were a baby, Frank, and I do it now as a
+sign that from this time forward I will try to be a good and loving
+father to you."
+
+"Oh, father," cried the happy boy, "do you really love me? Then if you
+will forgive me for running away and being such a wicked boy, I will
+never, never do so again."
+
+"Indeed I will," answered his father. "But what is the matter, Frank?
+Have you been ill? How came you here?"
+
+While Frank was giving his father a brief account of what had happened
+to him since he ran away from home, the Elmers were exchanging the most
+important bits of news outside the front gate. They waited there while
+Mr. Elmer and Jan unhitched from a new farm-wagon a pair of fine mules
+that the former had bought and driven down from Tallahassee that day.
+
+When the children ran out to greet their father, one of the first
+things Ruth said was, "Oh, we've got a new boy, father, and he's in the
+sitting-room, and his name's Frank March, and an alligator almost
+dragged him into the river, and Mark shot it."
+
+Almost without waiting to hear the end of this long sentence, a
+stranger who had come with Mr. Elmer opened the front gate, and quickly
+walking to the house, disappeared within it.
+
+"Who is that, husband, and what has he gone into the house for?" asked
+Mrs. Elmer, in surprise.
+
+"I don't know much about him," answered Mr. Elmer, "except that his
+name is March; and as he was recommended to me as being a good
+carpenter, I engaged him to come and do what work was necessary to
+repair this house."
+
+"I wonder if he is Frank's wicked father?" said Ruth; and then the
+whole story had to be told to Mr. Elmer before they went into the house.
+
+When he heard of Mark's bravery, he placed his hand on the boy's
+shoulder and said, "My son, I am proud of you."
+
+As they went in and entered the sitting-room, they found Mr. March and
+Frank sitting together on the sofa, talking earnestly.
+
+"I hope you will excuse my leaving you and entering your house so
+unceremoniously, Mr. Elmer," said Mr. March, rising and bowing to Mrs.
+Elmer; "but when your little girl said a boy named Frank March was in
+here I felt sure he was my son. It is he; and now that I have found
+him, I don't ever intend to lose him again."
+
+"That's right," said Mr. Elmer, heartily. "In this country boys are too
+valuable to be lost, even if they do turn up again like bad pennies.
+Master Frank, you must hurry and get well, for in his work here your
+father will need just such a valuable assistant as I am sure you will
+make."
+
+"Now, wife, how about something to eat? I am almost hungry enough to
+eat an alligator, and I expect our friend March would be willing to
+help me."
+
+Aunt Chloe had been busy ever since the travellers arrived, and supper
+was as ready for them as they were for it. After supper, when they were
+once more gathered in the sitting-room, Mr. Elmer said, "I got a
+charter granted me while I was in Tallahassee--can any of you guess for
+what?"
+
+None of them could guess, unless, as Mark suggested, it was for
+incorporating "Go Bang," and making a city of it in opposition to
+Wakulla.
+
+"It is to establish and maintain a ferry between those portions of the
+town of Wakulla lying on opposite sides of the St. Mark's River," said
+Mr. Elmer.
+
+"A FERRY?" said Mrs. Elmer.
+
+"A FERRY?" said Ruth.
+
+"A ferry?" said Mark; "what sort of a ferry steam-power, horse-power,
+or boy-power?"
+
+"I expect it will be mostly boy-power," said Mr. Elmer, laughing. "You
+see I kept thinking of what Mr. Bevil told us last Sunday, that what
+Wakulla needed most was a bridge and a mill. I knew we couldn't build a
+bridge, at least not at present; but the idea of a ferry seemed
+practicable. We have got enough lumber to build a large flat-boat,
+there are enough of us to attend to a ferry, and so I thought I'd get a
+charter, anyhow."
+
+Mark could hardly wait for his father to finish before he broke in with,
+
+"Speaking of mills, father, your ferry will be the very thing to bring
+people over to our mill."
+
+"Our mill!" repeated his father. "What do you mean?"
+
+"Why, Jan and I discovered an old mill about half a mile up the river,
+while we were out looking for cedar. It's out of repair, and the dam is
+partly broken away; but the machinery in it seems to be pretty good,
+and the wheel's all right. I don't believe it would take very much
+money to fix the dam; and the stream that supplies the mill-pond is
+never-failing, because it comes from a big sulphur spring. We found the
+man who owns it, and had a long talk with him. He says that business
+fell off so after the bridge was carried away that when his dam broke
+he didn't think it would pay to rebuild it. He says he will take five
+hundred dollars cash for the whole concern; and I want to put in my
+hundred dollars salvage money, and Ruth'll put in hers, and Jan'll put
+in his, and mother says she'll put in hers if you think the scheme is a
+good one, and we'll buy the mill. Now, your ferry can bring the people
+over; and it's just the biggest investment in all Florida. Don't you
+think so, father?"
+
+"I'll tell you what I think after I have examined into it," said Mr.
+Elmer, smiling at Mark's enthusiasm. "Now it's very late, and time we
+all invested in bed."
+
+That night Mark dreamed of ferry-boats run by alligator-power, of mills
+that ground out gold dollars, and of "ghoses" that turned out to be
+boys.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+"THE ELMER MILL AND FERRY COMPANY."
+
+
+Mr. Elmer made careful inquiries concerning the mill about which Mark
+had told him, and found that it was the only one within twenty miles of
+Wakulla. He was told that it used to do a very flourishing business
+before the bridge was carried away, and things in that part of the
+county went to ruin generally. Both Mr. Bevil and Mr. Carter thought
+that if there was any way of getting over to it, the mill could be made
+to pay, and were much pleased at the prospect of having it put in
+running order again.
+
+Mr. March having been a mill-owner, and thoroughly understanding
+machinery, visited the one in question with Mr. Elmer, and together
+they inspected it carefully. They found that it contained old-fashioned
+but good machinery for grinding corn and ginning cotton, but none for
+sawing lumber. Only about thirty feet of the dam had been carried away,
+and it could be repaired at a moderate expense. Mr. March said that by
+raising the whole dam a few feet the water-power would be greatly
+increased, and would be sufficient to run a saw in addition to the
+machinery already on hand. He also said that he knew of an abandoned
+saw-mill a few miles up the river, the machinery of which was still in
+a fair condition and could be bought for a trifle.
+
+The result of what he saw and heard was that Mr. Elmer decided the
+investment to be a good one, and at once took the necessary steps
+towards purchasing the property. This decision pleased Mark and Jan
+greatly, and they began to think that they were men of fine business
+ability, or, as Mark said, were "possessed of long heads."
+
+That same evening a meeting of the "dusty millers," as Ruth called
+them, was held in the "Go Bang" sitting-room. Mr. Elmer addressed the
+meeting and proposed that they form a mill company with a capital of
+one thousand dollars, and that the stock be valued at one hundred
+dollars a share.
+
+This proposition met with general approval, though Mark whispered to
+Ruth that he didn't see how father was going to make a thousand
+dollars' worth of capital out of five hundred unless he watered the
+stock.
+
+"Now," said Mr. Elmer, after it was agreed that they should form a
+company, "what shall the association be called?"
+
+Many names were suggested, among them that of "The Great Southern Mill
+Company," by Mark, who also proposed "The Florida and Wakulla Milling
+Association." Finally Mr. March proposed "The Elmer Mill Company," and
+after some discussion this name was adopted.
+
+Meantime Mr. Elmer had prepared a sheet of paper which he handed round
+for signatures, and when it was returned to him it read as follows:
+
+
+THE ELMER MILL COMPANY.
+
+WAKULLA, FLORIDA, January 10, 188-.
+
+The undersigned do hereby promise to pay into the capital stock of The
+Elmer Mill Company, upon demand of its Treasurer, the sums placed
+opposite their respective names:
+
+    Mark Elmer            $200
+    Ellen R. Elmer         200
+    Mark Elmer, Jun        100
+    Ruth Elmer             100
+    Harold March           100
+    Jan Jansen             100
+
+
+After these signatures had been obtained, Mr. March said that he had a
+proposition to lay before the company. It was that he should
+superintend the setting up of the mill machinery and its running for
+one year, for which service he should receive a salary of one hundred
+dollars. He also said that if the company saw fit to accept this offer
+he would at once subscribe the one hundred dollars salary to its
+capital stock in addition to the sum already set opposite his name.
+
+This proposition, being put to vote by the chairman, was unanimously
+accepted, and the amount opposite Mr. March's name on the subscription
+list was changed from one hundred dollars to two hundred dollars.
+
+Then Mr. Elmer said that he wished to lay some propositions before the
+company. One of them was that if they would accept the ferry franchise
+he had recently obtained, he would present it as a free gift. He also
+wished to propose to Mr. March and Master Frank March that they should
+build the ferry-boat, for which he would furnish the material. To the
+company he further proposed that if Mr. Frank March would agree for the
+sum of one hundred dollars to run the ferry-boat for one year from the
+time it was launched, his name should at once be placed upon the
+subscription list, and he be credited with one share of stock.
+
+All of these propositions having been accepted, the name of Frank March
+was added to the list, and the books were declared closed.
+
+Mr. Elmer said that the next business in order was the election of
+officers, and he called for nominations.
+
+Mrs. Elmer caused Mark to blush furiously by speaking of him in the
+most flattering terms as the originator of the scheme, and nominating
+him as president of the company.
+
+The list of officers, as finally prepared and submitted to the meeting,
+was as follows:
+
+    President                            Mark Elmer, Jun.
+    Vice-President and General Manager   Mark Elmer, Sen.
+    Treasurer                            Ellen R. Elmer.
+    Secretary                            Ruth Elmer.
+    Superintendent of Mills              Harold March.
+    Superintendent of Ferries            Frank March.
+
+And a Board of Directors, to consist of Jan Jansen, Esq., and the
+officers of the company ex-officio.
+
+This ticket being voted upon as a whole and unanimously elected, Mr.
+Elmer resigned his chair to the newly made President, who gravely asked
+if there was any further business before the meeting.
+
+"Mr. President," said Mr. March, "I wish to move that the name 'Elmer
+Mill Company,' which we recently adopted, be changed so as to read
+'Elmer Mill and Ferry Company.'"
+
+"All right," said the President; "you may move it."
+
+"I second the motion," said Mr. Elmer, laughing, "and call for the
+question."
+
+"Nobody's asked any," said Mark, looking rather bewildered.
+
+"I mean, Mr. President, that I call upon you to lay the motion just
+made by our distinguished superintendent of mills, and seconded by
+myself, before the meeting, that they may take action upon it."
+
+"Oh," said Mark; and remembering how his father had done it, he put the
+motion very properly, announced that the yeas had it, and that the name
+of the company was accordingly changed.
+
+Then the President made an address, in which he said that, after a most
+careful examination into the affairs of the Elmer Mill and Ferry
+Company, he was able to report most favorably as to its present
+condition. He found that they owned valuable mill buildings and
+machinery, and had contracted for a first-class ferry-boat, which was
+to be built immediately, and which had been paid for in advance. He
+also found that the two salaried officers of the company, the
+superintendent of mills and the superintendent of ferries, had been
+paid one year's salary in advance.
+
+In spite of these great outlays, he was informed by the treasurer that
+a cash balance of three hundred dollars remained in the treasury, and
+he congratulated the stockholders of the company upon its healthy and
+flourishing condition. This address was received with loud and
+prolonged applause.
+
+Before the meeting adjourned it was decided that the election of
+officers should be held annually, and that the Board of Directors
+should meet once a month.
+
+A meeting of this Board was held immediately upon the adjournment of
+the meeting of stockholders, and the general manager was instructed to
+purchase saw-mill machinery, and to begin the rebuilding of the dam at
+once.
+
+"Well, Ruth," said Mark, after all this business had been transacted,
+"now we ARE property owners sure enough. That newspaper was about right
+after all."
+
+After the others had gone to bed, Mr. Elmer and Mr. March talked for
+some time together, and this conversation resulted in the latter
+agreeing to move to Wakulla, and build a small house for himself and
+Frank on Mr. Elmer's land. He told Mr. Elmer that meeting him and his
+family had given him new ideas of life, and aroused a desire for better
+things both for himself and his son.
+
+The Sunday-school was well attended the next Sunday; and as Mr. Elmer
+had brought a package of song-books with him from Tallahassee, the
+scholars learned to sing several of the songs, and seemed to enjoy them
+very much.
+
+Monday was a rainy day, but as a rough shed had been built to serve as
+a temporary workshop, the ferry-boat was begun. On it Mr. March laid
+out enough work to keep all hands busy except Frank, who was still
+confined to the house.
+
+The rain fell steadily all that week, until the Elmers no longer
+wondered that bridges and dams were swept away in that country, and
+Mark said that if it did not stop pretty soon they would have to build
+an ark instead of a ferry-boat.
+
+As a result of the rainy week, the boat was finished, the seams were
+calked and pitched by Saturday night, and it was all ready to be
+launched on Monday. By that time the rain had ceased, and the weather
+was again warm and beautiful.
+
+On Monday morning Frank March left the house for the first time since
+he had been carried into it, and was invited to take a seat in the new
+boat. The mules were then hitched to it, and it was dragged in triumph
+to the edge of the river. It was followed by the whole family,
+including Aunt Chloe and Bruce, who had shown great delight at meeting
+his old master, Mr. March, and appeared to be ready to make up and be
+friends again with Frank, who had treated him so cruelly.
+
+At the water's edge the mules were unhitched, a long rope was attached
+to one end of the boat, stout shoulders were placed under the pry
+poles, and with a "Heave'o! and another! and still another!" it was
+finally slid into the water amid loud cheers from the assembled
+spectators. These cheers were answered from the other side of the
+river, where nearly the whole population of Wakulla had assembled to
+see the launch.
+
+Mark and Frank begged so hard to be allowed to take the boat across the
+river on a trial trip that Mr. Elmer said they might. Armed with long
+poles, they pushed off, but in a moment were swept down stream by the
+strong current in spite of all their efforts, and much to the dismay of
+Mrs. Elmer, who feared they were in danger.
+
+"Don't be alarmed, my dear," said her husband; "they are not in any
+danger in that boat. It will teach them a good lesson on the strength
+of currents, and they'll soon fetch up on one bank or the other."
+
+They did "fetch up" on the opposite side of the river after a while,
+but it was half a mile down stream. When they got the boat made fast to
+a tree, both boys were too thoroughly exhausted to attempt to force it
+back to Wakulla.
+
+Just as they had decided to leave the boat where she was and walk back
+through the woods, they heard a shout out on the river, and saw Jan and
+a colored man coming towards them in the skiff.
+
+The men took the poles and the boys, jumping into the skiff, made it
+fast to the bow of the boat with a tow-line; and, by keeping close to
+the bank, they finally succeeded, after two hours' hard work, in
+getting back to Wakulla. They left the boat on that side of the river
+for the time being, and all crossed in the skiff.
+
+The rest of that day was spent in planting two stout posts, one on each
+side of the river, close to the old bridge abutments, and in stretching
+across the river, from one post to the other, a wire cable that Mr.
+Elmer had bought for this purpose. A couple of iron pulley-wheels, to
+which were attached small but strong ropes, were placed on the cable,
+its ends were drawn taut by teams of mules, and anchored firmly in the
+ground about twenty feet behind each post.
+
+The ropes of the pulley-wheels were made fast to the bow and stern of
+the boat, and the forward one was drawn up short, while the other was
+left long enough to allow the boat to swing at an angle to the current.
+Then the boat was shoved off, and, without any poling, was carried by
+the force of the current quickly and steadily to the other side.
+
+A tin horn was attached by a light chain to each post, the ferry was
+formally delivered to Master Frank March, and it was declared open and
+ready for business.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE GREAT MILL PICNIC.
+
+
+The rates of ferriage were fixed at twenty-five cents for a team,
+fifteen cents for a man on horseback, ten cents for a single animal,
+and five cents for a foot-passenger. Two cards, with these rates neatly
+printed on them by Ruth in large letters, were tacked up on the
+anchorage posts, so that passengers might not have any chance to
+dispute with the ferryman, or "superintendent of ferries," as he liked
+to be called.
+
+Leaving him in charge of the boat--for he was not yet strong enough for
+more active work--and leaving Mr. March at work upon the house, Mr.
+Elmer, Mark, Jan, and four colored men, taking the mules with them, set
+out bright and early on Tuesday morning for the mill, to begin work on
+the dam.
+
+They found the pond empty, and exposing a large surface of black mud
+studded with the stumps of old trees, and the stream from the sulphur
+spring rippling along merrily in a channel it had cut for itself
+through the broken portion of the dam. While two men were set to
+digging a new channel for this stream, so as to lead it through the
+sluice-way, and leave the place where the work was to be done free from
+water, the others began to cut down half a dozen tall pines, and hew
+them into squared timbers.
+
+A deep trench was dug along the whole length of the broken part of the
+dam for a foundation, and into this was lowered one of the great
+squared timbers, forty feet long, that had six mortice-holes cut in its
+upper side. Into these holes were set six uprights, each ten feet long,
+and on top of these was placed as a stringer, another forty-foot
+timber. To this framework was spiked, on the inside, a close sheathing
+of plank. Heavy timber braces, the outer ends of which were let into
+mud-sills set in trenches dug thirty feet outside the dam, were sunk
+into the stringer, and the work of filling in with earth on the inside
+was begun. In two weeks the work was finished; the whole dam had been
+raised and strengthened, the floodgates were closed, and the pond began
+slowly to fill up.
+
+In the mean time the saw-mill machinery had been bought, the frame for
+the saw-mill had been cut and raised, and Mr. March, having finished
+the repairs on the house, was busy setting up the machinery and putting
+it in order.
+
+By the middle of February, or six weeks after the Elmers had landed in
+Wakulla, their influence had become very decidedly felt in the
+community. With their building, fencing, ploughing, and clearing, they
+had given employment to most of the working population of the place,
+and had put more money into circulation than had been seen there at any
+one time for years. Their house was now as neat and pretty as any in
+the county. The ten-acre field in front was ploughed, fenced, and
+planted, half in corn and half--no, not with orange-trees, but half was
+set out with young cabbage-plants; a homely crop, but one which Mr.
+Elmer had been advised would bring in good returns. The ferry was
+running regularly and was already much used by travellers from
+considerable distances on both sides of the river. The mill was
+finished and ready for business, and the millpond, instead of a mud
+flat, was a pretty sheet of water, fringed with palms and other
+beautiful trees. Above all, Mr. Elmer's health had so improved that he
+said he felt like a young man again, and able to do any amount of
+outdoor work.
+
+One Sunday morning after all this had been accomplished, Mr. Elmer
+announced to the Sunday-school that on the following Wednesday a grand
+picnic would be given in a pine grove midway between the Elmer Mill and
+the big sulphur spring, that the ferry would be run free all that day,
+and that all were cordially invited to come and enjoy themselves. He
+also said that the Elmer Mill would be opened for business on that day,
+and would grind, free of charge, one bushel of corn for every family in
+Wakulla who should bring it with them.
+
+This announcement created such a buzz of excitement that it was well it
+had not been made until after the exercises of the morning were over,
+for there could certainly have been no more Sunday-school that day.
+
+For the next two days the picnic was the all-absorbing topic of
+conversation, and wonderful stories were told and circulated of the
+quantities of goodies that were being made in the "Go Bang" kitchen.
+Aunt Chloe was frequently interviewed, and begged to tell exactly how
+much of these stories might be believed; but the old woman only shook
+her gayly turbaned head, and answered,
+
+"You's gwine see, chillun! you's gwine see; only jes' hab pashuns, an'
+you's gwine be 'warded by sich a sight ob fixin's as make yo' tink ole
+times back come, sho nuff."
+
+At last the eagerly expected morning dawned, and though a thick fog hid
+one bank of the river from the other, sounds of active stir and bustle
+announced to each community that the other was making ready for the
+great event.
+
+By nine o'clock the fog had lifted, and the sun shone out bright and
+warm. Before this Jan and the mules had made several trips between the
+house and the mill, each time with a heavy wagon load of--something.
+Mr. Elmer, Mr. March, and Mark had gone to the mill as soon as
+breakfast was over, and had not been seen since.
+
+Aunt Chloe had been bustling about her kitchen "sence de risin' ob de
+mo'nin' star," and was, in her own estimation, the most important
+person on the place that day. As for Bruce he was wild with excitement,
+and dashed at full speed from the house to the mill, and back again,
+barking furiously, and trying to tell volumes of, what seemed to him,
+important news.
+
+As soon as the fog lifted, the horn on the opposite side of the river
+began to blow impatient summonses for the "superintendent of ferries,"
+and busy times immediately began for Frank.
+
+What funny loads of black people he brought over! Old gray-headed
+uncles, leaning on canes, who told stories of "de good ole times long
+befo' de wah"; middle-aged men and women who rejoiced in the present
+good times of freedom, and comical little pickaninnies, who looked
+forward with eagerness to the good times to come to them within an hour
+or so.
+
+And then the teams, the queer home-made carts, most of them drawn by a
+single steer or cow hitched into shafts, in which the bushels of corn
+were brought; for everybody who could obtain a bushel of corn had taken
+Mr. Elmer at his word, and brought it along to be ground free of charge.
+
+One of the men, after seeing his wife and numerous family of children
+safely on board the boat, went up to Frank with a beaming face, and
+said,
+
+"Misto Frank, I'se bought a ok. Dar he is hitched into dat ar kyart,
+an' oh! he do plough splendid!"
+
+The "ok," which poor Joe thought was the proper singular of "oxes," as
+he would have called a pair of them, was a meek-looking little
+creature, harnessed to an old two-wheeled cart by a perfect tangle of
+ropes and chains. He was so small that even Frank, accustomed as he was
+to the ways of the country, almost smiled at the idea of its "ploughing
+splendid."
+
+He didn't, though; for honest Joe was waiting to hear his purchase
+praised, and Frank praised it by saying it was one of the handsomest
+oxen of its size he had ever seen. Joe was fully satisfied with this,
+and when the boat reached the other side, hurried off to find new
+admirers for this first piece of actual property he had ever owned, and
+to tell them that "Misto Frank March, who know all about oxes, say dis
+yere ok de han'somes' he ebber seed."
+
+Of course the Bevils and Carters came over to the picnic. Grace Bevil,
+of whom Ruth had already made a great friend, waited with her at the
+house until the last boat-load of people had been ferried across. Then
+Frank called them, and after helping them into the canoe and telling
+them to sit quiet as 'possums, paddled it up the wild, beautiful river
+to the mill.
+
+This was a novel experience to the little Wakulla girl, who had never
+in her life before travelled so easily and swiftly. She afterwards told
+her mother that, as she looked far down into the clear depths of the
+water above which they glided, she thought she knew how angels felt
+flying through the air.
+
+By the time they reached the mill more than a hundred persons were
+assembled near it, and Mr. Elmer was talking to them from the steps.
+They were in time to hear him say,
+
+"The Elmer Mill is now about to be opened for business and set to work.
+A bushel of corn belonging to Uncle Silas Brim, the oldest man present,
+has been placed in the hopper, and will be the first ground."
+
+Then Mark, who, as president of the Elmer Mill and Ferry Company, was
+allowed the honor of so doing, pressed a lever that opened the
+floodgates. A stream of water dashed through the race, the great wheel
+began to turn, and, as they heard the whir of the machinery, the crowd
+cheered again and again. In a little while Uncle Silas Brim's corn was
+returned to him in the form of a sack of fine yellow meal. After that
+the bushels of corn poured in thick and fast, and for the rest of the
+day the Elmer Mill continued its pleasant work of charity.
+
+As the novelty of watching the mill at work wore off, the people began
+to stroll towards the grove near the sulphur spring, in which an
+odd-looking structure had been erected the day before, and now
+attracted much attention. It was a long, low shed, or booth, built of
+poles thatched with palm-leaves woven so close that its interior was
+completely hidden. Mrs. Elmer, Mrs. Bevil, Mrs. Carter, Ruth, Grace,
+and Aunt Chloe were known to be inside, but what they were doing was a
+mystery that no one could solve.
+
+"Reckon dey's a-fixin' up sandwitches," said one.
+
+"Yo' g'way, chile! Who ebber heerd ob sich nonsens? 'Tain't no witches
+ob no kine; hits somefin' to eat, I tell yo'. I kin smell hit," said an
+old aunty, who sniffed the air vigorously as she spoke.
+
+This opinion was strengthened when Aunt Chloe appeared at the entrance
+of the booth, before which hung a curtain of white muslin, and in a
+loud voice commanded all present to provide themselves "wif palmetter
+leafs fo' plateses, an' magnole leafs fo' cupses."
+
+When all had so provided themselves, they were formed, two by two, into
+a long procession by several young colored men whom Mr. Elmer had
+appointed to act as marshals, the white curtain was drawn aside, and
+they were invited to march into the booth. As they did so, a sight
+greeted their eyes that caused them to give a sort of suppressed cheer
+of delight. The interior was hung and trimmed with great bunches of
+sweet-scented swamp azalea, yellow jasmine, and other wild spring
+flowers, of which the woods were full. But it was not towards the
+flowers that all eyes were turned, nor they that drew forth the
+exclamations of delight; it was the table, and what it bore. It reached
+from one end of the booth to the other, and was loaded with such a
+variety and quantity of good things as none of them had ever seen
+before. On freshly-cut palm leaves were heaped huge piles of brown
+crullers, and these were flanked by pans of baked beans. Boiled hams
+appeared in such quantities that Uncle Silas Brim was heard to say,
+"Hit do my ole heart good to see sich a sight ob hog meat."
+
+Every bit of space not otherwise occupied was filled with pies and
+cakes. Knives and forks had been provided for everybody, and there were
+a few tin cups which were reserved for coffee. As plates were very
+scarce, palmetto leaves had to be used instead; and for those who
+wished to drink water, the magnolia leaves, bent so that the ends
+lapped, made excellent cups.
+
+How they did enjoy that dinner! How savagely the hams were attacked!
+How the beans and crullers were appreciated, and how rapidly the pies
+and cakes disappeared! How the coffee, with plenty of "sweet'nin'" in
+it, was relished. In other words, what a grand feast it was to them.
+How much and how quickly they ate on that occasion can still be learned
+from any resident of Wakulla; for they talk of "de feed at de openin'
+ob dat ar Elmer Mill" to this day.
+
+Mark says it was the opening of about a hundred mills, all provided
+with excellent machinery for grinding.
+
+After dinner they sang, and listened to the music of Ruth's organ,
+which had been brought from the house for the occasion, and placed at
+one end of the booth. Then some one produced a fiddle, and they danced.
+Not only a few danced, but all danced--old and young; and those who
+stopped to rest patted time on their knees to encourage the others.
+
+About four o'clock in the afternoon, or about "two hour by sun in the
+evening," as the Wakulla people say, the last bushel of corn was
+ground. What remained uneaten of the dinner was distributed among those
+who needed it most, and the picnic was ended. With many bows and
+courtesies to their hosts, the happy company began to troop, or squeak
+along in their little ungreased carts, towards the ferry, where Frank
+was already on hand waiting to set them across the river.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+FIGHTING A FOREST FIRE.
+
+
+Although the day of the picnic was warm and pleasant, a strong breeze
+from the southward had been blowing since early morning, and during the
+afternoon it increased to a high wind. As the Elmers rode home after
+the last of the happy picnickers had departed, they noticed a heavy
+cloud of smoke in the southern sky, and Mr. Elmer asked Mr. March what
+he thought it was.
+
+"It looks as though some of the settlers down there were burning grass,
+though they ought to know better than to start fires on a day like
+this," answered Mr. March.
+
+"But what do they do it for?" asked Mr. Elmer.
+
+"So as to burn off the old dead grass, and give their cattle a chance
+to get at that which immediately springs up wherever the fire has
+passed. But the practice ought to be stopped by law, for more timber
+and fences, and sometimes houses, are destroyed every year than all the
+cattle in the country are worth."
+
+"Well, I hope it won't come our way tonight," said Mr. Elmer, "and
+first thing in the morning I will set the men to work clearing and
+ploughing a wide strip entirely around the place. Then we may have some
+chance of successfully fighting this new enemy."
+
+Instead of dying out at sunset, as it usually did, the wind increased
+to a gale as darkness set in, and Mr. Elmer cast many troubled glances
+at the dull red glow in the southern sky before he retired that night.
+
+Mark and Frank occupied the same room, for Mr. March had not yet found
+time to build a house, and it seemed to them as though they had but
+just fallen asleep when they were aroused by Mr. Elmer's voice calling
+through the house,
+
+"Wake up! Everybody dress and come downstairs as quickly as you can.
+Mark! Frank! Hurry, boys!"
+
+"What is it, father?" asked Mark, as he tumbled down-stairs and burst
+into the sitting-room only about half dressed, but rapidly completing
+the operation as he ran. "What's the matter? Is the house on fire?"
+
+"No, my boy, not yet, but it's likely to be very soon if we are not
+quick in trying to save it. The piney woods to the south of us are all
+in a blaze, and this gale's driving it towards us at a fearful rate. I
+want you and Frank to go as quickly as you can across the river and
+rouse up every soul in the village. Get every team and plough in
+Wakulla, and bring them over, together with every man and boy who can
+handle an axe."
+
+Mr. Elmer had hardly finished before both boys were out of the house
+and running towards the river. Although it was still several miles off,
+they could already hear the roar of the flames rising above that of the
+wind, and could smell the smoke of the burning forest.
+
+They were soon across the river, and while Mark ran to the houses of
+Mr. Bevil and Mr. Carter to waken those gentlemen, Frank bethought
+himself of the church-bell, which hung from a rude frame outside the
+building, and hurrying to it, seized the rope and began to pull it
+violently.
+
+The effect of the loud clanging of the bell was almost instantaneous,
+and the colored people began pouring from their tumble-down old houses,
+and hurrying towards the church to see what was the matter. Many of
+them in their haste came just as they had jumped from their beds; but
+the darkness of the night and their own color combined to hide the fact
+that they were not fully dressed, until some light-wood torches were
+brought, when there was a sudden scattering among them.
+
+Frank quickly explained the cause of the alarm, and the men hurried off
+to get their teams, ploughs, and axes; for Mr. Elmer had been so kind
+to them that all were anxious to do what they could to help him in this
+time of trouble.
+
+Among the first boat-load that Frank ferried across the river was Black
+Joe, with his "ok" attached to a very small plough, with which he felt
+confident he could render most valuable assistance.
+
+By the light of the approaching flames surrounding objects could
+already be distinguished, and as they hurried up to the house the first
+comers found Mr. Elmer, Mr. March, and Jan hard at work. They were
+clearing brush and hauling logs away from the immediate vicinity of the
+out-buildings, and had got quite a space ready in which the ploughs
+could be set to work.
+
+In the house Mrs. Elmer, Ruth, and Aunt Chloe had collected all the
+carpets, blankets, and woollen goods they could lay their hands on, and
+piled them near the cistern, where they could be quickly soaked with
+water, and placed over exposed portions of the walls or roof. They were
+now busy packing up clothing and lighter articles of furniture, ready
+for instant removal.
+
+As fast as the teams and ploughs arrived, Mr. Elmer set them to work
+ploughing long furrows through the dry grass about a rod outside the
+line of fence nearest the approaching flames. Inside this line he and
+Mr. March set the grass on fire in many places. They could easily check
+these small fires as they reached the fence by beating them out with
+cedar boughs.
+
+Meantime the flames came roaring and rushing on, leaping from tree to
+tree, and fanned into fury by the fierce wind. Above them hundreds of
+birds fluttered and circled with shrill cries of distress, until,
+bewildered by the smoke and glare, they fell, helpless victims, into
+the terrible furnace.
+
+Wild animals of all kinds, among which were a small herd of deer,
+dashed out of the woods ahead of the fire, and fled across the open
+field unmolested by the men, who were too busy to give them a thought.
+
+In his zeal to do his utmost, and to show what a splendid animal he
+had, Black Joe was ploughing far ahead of the others, when suddenly he
+saw rushing from the forest, and coming directly towards him, a bear.
+Terror-stricken at this sight, and without stopping to reflect that the
+bear was himself too frightened to harm anybody just then, Joe dropped
+the plough-handles and ran, leaving his beloved ox to its fate. The ox
+thus left to himself tried to run, too, but the plough became caught on
+a small tree and held it fast.
+
+As the flames approached, the poor animal bellowed with fear and pain,
+and struggled wildly, but unsuccessfully, to get free. It would have
+certainly fallen a victim to the flames had not Mark, who had been busy
+lighting back-fires, seen its danger and ran to its rescue. Cutting the
+rope traces with his pocket-knife, he set the ox free; and following
+the example of its master, it galloped clumsily across the open field.
+The ox fled with such a bellowing and such a jangling of chains that
+poor Joe, who was hidden behind a great stump on the farther side of
+the field, was nearly frightened out of his few remaining senses when
+he saw this terrible monster charging out the fire and directly upon
+him. He threw himself flat on the ground, screaming "g'way fum yere!
+g'way fum yere! Luff dis po' niggah be; he ain't a-doin' nuffin."
+
+Afterwards he was never known to speak of this adventure but once, when
+he said,
+
+"I allus knowed dat ar ok was somfin better'n common; but when I see
+him come a-rarin' an' a-tarin', an' a-janglin' right fo' me, I 'lowed
+'twas ole Nick hise'f come fo' Black Joe, sho nuff."
+
+As the other ploughmen were driven from their work by the heat and the
+swirling smoke, they set back-fires all along the line, and retreated
+in good order to the house. Here, although the heat was intense and the
+smoke almost suffocating, they made a stand. Mrs. Elmer and Ruth had
+already taken refuge on the ferry-boat, from which they watched the
+progress of the flames with the most intense anxiety.
+
+Under Mr. Elmer's direction the men covered the walls and roof of the
+house, which had already caught fire in several places, with wet
+blankets and carpets, and poured buckets of water over them. From these
+such volumes of steam arose that poor Ruth, seeing it from a distance,
+thought the house was surely on fire, and burst into tears.
+
+So busy were all hands in saving the house that they paid no attention
+to the out-buildings, until Aunt Chloe, who had been working with the
+best of the men, screamed, "Oh, de chickuns! de chickuns!"
+
+Looking towards the hen-house, they saw its roof in a bright blaze, and
+Aunt Chloe running in that direction with an axe in her hand. The old
+woman struck several powerful blows against the side of the slight
+building, and broke in two boards before the heat drove her away.
+Through this opening several of the poor fowls escaped; but most of
+them were miserably roasted, feathers and all.
+
+This was the last effort of the fire in this direction, for the portion
+of it that met the cleared spaces, new furrows, and back-fires, soon
+subsided for want of fuel; while beyond the fields it swept away to the
+northward, bearing death and destruction in its course.
+
+While most of the men had been engaged in saving the house and its
+adjoining fences, a small party, under the direction of Mr. March, had
+guarded the mill. They, however, had little to do save watch for flying
+embers, it was so well protected by its pond on one side and the river
+on the other.
+
+By sunrise all danger had passed, and heartily thanking the kind
+friends who had come so readily to his assistance, Mr. Elmer dismissed
+them to their homes.
+
+It took several days to recover from the effects of the great fire, and
+to restore things to their former neat condition; but Mr. Elmer said
+that, even if they had suffered more than they did, it would have been
+a valuable lesson to them, and one for which they could well afford to
+pay.
+
+Soon after this Mr. Elmer decided to go to Tallahassee again to make a
+purchase of cattle; for, with thousands of acres of free pasturage all
+around them, it seemed a pity not to take advantage of it. Therefore he
+determined to experiment in a small way with stock-raising, and see if
+he could not make it pay. This time he took Mark with him, and instead
+of going down the river to St. Mark's to take the train, they crossed
+on the ferry, and had Jan drive them in the mule wagon four miles
+across country to the railroad. On their way they came to a fork in the
+road, and not knowing which branch to take, waited until they could ask
+a little colored girl whom they saw approaching. She said, "Dis yere
+humpety road'll take yo' to Misto Gilcriseses' plantation, an' den yo'
+turn to de right ober de trabblin' road twel yo' come to Brer Steve's
+farm, an' thar yo' be."
+
+"Father, what is the difference between a plantation and a farm?" asked
+Mark, as they journeyed along over the "humpety" road.
+
+"As near as I can find out," said Mr. Elmer, "the only difference is
+that one is owned by a white, and the other by a colored man."
+
+They found "Brer Steve's" house without any difficulty, and, sure
+enough, there they were, as the little girl had said they would be; for
+"Brer Steve" lived close to the railroad, and the station was on his
+place.
+
+Mark was delighted with Tallahassee, which he found to be a very
+pleasant though small city, built on a hill, and surrounded by other
+hills. Its streets were shaded by magnificent elms and oaks, and these
+and the hills were grateful to the eye of the Maine boy, who had not
+yet learned to love the flat country in which his present home stood.
+
+They spent Sunday in Tallahassee, and on Monday started for home before
+daylight, on horseback and driving a small herd of cattle, which, with
+two horses, Mr. Elmer had bought on Saturday. As Saturday is the
+regular market-day, when all the country people from miles around flock
+into town to sell what they have for sale, and to purchase supplies for
+the following week, Mark was much amused and interested by what he saw.
+Although in Tallahassee there are no street auctions as in Key West,
+there was just as much business done on the sidewalks and in the
+streets here as there.
+
+It seemed very strange to the Northern boy to see cattle and pigs
+roaming the streets at will, and he wondered that they were allowed to
+do so. When he saw one of these street cows place her fore-feet on the
+wheel of a wagon, and actually climb up until she could reach a bag of
+sweet-potatoes that lay under the seat, he laughed until he cried.
+Without knowing or caring how much amusement she was causing, the cow
+stole a potato from the bag, jumped down, and quietly munched it. This
+feat was repeated again and again, until finally an end was put to
+Mark's and the cow's enjoyment of the meal, by the arrival of the
+colored owner of both wagon and potatoes, who indignantly drove the cow
+away, calling her "a ole good-fo'-nuffin'."
+
+Mark said that after that he could never again give as an answer to the
+conundrum, "Why is a cow like an elephant?" "Because she can't climb a
+tree;" for he thought this particular cow could climb a tree, and
+would, if a bag of sweet-potatoes were placed in the top of it where
+she could see it.
+
+It was late Monday evening before they reached home with their new
+purchases, and both they and their horses and their cattle were pretty
+thoroughly tired with their long day's journey. The next day, when Ruth
+saw the horses, one of which had but one white spot in his forehead,
+while the other had two, one over each eye, she immediately named them
+"Spot" and "Spotter." Mark said that if there had been another without
+any spots on his forehead he supposed she would have named him
+"Spotless."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+HOW THE BOYS CAUGHT AN ALLIGATOR
+
+
+"Hi! Mark," shouted Frank from his ferry-boat one warm morning in
+March, "come here a minute. I've got something to tell you. Great
+scheme."
+
+"Can't," called Mark--"got to go to mill."
+
+"Well, come when you get back."
+
+"All right."
+
+Mark and Frank had by this time become the best of friends, for each
+had learned to appreciate the good points of the other, and to value
+his opinions. Their general information was as different as possible,
+and each thought that the other knew just the very things a boy ought
+to know. While Mark's knowledge was of books, games, people, and places
+that seemed to Frank almost like foreign countries, he knew the names
+of every wild animal, bird, fish, tree, and flower to be found in the
+surrounding country, and was skilled in all tricks of woodcraft.
+
+Since this boy had first entered the Elmer household, wounded, dirty,
+and unkempt as a young savage, he had changed so wonderfully for the
+better that his best friends of a few months back would not have
+recognized him. He was now clean, and neatly dressed in an old suit of
+Mark's which just fitted him, and his hair, which had been long and
+tangled, was cut short and neatly brushed. Being naturally of a sunny
+and affectionate disposition, the cheerful home influences, the
+motherly care of Mrs. Elmer, whose heart was very tender towards the
+motherless boy, and, above all, the great alteration in his father's
+manner, had changed the shy, sullen lad, such as he had been, into an
+honest, happy fellow, anxious to do right, and in every way to please
+the kind friends to whom his debt of gratitude was so great. His
+regular employment at the ferry, the feeling that he was useful, and,
+more than anything else, the knowledge that he was one of the
+proprietors of the Elmer Mill, gave him a sense of dignity and
+importance that went far towards making him contented with his new mode
+of life. Mark, Ruth, and he studied for two hours together every
+evening under Mrs. Elmer's direction, and though Frank was far behind
+the others, he bade fair to become a first-class scholar.
+
+Mr. Elmer was not a man who thought boys were only made to get as much
+work out of as possible. He believed in a liberal allowance to play,
+and said that when the work came it would be done all the better for
+it. So, every other day, Mark and Frank were sent down to St. Mark's in
+the canoe for the mail, allowed to take their guns and fishing-tackle
+with them, and given permission to stay out as long as they chose,
+provided they came home before dark. Sometimes Ruth was allowed to go
+with them, greatly to her delight, for she was very fond of fishing,
+and always succeeded in catching her full share. While the boys were
+thus absent, Mr. Elmer took charge of whatever work Mark might have
+been doing, and Jan always managed to be within sound of the ferry-horn.
+
+On one of their first trips down the river Mark had called Frank's
+attention to the head of a small animal that was rapidly swimming in
+the water close under an overhanging bank, and asked him what it was.
+
+For answer Frank said, "Sh!" carefully laid down his paddle, and taking
+up the rifle, fired a hasty and unsuccessful shot at the creature,
+which dived at the flash, and was seen no more.
+
+"What was it?" asked Mark.
+
+"An otter," answered Frank, "and his skin would be worth five dollars
+in Tallahassee."
+
+"My!" exclaimed Mark, "is that so? Why can't we catch some, and sell
+the skins?"
+
+"We could if we only had some traps."
+
+"What kind of traps?"
+
+"Double-spring steel are the best."
+
+"I'm going to buy some, first chance I get," said Mark; "and if you'll
+show me how to set 'em, and how to skin the otters and dress the skins,
+and help do the work, we'll go halves on all we make."
+
+Frank had agreed to this; and when Mark went to Tallahassee he bought
+six of the best steel traps he could find. These had been carefully set
+in likely places along the river, baited with fresh fish, and visited
+regularly by one or the other of the boys twice a day. At first they
+had been very successful, as was shown by the ten fine otter-skins
+carefully stretched over small boards cut for the purpose, and drying
+in the workshop; but then, their good fortune seemed to desert them.
+
+As the season advanced, and the weather grew warmer, they began
+frequently to find their traps sprung, but empty, or containing only
+the foot of an otter. At first they thought the captives had gnawed off
+their own feet in order to escape; but when, only the day before the
+one with which this chapter opens, they had found in one of the traps
+the head of an otter minus its body, this theory had to be abandoned.
+
+"I never heard of an otter's gnawing off his own head," said Frank, as
+he examined the grinning trophy he had just taken from the trap, "and I
+don't believe he could do it anyhow. I don't think he could pull it off
+either; besides, it's a clean cut; it doesn't look as if it had been
+pulled off."
+
+"No," said Mark, gravely; for both boys had visited the traps on this
+occasion. "I don't suppose he could have gnawed off, or pulled off, his
+own head. He must have taken his jack-knife from his pocket, quietly
+opened it, deliberately cut off his head, and calmly walked away."
+
+"I have it!" exclaimed Frank, after a few minutes of profound thought,
+as the boys paddled homeward.
+
+"What?" asked Mark--"the otter?"
+
+"No, but I know who stole him. It's one of the very fellows that tried
+to get me."
+
+"Alligators!" shouted Mark.
+
+"Yes, alligators; I expect they're the very thieves who have been
+robbing our traps."
+
+The next day at noon, when Mark finished his work at the mill, he
+hurried back to the ferry to see what Frank meant when he called him
+that morning, and said he had something to tell him.
+
+Frank had gone to the other side of the river with a passenger, but he
+soon returned.
+
+"Well, what is it?" asked Mark, as he helped make the boat fast.
+
+"It's this," said Frank. "I've seen a good many alligators in the river
+lately, and I've had my eye on one big old fellow in particular. He
+spends most of his time in that little cove down there; but I've
+noticed that whenever a dog barks, close to the river or when he is
+crossing on the ferry, the old 'gator paddles out a little way from the
+cove, and looks very wishfully in that direction. I know alligators are
+more fond of dog-meat than anything else, but they won't refuse fish
+when nothing better offers. Now look here."
+
+Going to the other end of the boat as he spoke, Frank produced a coil
+of light, but strong Manila line that he had obtained at the house. To
+one end of this rope were knotted a dozen strands of stout fish-line,
+and the ends of these were made fast to the middle of a round hickory
+stick, about six inches long, and sharply pointed at each end. These
+sharp ends had also been charred to harden them.
+
+"There," said Frank, as Mark gazed at this outfit with a perplexed
+look, "that's my alligator line; and after dinner, if you'll help me,
+we'll fish for that old fellow in the cove."
+
+"All right," said Mark; "I'm your man; but where's your hook?"
+
+"This," answered Frank, holding up the bit of sharpened stick. "It's
+all the hook I want, and I'll show you how to use it when we get ready."
+
+After dinner the boys found several teams on both sides of the river
+waiting to be ferried across; then Mark had to go with Jan for a load
+of fence posts, so that it wanted only about an hour of sundown when
+they finally found themselves at liberty to carry out their designs
+against the alligator.
+
+Frank said this was all the better, as alligators fed at night, and the
+nearer dark it was, the hungrier the old fellow would be.
+
+Taking a large fish, one of a half a dozen he had caught during the
+day, Frank thrust the bit of stick, with the line attached, into its
+mouth and deep into its body. "There," said he, "now you see that if
+the 'gator swallows that fish he swallows the stick too. He swallows it
+lengthwise, but a strain on the line fixes it crosswise, and it won't
+come out unless Mr. 'Gator comes with it. Sabe?"
+
+"I see," answered Mark; "but what am I to do?"
+
+"I want you to lie down flat in the boat, and hold on to the line about
+twenty feet from this end, which I am going to make fast to the ferry
+post. Keep it clear of the bank, and let the bait float well out in the
+stream. The minute the 'gator swallows it, do you give the line a jerk
+as hard as you can, so as to fix the stick crosswise in his gullet."
+
+"All right," said Mark; "I understand. And what are you going to do?"
+
+"Oh, I'm going to play dog," answered Frank, with a laugh, as he walked
+off down the riverbank, leaving Mark to wonder what he meant.
+
+Frank crept softly along until he was very near the alligator cove,
+just above which he could see the fish, which Mark had let drop
+down-stream, floating on the surface of the water. Then he lay down,
+and began to whine like a puppy in distress. As soon as Mark heard this
+he knew what his friend meant by playing dog, and he smiled at the
+capital imitation, which would have certainly deceived even him if he
+had not known who the puppy really was.
+
+Frank whined most industriously for five minutes or so, and even
+attempted two or three feeble barks, but they were not nearly so
+artistic as the whines. Then he stopped, for his quick eye detected
+three black objects moving on the water not far from the bank. These
+objects were the alligator's two eyes and the end of his snout, which
+were all of him that showed, the remainder of his body being completely
+submerged. He was looking for that puppy, and thinking how much he
+should enjoy it for his supper if he could only locate the whine, and
+be able to stop it forever.
+
+Again it sounds, clear and distinct, and the sly old 'gator comes on a
+little farther, alert and watchful, but without making so much as a
+ripple to betray his presence.
+
+Now the whine sounds fainter and fainter, as though the puppy were
+moving away, and finally it ceases altogether.
+
+Mr. Alligator is very much disappointed; and now, noticing the fish for
+the first time, concludes that though not nearly so good as puppy, fish
+is much better than nothing, and he had better secure it before it
+swims away.
+
+He does not use caution now; he has learned that fish must be caught
+quickly or not at all, and he goes for it with a rush. The great jaws
+open and close with a snap, the fish disappears, and the alligator
+thinks he will go back to his cove to listen again for that puppy
+whine. As he turns he opens his mouth to clear his teeth of something
+that has become entangled between them. Suddenly a tremendous jerk at
+his mouth is accompanied by a most disagreeable sensation in his
+stomach. He tries to pull away from both the entanglement and the
+sensation, but finds himself caught and held fast.
+
+Mark gives a cheer as he jumps up from his uncomfortable position at
+the bottom of the ferry-boat, and Frank echoes it as he dashes out of
+the bushes and seizes hold of the line.
+
+Now the alligator pulls and the boys pull, and if the line had not been
+made fast to the post, the former would certainly have pulled away from
+them or dragged them into the river. He lashes the water into foam, and
+bellows with rage, while they yell with delight and excitement. The
+stout post is shaken, and the Manila line hums like a harp-string.
+
+"It'll hold him!" screams Frank. "He can't get away now. See the reason
+for that last six feet of small lines, Mark? They're so he can't bite
+the rope; the little lines slip in between his teeth."
+
+The noise of the struggle and the shouts of the boys attracted the
+notice of the men on their way home from work at the mill, and they
+came running down to the ferry to see what was the matter.
+
+"We were fishing for minnows," explained Mark, "and we've caught a
+whale. Take hold here and help us haul him in."
+
+The men caught hold of the rope, and slowly but surely, in spite of his
+desperate struggles, the alligator was drawn towards them.
+
+Suddenly he makes a rush at them, and, as the line slackens, the men
+fall over backward in a heap, and their enemy disappears in deep water.
+He has not got away, though--a pull on the line assures them of that;
+and again he is drawn up, foot by foot, until half his body is out on
+the bank. He is a monster, and Jan with an uplifted axe approaches him
+very carefully.
+
+"Look out, Jan!" shouts Frank.
+
+The warning comes too late; like lightning the great tail sweeps round,
+and man and axe are flung ten feet into the bushes.
+
+Luckily no bones are broken, but poor Jan is badly bruised and
+decidedly shaken up. He does not care to renew the attack, and Frank
+runs to the house for a rifle. Taking steady aim, while standing at a
+respectful distance from that mighty tail, he sends a bullet crashing
+through the flat skull, and the struggle is ended.
+
+That evening was spent in telling and in listening to alligator
+stories, and Frank was the hero of the hour for having so skilfully
+captured and killed the alligator that had been for a long time the
+dread of the community.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+A FIRE HUNT, AND MARK'S DISAPPEARANCE.
+
+
+Besides showing Mark how to catch otter and alligators, Frank taught
+him how to kill or capture various other wild animals. Among other
+things he made plain the mysteries of fire hunting for deer, and this
+proved a more fascinating sport to Mark than any other. As explained by
+Frank, fire hunting is hunting at night, either on foot or horseback,
+by means of a fire-pan. This is an iron cage attached to the end of a
+light pole. It is filled with blazing light-wood knots, and the pole is
+carried over the hunter's left shoulder, so that the blaze is directly
+behind and a little above his head. While he himself is shrouded in
+darkness, any object getting within the long lane of light cast in
+front of him is distinctly visible, and in this light the eyes of a
+wild animal shine like coals of fire. The animal, fascinated by the
+light, as all wild animals are, and being unable to see the hunter,
+stands perfectly still, watching the mysterious flames as they
+approach, until perhaps the first warning he has of danger is the
+bullet that, driven into his brain between the shining eyes,
+permanently satisfies his curiosity.
+
+When he goes afoot, the hunter must take with him an assistant to carry
+a bag of pine knots to replenish the fire; but on horseback he can
+carry his own fuel in a sack behind the saddle.
+
+Some fire hunters prefer to carry a powerful bull's-eye lantern
+strapped in front of their hats; but our boys did not possess any
+bull's-eyes, and were forced to be content with the more primitive
+fire-pans.
+
+A method similar to this is practised by the hunters of the North, who
+go at night in boats or canoes to the edges of ponds to which deer
+resort to feed upon lily-pads. There this method of hunting is called
+"jacking" for deer, and the fire-pan, or "jack," is fixed in the bow of
+the boat, while the hunter, rifle in hand, crouches and watches beneath
+it.
+
+Their first attempt at fire hunting was made by the boys on foot in the
+woods near the mill; but here they made so much noise in the underbrush
+that, though they "shined" several pairs of eyes, these vanished before
+a shot could be fired at them. In consequence of this ill-luck they
+returned home tired and disgusted, and Mark said he didn't think fire
+hunting was very much fun after all.
+
+Soon after this, however, Frank persuaded him to try it again, and this
+time they went on horseback. Both the Elmer horses were accustomed to
+the sound of fire-arms, and warranted, when purchased, to stand
+perfectly still, even though a gun should be rested between their ears
+and discharged.
+
+This time, having gone into a more open country, the hunters were
+successful; and having shot his first deer, and being well smeared with
+its blood by Frank, Mark came home delighted with his success and
+anxious to go on another hunt as soon as possible.
+
+The country to the east of Wakulla being very thinly settled, abounded
+with game of all descriptions, and especially deer. In it were vast
+tracts of open timber lands that were quite free from underbrush, and
+admirably fitted for hunting. This country was, however, much broken,
+and contained many dangerous "sink holes."
+
+In speaking of this section, and in describing these "sink holes" to
+the Elmers one evening, Mr. March had said,
+
+"Sinks, or sink holes, such as the country to the east of this abounds
+in, are common to all limestone formations. They are sudden and
+sometimes very deep depressions or breaks in the surface of the ground,
+caused by the wearing away of the limestone beneath it by underground
+currents of water or rivers. In most of these holes standing water of
+great depth is found, and sometimes swiftly running water. I know
+several men who have on their places what they call 'natural wells,' or
+small, deep holes in the ground, at the bottom of which flow streams of
+water. Many of these sinks are very dangerous, as they open so abruptly
+that a person might walk into one of them on a dark night before he was
+aware of its presence. Several people who have mysteriously disappeared
+in this country are supposed to have lost their lives in that way."
+
+This conversation made a deep impression upon Mark, and when the boys
+started on horseback, one dark night towards the end of March, with the
+intention of going on a fire hunt in this very "sink hole" country, he
+said to Frank, as they rode along,
+
+"How about those holes in the ground that your father told us about the
+other night. Isn't it dangerous for us to go among them?"
+
+"Not a bit of danger," answered Frank, "as long as you're on horseback.
+A horse'll always steer clear of 'em."
+
+When they reached the hunting-ground, and had lighted the pine-knots in
+their fire-pans, Frank said,
+
+"There's no use our keeping together; we'll never get anything if we
+do. I'll follow that star over this way"--and he pointed as he spoke to
+a bright one in the north-east--"and you go towards that one"--pointing
+to one a little south of east. "We'll ride for an hour, and then if we
+haven't had any luck we'll make the best of our way home. Remember that
+to get home you must keep the North-star exactly on your right hand,
+and by going due west you'll be sure to strike the road that runs up
+and down the river. If either of us fires, the other is to go to him at
+once, firing signal guns as he goes, and these the other must answer so
+as to show where he is."
+
+Mark promised to follow these instructions, and as the two boys
+separated, little did either of them imagine the terrible circumstances
+under which their next meeting was to take place.
+
+Mark had ridden slowly along for some time, carefully scanning the lane
+of light ahead of him, without shining a single pair of eyes, and was
+beginning to feel oppressed by the death-like stillness and solitude
+surrounding him. Suddenly his light disappeared, his horse reared into
+the air, almost unseating him, and then dashed madly forward through
+the darkness.
+
+The fire-pan, carelessly made, had given way, its blazing contents had
+fallen on the horse's back, and, wild with pain, he was running away.
+All this darted through Mark's mind in an instant; but before he had
+time to think what he should do, the horse, with a snort of terror,
+stopped as suddenly as he had started--so suddenly as to throw himself
+back on his haunches, and to send Mark flying through the air over his
+head.
+
+Thus relieved of his rider, the horse wheeled and bounded away. At the
+same instant Mark's rifle, which he had held in his hand, fell to the
+ground, and was discharged with a report that rang loudly through the
+still night air.
+
+The sound was distinctly heard by Frank, who was less than a mile away;
+and thinking it a signal from his companion, he rode rapidly in the
+direction from which it had come. He had not gone far before he heard
+the rapid galloping of a horse, apparently going in the direction of
+Wakulla. Although he fired his own rifle repeatedly, he got no
+response, and he finally concluded that Mark was playing a practical
+joke, and had ridden home after firing his gun without waiting for him.
+Thus thinking, he turned his own horse's head towards home, and an hour
+later reached the house.
+
+He found Mark's horse standing at the stable door in a lather of foam,
+and still saddled and bridled. Then it flashed across him that
+something had happened to Mark, and, filled with a sickening dread, he
+hurried into the house and aroused Mr. Elmer.
+
+"Hasn't Mark come home?" he inquired, in a husky voice.
+
+"No, not yet. Isn't he with you?" asked Mr. Elmer, in surprise.
+
+"No; and if he isn't here something dreadful has happened to him, I'm
+afraid"; and then Frank hurriedly told Mr. Elmer what he knew of the
+events of the hunt.
+
+"We must go in search of him at once," said Mr. Elmer, in a trembling
+voice, "and you must guide us as nearly as possible to the point from
+which you heard the shot."
+
+Hastily arousing Mr. March and Jan, and telling them to saddle the
+mules, Mr. Elmer went to his wife, who was inquiring anxiously what had
+happened, and told her that Mark was lost, and that they were going to
+find him. The poor mother begged to be allowed to go too; but assuring
+her that this was impossible, and telling Ruth to comfort her mother as
+well as she could, Mr. Elmer hurried away, mounted Mark's horse, and
+the party rode off.
+
+Frank knew the country so well that he had no difficulty in guiding
+them to the spot where he and Mark had separated. From here they
+followed the star that Frank had pointed out to Mark, and riding
+abreast, but about a hundred feet apart, they kept up a continual
+shouting, and occasionally fired a gun, but got no answer.
+
+At length Mr. March detected a glimmer of light on the ground, and
+dismounting, found a few charred sticks, one of which still glowed with
+a coal of fire.
+
+"Halloo!" he shouted; "here's where Mark emptied his fire-pan."
+
+They all gathered around, and having brought a supply of light-wood
+splinters with which to make torches, they each lighted one of these,
+and began a careful search for further evidences of the missing boy.
+
+A shout from Jan brought them to him, and he showed the broken fire-pan
+which he had just picked up.
+
+A little farther search revealed the deep imprints of the horse's hoofs
+when he had plunged and reared as the burning brands fell on his back;
+and then, step by step, often losing it, but recovering it again, they
+followed the trail until they came upon the rifle lying on the ground,
+cold and wet with the night dew.
+
+Mr. March, holding his torch high above his head, took a step in
+advance of the others as they were examining the rifle, and uttered a
+cry of horror.
+
+"A sink-hole! Good heavens! the boy is down there!"
+
+A cold chill went through his hearers at these words, and they gathered
+close to the edge of the opening and peered into its black depths.
+
+"We must know beyond a doubt whether or not he is down there before we
+leave this place," said Mr. Elmer, with forced composure, "and we must
+have a rope. Frank, you know the way better than any of us, and can go
+quickest. Ride for your life back to the house, and bring that Manila
+line you used to catch the alligator with. Don't let his mother hear
+you--a greater suspense would kill her."
+
+While Frank was gone the others carefully examined the "sink hole," and
+cut away the bushes and vines from around its edges. It was an
+irregular opening, about twenty feet across, and a short distance below
+the surface had limestone sides.
+
+Begging the others to be perfectly quiet, Mr. Elmer lay down on the
+ground, and reaching as far over the edge as he dared, called,
+
+"Mark! my boy! Mark!" but there was no answer. Still Mr. Elmer
+listened, and when he rose to his feet he said,
+
+"March, it seems as though I heard the sound of running water down
+there. Listen, and tell me if you hear it. If it is so, my boy is dead!"
+
+Mr. March lay down and listened, and the others held their breath.
+"Yes," he said, "I hear it. Oh, my poor friend, I fear there is no
+hope."
+
+The first faint streaks of day were showing in the east when Frank
+returned with the rope and an additional supply of torches.
+
+"Now let me down there," said Mr. Elmer, preparing to fasten the rope
+around him, "and God help me if I find the dead body of my boy."
+
+"No," said Frank, "let me go. He saved my life, and I am the lightest.
+Please let me go!"
+
+"Yes," said Mr. March, "let Frank go. It is much better that he should."
+
+Mr. Elmer reluctantly consented that Frank should take his place, and
+the rope was fastened around the boy's body, under his arms, having
+first been wound with saddle blankets so that it should not cut him.
+Taking a lighted torch in one hand and some fresh splinters in the
+other, he slipped over the log which they had placed along the edge, so
+that the rope should not be cut by the rocks, and was gently lowered by
+the three anxious men into the awful blackness.
+
+Thirty feet of the rope had disappeared, when it suddenly sagged to the
+opposite side of the hole, and at the same instant came the signal for
+them to pull up.
+
+As Frank came again to the surface the lower half of his body was
+dripping wet, and his face was ghastly pale.
+
+"He isn't there," he said; "but there is a stream of running water so
+strong that, when you let me into it, I was nearly swept away under the
+arch. It flows in that direction," he added, pointing to the south.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+BURIED IN AN UNDERGROUND RIVER.
+
+
+When Mark felt himself flying from his horse's back through the air, he
+of course expected to strike heavily on the ground, and nerved himself
+for the shock. To his amazement, instead of striking on solid earth he
+fell into a mass of shrubbery that supported him for a moment, and then
+gave way. He grasped wildly at the bushes; but they were torn from his
+hands, and he felt himself going down, down, down, and in another
+instant was plunged deep into water that closed over his head. He came
+to the surface, stunned and gasping, only to find himself borne rapidly
+along by a swift current. He did not for a moment realize the full
+horror of his situation, and with the natural instinct of a swimmer
+struck out vigorously.
+
+He had taken but a few strokes when his hand hit a projecting rock, to
+which he instinctively clung, arresting his further progress. To his
+surprise, on letting his body sink, his feet touched bottom, and he
+stood in water not much more than waist deep, but which swept against
+him with almost irresistible force.
+
+His first impulse was to scream, "Frank! oh, Frank!" but only a dull
+echo mocked him, and he received no reply but the rush and gurgle of
+the water as it hurried past.
+
+Then in an instant he comprehended what had happened. He had been flung
+into a "sink hole," and was now buried in the channel of one of those
+mysterious underground rivers of which Mr. March had told them a few
+nights before. That was at home, where he was surrounded by his own
+loving parents and friends. Should he ever see them again? No; he was
+buried alive.
+
+Buried alive! he, Mark Elmer? No--it couldn't be. It must be a dreadful
+dream, a nightmare; and he laughed hysterically to think how improbable
+it would all seem when he awoke.
+
+But he felt the cold water sweeping by him and knew it was no dream.
+The reality stunned him, and he became incapable of thinking; he only
+moaned and called out, incoherently, "Mother! father! Ruth!"
+
+After a while he began to think again. He had got to die. Yes, there
+was no escape for him. Here he must die a miserable death, and his body
+would be swept on and on until it reached the Gulf and drifted out to
+sea; for this running water must find its way to the sea somehow.
+
+If he could only reach that sea alive! but of course that was
+impossible. Was it? How far is the Gulf? And the poor boy tried to
+collect his thoughts.
+
+It couldn't be more than five miles in a straight line, nor, at the
+most, more than three times as far by water. Perhaps there might be
+more "sink holes" opening into this buried river. Oh, if he could only
+reach one of them! He would then die in sight of the blessed stars, and
+perhaps even live to see the dear sunlight once more.
+
+These thoughts passed through his mind slowly, but they gave him a ray
+of hope. He determined that he would make a brave fight with death, and
+not give up, like a coward, without making even an effort to save
+himself.
+
+Thus thinking, he let go his hold of the projection to which he had
+clung all this time, and allowed himself to be carried along with the
+current. He found that he could touch bottom most of the time, though
+every now and then he had to swim for greater or less distances, but he
+was always carried swiftly onward. He tried to keep his hands extended
+in front of him as much as possible, to protect himself from projecting
+rocks, but several times his head and shoulders struck heavily against
+them.
+
+Once, for quite a distance, the roof was so low that there was barely
+room for his head between it and the water. A few inches lower would
+have drowned him, but it got higher again, and he went on.
+
+Suddenly the air seemed purer and cooler, and the current was not so
+strong. Mark looked up and saw a star--yes, actually a star--twinkling
+down at him like a beacon light. He was in water up to his shoulders,
+but the current was not strong; he could maintain his footing and hold
+himself where he was.
+
+He could only see one star, so he knew the opening through which he
+looked must be very small; but upon that one star he feasted his eyes,
+and thought it the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
+
+How numb and cold he was! Could he hold out until daylight? Yes, he
+would. He would see the sunlight once more. He dared not move, nor even
+change his position, for fear lest he should lose sight of the star and
+not be able to find it again.
+
+So he stood there, it seemed to him, for hours, until his star began to
+fade, and then, though he could not yet see it, he knew that daylight
+was coming.
+
+At last the friendly star disappeared entirely, but in its place came a
+faint light--such a very faint suspicion of light that he was not sure
+it was light. Slowly, very slowly, it grew brighter, until he could see
+the outline of the opening far above him, and he knew that he had lived
+to see the light of another day. Then Mark prayed, prayed as he had
+never dreamed of praying before. He thanked God for once more letting
+him see the blessed daylight, and prayed that he might be shown some
+means of escape. He prayed for strength to hold out just a little while
+longer, and it was given him.
+
+When Frank March was drawn to the surface, and said he had been let
+down into a swift current of water, Mr. Elmer buried his face in his
+hands, and groaned aloud in the agony of his grief.
+
+"Why did I bring him to this place?" sobbed the stricken man. "To think
+that his life should be given for mine. If we had only stayed in the
+North my life might have been taken, but his would have been spared. O,
+Heavenly Father! what have I done to deserve this blow?"
+
+For some time the others respected his grief, and stood by in silence.
+Then Mr. March laid his hand gently on the shoulder of his friend, and
+said,
+
+"You are indeed afflicted, but there are others of whom you must think
+besides yourself. His mother and sister need you now as they never
+needed you before. You must go to them." Turning to Frank, he said, "I
+will go home with Mr. Elmer, but I want you to ride with Jan in the
+direction you think this stream takes, and see if you can find its
+outlet or any other traces of it. There is a bare possibility that we
+may recover the body."
+
+So they separated, the two gentlemen riding slowly and sadly homeward,
+and Frank and Jan riding southward with heavy hearts.
+
+They had not gone more than half a mile when they came to a little
+log-house in the woods, and as the sun had risen, and they and their
+horses were worn out with their night's work, they decided to stop and
+ask to be allowed to rest a while, and for something to eat for
+themselves and their animals.
+
+The owner of the house was a genuine "cracker," or poor white--lean,
+sallow, and awkward in his movements, but hospitable, as men of his
+class always are. In answer to their request he replied,
+
+"Sartin, sartin; to be sho'. Light down, gentleMEN, and come inside. We
+'uns is plain folks, and hain't got much, but sich as we has yo' 'uns
+is welkim to. Sal, run fo' a bucket of water."
+
+As Frank and Jan entered the house, a little-barefooted, tow-headed
+girl started off with a bucket. They were hardly seated, and their host
+had just begun to tell them about his wonderful "nateral well," when a
+loud scream was heard outside. The next instant the little girl came
+flying into the house, with a terror-stricken face, and flung herself
+into her father's arms.
+
+"Why! what is it, gal? So, honey, so! Tell yer daddy what's a-skeering
+of ye"; and the man tried to soothe the child, and learn the cause of
+her sudden fright.
+
+At length she managed to sob out, "It's the devvil, pa; the devvil's in
+our well, an' he hollered at me, an' I drapped the bucket an' run."
+
+At these words Frank sprang to his feet, exclaiming, "What! a voice in
+the well? And you said it was a natural well, mister? Oh, Jan, can it
+be?" And then turning fiercely to the man, "Show us to the well, man,
+quick! What do you sit there staring for?"
+
+Without waiting for a reply he rushed from the door, and running along
+a little pathway leading from it, was in another minute lying flat on
+the ground, looking down a hole of about six feet in diameter, and
+shouting, "Halloo! down there."
+
+Yes, there was an answer, and it was, "Help! he-l-p!"
+
+The two men had followed Frank from the house, and Jan had been
+thoughtful enough to bring with him the Manila rope that had hung at
+the pommel of Frank's saddle.
+
+There was no need for words now. Frank hastily knotted the rope under
+his arms, handed it to Jan, and saying, "Haul up gently when I call,"
+slipped over the curb and disappeared.
+
+One, two, three minutes passed after the rope slackened in their hands,
+showing that Frank had reached the bottom, and then those at the top
+heard, clear and loud from the depths, "Haul away gently."
+
+Very carefully they pulled on that rope, and up, up, up towards the
+sunlight that his strained eyes had never thought to see again, came
+Mark Elmer.
+
+When Jan, strong as an ox, but tender as a woman, leaned over the curb
+and lifted the limp, dripping figure, as it were from the grave, he
+burst into tears, for he thought the boy was dead. He was still and
+white, the merry brown eyes were closed, and he did not seem to breathe.
+
+But another was down there, so they laid Mark gently on the grass, and
+again lowered the rope into the well.
+
+The figure that appeared as they pulled up this time was just as wet as
+the other, but full of life and energy.
+
+"Carry him into the house, Jan. He isn't dead. He was alive when I got
+to him. Put him in a bed, and wrap him up in hot blankets. Rub him with
+whiskey! slap his feet!--anything!--only fetch him to, while I go for
+help."
+
+With these words Frank March, wet as a water-spout, and more excited
+than he had ever been in his life, sprang on his horse and was off like
+a whirlwind.
+
+That that ride did not kill the horse was no fault of Frank's; for when
+he was reined sharply up in the "Go Bang" yard, and his rider sprang
+from his back and into the house at one leap, he staggered and fell,
+white with foam, and with his breath coming in gasps.
+
+In the sitting-room Mr. Elmer was just trying to break the news of
+Mark's death to his wife as gently as possible, when the door was flung
+open, and Frank, breathless, hatless, dripping with water, and pale
+with excitement, burst into the room shouting,
+
+"He's alive!--he's alive and safe!"
+
+Over and over again did he have to tell the marvellous story of how he
+had found Mark standing up to his neck in water, at the bottom of a
+natural well, nearly dead, but still alive; how he had knotted the rope
+around him and sent him to the top, while he himself stayed down there
+until the rope could again be lowered; how Mark had fainted, and now
+lay like dead in a farm-house--before the parents could realize that
+their son, whom they were a moment before mourning as dead, was still
+alive.
+
+Then the mules were hitched to the farm-wagon, a feather-bed and many
+blankets were thrown in, Mr. and Mrs. Elmer, Ruth, and Frank climbed
+in, and away they went. John Gilpin's ride was tame as compared to the
+way that wagon flew over the eight miles of rough country between
+Wakulla and the house in which Mark lay, slowly regaining consciousness.
+
+The meeting between the parents and the son whom they had deemed lost
+to them was not demonstrative; but none of them, nor of those who saw
+it, will ever forget the scene.
+
+A solemn "Thank God!" and "My boy! my darling boy!" were all that was
+heard; and then Mark was lifted gently into the wagon, and it was
+driven slowly and carefully home.
+
+An hour after he was tucked into his own bed Mark was in a raging
+fever, and screaming, "The star! the star! Please let me see it a
+little longer." And it was many a day before he again left the house,
+and again breathed the fresh air out-of-doors.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+TWO LETTERS AND A JOURNEY.
+
+
+It was late in April before Mark rose from the bed on which for weeks
+he had tossed and raved in the delirium of fever. He had raved of the
+horrible darkness and the cold water, and begged that the star should
+not be taken away. One evening he woke from a heavy, death-like sleep
+in which he had lain for hours, and in a voice so weak that it was
+almost a whisper, called "Mother."
+
+"Here I am, dear"; and the figure which had been almost constantly
+beside him during the long struggle, bent over and kissed him gently.
+
+"I ain't dead, am I, mother?" he whispered.
+
+"No, dear, you are alive, and with God's help are going to get well and
+strong again. But don't try to talk now; wait until you are stronger."
+
+For several days the boy lay sleeping, or with eyes wide open watching
+those about him, but feeling so weak and tired that even to think was
+an effort. Still, the fever had left him, and from the day he called
+"Mother" he gradually grew stronger, until finally he could sit up in
+bed. Next he was moved to a rocking-chair by the window, and at last he
+was carried into the sitting-room and laid on the lounge--the same
+lounge on which Frank had lain, months before, when he told them what a
+wicked boy he had been.
+
+Now the same Frank, but yet an entirely different Frank, sat beside
+him, and held his hand, and looked lovingly down into his face. Each of
+them had saved the other's life, and their love for each other was
+greater than that of brothers. Mark had been told of how Frank had gone
+down into the "sink hole" after him, and stayed there in the cold,
+rushing water while he was drawn to the top, but he could remember
+nothing of it. He only remembered the star, and of praying that he
+might live to see the sunlight.
+
+How happy they all were when the invalid took his first walk
+out-of-doors, leaning on Frank, and stopping many times to rest. The
+air was heavy with the scent of myriads of flowers, and the very birds
+seemed glad to see him, and sang their loudest and sweetest to welcome
+him.
+
+After this he improved in strength rapidly, and was soon able to ride
+as far as the mill, and to float on the river in the canoe, with Frank
+to paddle it; but still his parents were very anxious about him. He was
+not their merry, light-hearted Mark of old. He never laughed now, but
+seemed always to be oppressed with some great dread. His white face
+wore a frightened look, and he would sit for hours with his mother as
+she sewed, saying little, but gazing wistfully at her, as though
+fearful that in some way he might lose her or be taken from her.
+
+All this troubled his parents greatly, and many a consultation did they
+have as to what they should do for their boy. They decided that he
+needed an entire change of scene and occupation, but just how to obtain
+these for him they could not plan.
+
+One day Mrs. Elmer sat down and wrote a long letter to her uncle,
+Christopher Bangs, telling him of their trouble, and asking him what
+they should do. To this letter came the following answer:
+
+
+"BANGOR, MAINE, May 5, 188-.
+
+"DEAR NIECE ELLEN,--You did exactly the right thing, as you always do,
+in writing to me about Grandneph. Mark. Of course he needs a change of
+scene after spending a whole night hundreds of feet underground,
+fighting alligators, and naturally having a fever afterwards. Who
+wouldn't? I would myself. A good thing's good for a while, but there is
+such a thing as having too much of a good thing, no matter how good it
+is, and I rather guess Grandneph. Mark has had too much of Floridy, and
+it'll do him good to leave it for a while. So just you bundle him up
+and send him along to me for a change. Tell him his old Grandunk
+Christmas has got some important business for him to look after, and
+can't possibly get on without him more than a week or two longer. I
+shall expect a letter by return mail saying he has started.
+
+"Give Grandunk Christmas's love to Grandniece Ruth, and with respects
+to your husband, believe me to be, most truly, as ever,
+
+Your affectionate uncle,
+
+"CHRISTOPHER BANGS."
+
+"P.S.--Don't mind the expense. Send the boy C.O.D. I'll settle all
+bills. C.B."
+
+
+In the same mail with this letter came another from Maine, directed to
+"Miss Ruth Elmer." It was from her dearest friend, Edna May; and as
+Ruth handed it to her mother, who read it aloud to the whole family, we
+will read it too:
+
+
+"NORTON, MAINE, May 5, 188-.
+
+"MY OWN DARLING RUTH,--What is the matter? I haven't heard from you in
+more than a week. Oh, I've got SUCH a plan, or rather father made it
+up, that I am just wild thinking of it. It is this: father's ship,
+Wildfire, has sailed from New York for Savannah, and before he left,
+father said for me to write and tell you that he couldn't think of
+letting me go to Florida next winter unless you came here and spent
+this summer with me.
+
+"The Wildfire will leave Savannah for New York again about the 15th of
+May, and father wants you to meet him there and come home with him. His
+sister, Aunt Emily Coburn, has gone with him for the sake of the
+voyage, and she will take care of you.
+
+"Oh, do come! Won't it be splendid? Father is coming home from New
+York, so he can bring you all the way. I am sure your mother will let
+you come when she knows how nicely everything is planned.
+
+"I have got lots and lots to tell you, but can't think of anything else
+now but your coming.
+
+"What an awful time poor Mark has had. I don't see how he ever lived
+through it. I think Frank March must be splendid. Write just as quick
+as you can, and tell me if you are coming.
+
+"Good-bye. With kisses and hugs, I am your dearest, lovingest friend,
+
+"EDNA MAY."
+
+
+These two letters from the far North created quite a ripple of
+excitement in that Southern household, and furnished ample subject for
+discussion when the family was gathered on the front porch in the
+evening of the day they were received.
+
+Mr. Elmer said, "I think it would be a good thing for Mark to go, and I
+should like to have Ruth go too; but I don't see how you can spare her,
+wife."
+
+"I shall miss her dreadfully, but I should feel much easier to think
+that she was with Mark on this long journey. Poor boy, he is far from
+strong yet. Yes, I think Ruth ought to go. It seems providential that
+these two letters should have come together, and as if it were a sign
+that the children ought to go together," answered Mrs. Elmer.
+
+Mark, who had listened quietly to the whole discussion, now spoke up
+and said, "I should like to go, father. As long as I stay here I shall
+keep thinking of that terrible underground river over there. I think of
+it and dream of it all the time, and sometimes it seems as if it were
+only waiting and watching for a chance to swallow me again. I should
+love dearly to have Ruth go with me too, though I am quite sure I am
+strong enough to take care of myself"; and he turned towards his mother
+with a smile.
+
+Ruth said, "Oh, mother, I should love to go, but I can't bear to leave
+you! so, whichever way you decide, I shall be perfectly satisfied and
+contented."
+
+It was finally decided that they should both go. Mark was to accompany
+Ruth as far as Savannah, and see her safely on board the ship; then,
+unless he received a pressing invitation from Captain May to go with
+him to New York, he was to go by steamer to Boston, and there take
+another steamer for Bangor.
+
+This was the both of May, and as the Wildfire was to sail on or about
+the 15th, they must be in Savannah on that day; therefore no time was
+to be lost in making preparations for the journey.
+
+Such busy days as the next three were! such making of new clothes and
+mending of old, to be worn on the journey! so many things to be thought
+of and done! Even Aunt Chloe became excited, and prepared so many nice
+things for "Misto Mark an' Missy Rufe to eat when dey's a-trabblin'"
+that Mark actually laughed when he saw them.
+
+"Why, Aunt Clo," he explained, "you have got enough there to last us
+all the time we're gone. Do you think they don't have anything to eat
+up North?"
+
+"Dunno, honey," answered the old woman, gazing with an air of great
+satisfaction at the array of goodies. "Allus hearn tell as it's a
+powerful pore, cole kentry up dar whar you's a-gwine. 'Specs dey hab
+somfin to eat, ob co'se, but reckon dar ain't none too much, sich as
+hit is."
+
+The good soul was much distressed at the small quantity of what she had
+provided, for which room was found in the lunch-basket, and said she
+"'lowed dem ar chillun's gwine hungry heap o' times befo' dey sets eyes
+on ole Clo agin."
+
+It had been arranged that Mr. and Mrs. Elmer and Frank March should go
+with the travellers as far as Tallahassee, and see them fairly off from
+there. Bright and early on the morning of the 13th the mule wagon, in
+which comfortable seats were fixed, was driven up to the front door,
+the trunks, bags, and lunch-basket were put in, and everything was in
+readiness for the start.
+
+Mr. March, Jan, Aunt Chloe, and several of the neighbors from across
+the river had assembled to see them off, and many and hearty were the
+good wishes offered for a pleasant journey and a safe return in the
+fall.
+
+"Good-bye, Misto Mark an' Missy Rufe," said Aunt Chloe; "trus' in de
+Lo'd while you's young, an' he ain't gwine fo'git yo' in yo' ole age."
+
+"Good-bye, Aunt Clo! good-bye, everybody!" shouted Mark, as the wagon
+rattled away. "Don't forget us!" And in another minute "dear old Go
+Bang," as the children already called it, was hidden from view behind
+the trees around the sulphur spring.
+
+They stopped for a minute at the mill to get a sack of corn for the
+mules, and as they drove from it its busy machinery seemed to say,
+
+"Good-bye, Mr. President, good-bye, Mr. President, good-bye, Mr.
+President of the Elmer Mills."
+
+They reached Tallahassee early in the afternoon, and went to a hotel
+for the night. From the many cows on the street Mark tried to point out
+to Ruth and Frank the one he had seen climb into a cart on his previous
+visit, but none of those they saw looked able to distinguish herself in
+that way. They concluded that she had become disgusted at being called
+"a ole good-fo'-nuffin," and had carried her talents elsewhere.
+
+The train left so early the next morning that the sadness of parting
+was almost forgotten in the hurry of eating breakfast and getting down
+to the station. In the train Mark charged Frank to take good care of
+his canoe and rifle, Ruth begged him to be very kind to poor Bruce, who
+would be so lonely, and they both promised to write from Savannah. Then
+the conductor shouted, "All aboard!" hurried kisses and last good-byes
+were exchanged, and the train moved off.
+
+Ruth cried a little at first, and Mark looked pretty sober, but they
+soon cheered up, and became interested in the scenery through which
+they were passing. For an hour or two they rode through a beautiful
+hill country, in which was here and there a lake covered with great
+pond-lilies. Then the hills and lakes disappeared, and they hurried
+through mile after mile of pine forests, where they saw men gathering
+turpentine from which to make resin. It was scooped into buckets from
+cuts made in the bark of the trees, and the whole operation "looked for
+all the world," as Mark said, "like a sugar-bush in Maine."
+
+At Ellaville, sixty-five miles from Tallahassee, they saw great
+saw-mills, and directly they crossed one of the most famous rivers in
+the country, the Suwannee, and Ruth hummed softly,
+
+    "'Way down upon de Swanee Ribber,
+      Far, far away."
+
+Soon afterwards they reached Live Oak, where they were to change cars
+for Savannah. They made the change easily, for their trunks had been
+checked through, and they had little baggage to trouble them. A few
+miles farther took them across the State line and into Georgia, which
+Ruth said, with a somewhat disappointed air, looked to her very much
+the same as Florida.
+
+Now that they were in Georgia they felt that they must be quite near
+Savannah, and began to talk of Captain May, and wonder if he would be
+at the depot to meet them. Letters had been sent to Uncle Christopher
+Bangs, to Edna, and to Captain May, as soon as it was decided that they
+should take this journey, and Mr. Elmer had telegraphed to the captain
+from Tallahassee that morning, so they felt pretty sure he would know
+of their coming.
+
+At a junction with the funny name of "Waycross" their car was attached
+to an express train from Jacksonville, on which were numbers of
+Northern tourists who had been spending the winter in Florida and were
+now on their way home. These people interested the children so much
+that they forgot to be tired, though it was now late in the afternoon.
+At last, as it was beginning to grow dark, the train rolled into the
+depot at Savannah. Taking their bags and holding each other's hands
+tight, for fear of being separated in the crowd, the children stepped
+out on the platform, where they were at once completely bewildered by
+the throng of hurrying people, the confusion, and the noise.
+
+As they stood irresolute, not knowing which way to turn nor what to do,
+a cheery voice called out,
+
+"Halloo! here we are. Why, Mark, my hearty, this is indeed a
+pleasure--and little Ruth, too! Won't my Edna be delighted!" And
+Captain May stooped down and kissed her, right there before all the
+people, as though he were her own father.
+
+"Oh, Captain Bill!" said Mark, greatly relieved at seeing the familiar
+face, "we are so glad to see you. We were just beginning to feel lost."
+
+"Lost, eh?" laughed the captain; "well, that's a good one. The idea of
+a boy who's been through what you have feeling lost--right here among
+folks too. But then, to one used to the water, this here dry land is a
+mighty bewildering place, that's a fact. Well, come, let's get under
+way. I've got a carriage moored alongside the station here, and we'll
+clap sail on to it and lay a course for the Wildfire. Steward's got
+supper ready by this time, and Sister Emily's impatient to see you.
+Checks? Oh yes. Here, driver, take these brasses, and roust out that
+dunnage; lively, now!"
+
+When they were in the carriage, and rolling quietly along through the
+sandy streets, Captain May said they were just in time, for he was
+ready to drop down the river that night.
+
+"Then I'd better go to a hotel," said Mark.
+
+"What for?" asked Captain May.
+
+"Because I'm to go to Boston by steamer from here, and Ruth is to go
+with you."
+
+"Steamer nothing;" shouted Captain Bill. "You're coming along with us
+on the Wildfire. Steamer, indeed!"
+
+This seemed to settle it, and Mark wrote home that evening that, having
+received a "pressing invitation," he was going to sail to New York with
+Captain Bill May in the Wildfire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE BURNING OF THE "WILDFIRE."
+
+
+"Aunt Emily," as the children called her at once, because she was Edna
+May's aunt, welcomed them as warmly as Captain May had done, and
+everything in the cabin of the Wildfire was so comfortable that they
+felt at home at once. Supper was ready as soon as they were, and as
+they sat down to it Mark said he wished "Aunt Clo" could see it, for he
+thought it would give her some new ideas of what Yankees had to eat.
+
+After supper each of the children wrote a letter home, and Mark and
+Captain May walked up to the post-office to mail them.
+
+About nine o'clock a tug came for the ship, and very soon they had bid
+good-bye to Savannah, and were dropping down the muddy river towards
+the sea. As it was a fine moonlit night, the children stayed on deck
+with Mrs. Coburn to see what they could of the river, which here forms
+the boundary line between the States of Georgia and South Carolina. On
+both sides, as far as they could see, the marshes were covered with
+fields of growing rice, and every now and then they heard the sound of
+music coming from the funny little negro cabins which were scattered
+here and there along the banks.
+
+They passed the old forts Jackson and Pulaski, both on the south side
+of the river, and both deserted and falling to ruin, and very soon had
+left behind Tybee Island, with its flashing light, at the mouth of the
+river. The tug left them when they reached the siren buoy that keeps up
+a constant moaning on the outer bar; one after another of the ship's
+sails were loosed and "sheeted home," and then Captain May said it was
+"high time for the watch below to turn in."
+
+The sea was so calm and beautiful the next day that even Mark did not
+feel ill, nor was he during the voyage. As for Ruth, she knew, from her
+experience on the last voyage they had taken, that she should not be
+sea-sick, and so everybody was as happy and jolly as possible.
+
+During the afternoon, after they had all been sitting on deck for some
+time, talking of the dear ones left at home, and of the many friends
+whom they hoped soon to meet, Ruth said she was going down to open her
+trunk and get out the album containing the pictures of her girl friends
+in Norton, and see if they looked as she remembered them. It was so
+long since she had opened this album that she had almost forgotten
+whose pictures were in it. She soon returned with it in her hand, and
+with a very puzzled expression on her face.
+
+"Mark," she said, "did you ever think that Frank March looked like
+anybody else whom we know?"
+
+"I don't know," answered Mark. "Yes, come to think of it, I have
+thought two or three times that his face had a familiar look, but I
+never could think who it was he resembled. Why?"
+
+Placing the album in his hand, and opening it to the first page, on
+which was the photograph of Edna May, Ruth said, "Do you think he looks
+anything like that?"
+
+"Why, yes! of course he does," exclaimed Mark, startled at the
+resemblance he saw. "He looks enough like the picture to be Edna's
+brother."
+
+"Aunt Emily," said Ruth, turning to Mrs. Coburn, who sat near them, "do
+you know in what Southern city Captain May found Edna?"
+
+"Yes, it was in the one we have just left--Savannah."
+
+"And Frank came from Savannah, and he lost his mother and little sister
+there, and Edna's own mother was drowned there. Oh, Mark, if it should
+be!" cried Ruth, much excited.
+
+"Wouldn't it be just too jolly?" said Mark.
+
+Mrs. Coburn became almost as interested as the children when the matter
+was explained to her; but Captain May was quite provoked when he heard
+of it. He said it was only a chance resemblance, and there couldn't be
+anything in it. He had made inquiries in Savannah at the time, and
+never heard anything of any father or brother either, and at any rate
+he was not going to lose his Edna now for all the brothers and fathers
+in the world. He finally said that unless they gave him a solemn
+promise not to mention a word of all this to Edna, he should not let
+her visit them next winter. So the children promised, and the captain
+was satisfied; but they talked the matter over between themselves, and
+became more and more convinced that Frank March and Edna May were
+brother and sister.
+
+After this the voyage proceeded without incident until the evening of
+the third day, when they were sitting at supper in the cabin. The
+skylights and port-holes were all wide open, for in spite of the fresh
+breeze that was blowing, the cabin was uncomfortably close and hot.
+Mark said the further north they went the hotter it seemed to get, and
+the others agreed with him. Captain May said that if the breeze held,
+and they were lucky in meeting a pilot, they would be at anchor in New
+York Harbor before another supper-time, and he hoped the hot spell
+would be over before they were obliged to go ashore. While he was
+speaking the mate put his head down the companion-way and said,
+
+"Captain May, will you be good enough to step on deck a moment, sir?"
+
+As the captain went on deck he noticed that all the crew were gathered
+about the forecastle, and were talking earnestly.
+
+"What's in the wind now, Mr. Gibbs?" he asked of the mate, who at that
+moment stepped up to him.
+
+"Why, sir, only this, that I believe the ship's on fire. A few minutes
+ago the whole watch below came on deck vowing there was no sleeping in
+the fo'k'sle; that it was a reg'lar furnace. I went to see what they
+was growling at, and 'twas so hot down there it made my head swim.
+There wasn't any flame nor any smoke, but there was a powerful smell of
+burning, and I'm afraid there's fire in the cargo."
+
+Without a word Captain May went forward and down into the forecastle,
+the men respectfully making way for him to pass. In less than a minute
+he came up, bathed in perspiration, and turning to the crew, said, "My
+men, there's no doubt but that this ship is on fire. It's in among the
+cotton; but if we can keep it smothered a while longer, I think, with
+this breeze, we can make our port before it breaks out. I want you to
+keep cool and steady, and remember there's no danger, for we can make
+land any time in the boats if worse comes to worse. Mr. Gibbs, have the
+men get their dunnage up out of the forecastle, and then close the
+hatch and batten it."
+
+Going aft, the captain found his passengers on deck waiting anxiously
+to learn the cause of the commotion they had already noticed. He told
+them the worst at once, and advised them to go below and pack up their
+things ready for instant removal in case it became necessary.
+
+"Oh, William," exclaimed his sister, "can't we take to the boats now
+while there is time? It seems like tempting Providence to stay on the
+ship and wait for the fire to break out. What if she should blow up?"
+
+"Now, don't be foolish, Emily," answered the captain. "There's nothing
+on board that can blow up, and it would be worse than cowardly to leave
+the ship while there's a chance of saving her. The boats are all ready
+to be lowered instantly, and at present there is no more danger here
+than there would be in them."
+
+Not a soul on board the Wildfire went to bed or undressed that night,
+and Mark and Ruth were the only ones who closed their eyes. They stayed
+on deck until midnight, but then, in spite of the excitement, they
+became too sleepy to hold their eyes open any longer, and Mrs. Coburn
+persuaded them to take a nap on the cabin sofas.
+
+All night the ship flew like a frightened bird towards her port, under
+such a press of canvas as Captain May would not have dared carry had
+not the necessity for speed been so great. As the night wore on the
+decks grew hotter and hotter, until the pitch fairly bubbled from the
+seams, and a strong smell of burning pervaded the ship. At daylight the
+American flag was run half-way up to the mizzen peak, union down, as a
+signal of distress. By sunrise the Highlands of Navesink were in sight,
+and they also saw a pilot-boat bearing rapidly down upon them from the
+northward.
+
+As soon as he saw this boat Captain May told his passengers that he was
+going to send them on board of it, as he feared the fire might now
+break out at any minute, and he was going to ask its captain to run in
+to Sandy Hook, and send despatches to the revenue-cutter and to the New
+York fire-boat Havemeyer, begging them to come to his assistance.
+
+Mrs. Coburn and Ruth readily agreed to this plan, but Mark begged so
+hard to be allowed to stay, and said he should feel so much like a
+coward to leave the ship before any of the other men, that the captain
+finally consented to allow him to remain.
+
+The ship's headway was checked as the pilot-boat drew near, in order
+that her yawl, bringing the pilot, might run alongside.
+
+"Halloo, Cap'n Bill," sang out the pilot, who happened to be an old
+acquaintance of Captain May's. "What's the meaning of all that?" and he
+pointed to the signal of distress. "Got Yellow Jack aboard, or a
+mutiny?"
+
+"Neither," answered Captain May, "but I've got a volcano stowed under
+the hatches, and I'm expecting an eruption every minute."
+
+"You don't tell me?" said the pilot, as he clambered up over the side.
+"Ship's afire, is she?"
+
+The state of affairs was quickly explained to him, and he readily
+consented that his swift little schooner should run in to the Hook and
+send despatches for help. He also said they should be only too proud to
+have the ladies come aboard.
+
+Without further delay Mrs. Coburn and Ruth, with their baggage, were
+placed in the ship's long-boat, lowered over the side, and in a few
+minutes were safe on the deck of the pilot-boat, which seemed to Ruth
+almost as small as Mark's canoe in comparison with the big ship they
+had just left.
+
+As soon as they were on board, the schooner spread her white wings and
+stood in for Sandy Hook, while the ship was headed towards the "Swash
+Channel."
+
+As she passed the Romer Beacon Captain May saw the pilot-boat coming
+out from behind the Hook, and knew the despatches had been sent. When
+his ship was off the Hospital Islands he saw the revenue-cutter
+steaming down through the Narrows towards them, trailing a black cloud
+behind her, and evidently making all possible speed.
+
+By this time little eddies of smoke were curling up from around the
+closely battened hatches, and Captain May saw that the ship could not
+live to reach the upper bay, and feared she would be a mass of flames
+before the fire-boat could come to her relief. In this emergency he
+told the pilot that he thought they had better leave the channel and
+run over on the flats towards the Long Island shore, so as to be
+prepared to scuttle her.
+
+"Ay, ay, Cap; I can put her just wherever you want her. Only give the
+word," answered the pilot.
+
+"I do give it," said Captain May, as a cloud of smoke puffed out from
+the edge of one of the hatches. "Put her there, for she'll be ablaze
+now before many minutes."
+
+As the ship's head was turned towards the flats the revenue-cutter ran
+alongside. Her captain, followed by a dozen bluejackets, boarded the
+ship, and the former, taking in her desperate situation at a glance,
+said to Captain May, "You must scuttle her at once, captain; it's your
+only chance to save her."
+
+"Very well, sir," answered Captain May. "I think so myself, but am glad
+to have your authority for doing so."
+
+As the ship's anchors were let go, her carpenter and a squad of men
+from the cutter, armed with axes and augurs, tumbled down into her
+cabin, and began what seemed like a most furious work of destruction.
+The axes crashed through the carved woodwork, furniture was hurled to
+one side, great holes were cut in the cabin floor, and the ship's
+planking was laid bare in a dozen places below the water-line. Then the
+augurs were set to work, and in a few minutes a dozen streams of water,
+spurting up like fountains, were rushing and gurgling into the ship.
+
+While this was going on in the cabin, the ship's crew, assisted by
+others of the revenue men, were removing everything of value on which
+they could lay their hands to the deck of the cutter.
+
+Suddenly those in the cabin heard a great cry and a roaring noise on
+deck and as they rushed up the companion-way they saw a column of flame
+shooting up from the fore-hatch, half-mast high.
+
+Half the people had sprung on board the revenue-cutter as she sheered
+off, which she did at the first burst of flame, and now the others
+filled the boats, which were quickly lowered and shoved off. As the
+boats were being lowered a second burst of flame came from the
+main-hatch, and already tongues of fire were lapping the sails and
+lofty spars.
+
+Mark had worked with the rest in saving whatever he could lift, and did
+not think of leaving the ship until Captain May said,
+
+"Come, Mark, it's time to go. Jump into this boat."
+
+Mark did as he was told, and as Captain May sprang in after him, and
+shouted "Lower away!" not a living soul was left on board the
+unfortunate vessel.
+
+As the men in the boats rested on their oars, and lay at a safe
+distance from the ship, watching the grand spectacle of her
+destruction, they saw that she was settling rapidly by the stern. Lower
+and lower she sank, and higher and higher mounted the fierce flames,
+until, all at once, her bows lifted high out of the water, her stern
+seemed to shoot under it, then the great hull plunged out of sight, and
+a mighty cloud of smoke and steam rose to the sky. Through this cloud
+the flames along the upper masts and yards shone with a lurid red. At
+this point the fire-boat arrived; a couple of well-directed streams of
+water from her powerful engines soon extinguished these flames, and the
+three blackened masts, pointing vaguely upward, were all that remained
+to show where, so short a time before, the great ship had floated.
+
+The pilot-boat had already transferred Mrs. Coburn and Ruth and their
+baggage to the cutter, and she now steamed up the bay, carrying the
+passengers, crew, and all that had been saved from the good ship
+Wildfire.
+
+This disaster to his ship, which would have been so terrible had it
+happened out at sea instead of almost in port, as it did, obliged
+Captain May to remain in New York several days. Of this Mark and Ruth
+were very glad, for it gave them an opportunity to see some of the
+wonders of the great city of which they had read so much, and which
+they had longed so often to visit.
+
+Mrs. Coburn, who had at one time lived in New York, and so knew just
+what was best worth seeing, took them to some new place every day. They
+saw the great East River Bridge that connects New York and Brooklyn,
+they took the elevated railroad, and went the whole length of Manhattan
+Island to High Bridge, on which the Croton Aqueduct crosses the Harlem
+River, and on the way back stopped and walked through Central Park to
+the Menagerie, where they were more interested in the alligators than
+anything else, because they reminded them so of old friends, or rather
+enemies.
+
+They visited museums and noted buildings and stores, until Ruth
+declared that she wanted to get away where it was quiet, and she didn't
+see how people who lived in New York found time to do anything but go
+round and see the sights.
+
+They were all glad when Captain May was ready to leave, and after the
+noise and bustle of the great city they thoroughly enjoyed the quiet
+night's sail up Long Island Sound on the steamer Pilgrim.
+
+At Fall River they took cars for Boston, where they stayed one day.
+From there they took the steamer Cambridge for Bangor, where they
+arrived in the morning, and where "Uncle Christmas," as jolly and
+hearty as ever, met them at the wharf.
+
+"Sakes alive, children, how you have growed!" he said, holding them off
+at arm's-length in front of him, and looking at them admiringly. "Why,
+Mark, you're pretty nigh as tall as a Floridy pine."
+
+He insisted on taking the whole party to dine with him at the hotel,
+and at dinner told Mark that that little business of theirs had got to
+wait a while, and meantime he wanted him to run over to Norton, and
+stay at Dr. Wing's until he came for him.
+
+This was just what Mark had been wishing, above all things, that he
+could do, and he almost hugged "Uncle Christmas" for his thoughtful
+kindness.
+
+After dinner the happy party bade the old gentleman good-bye, and took
+the train for Skowhegan, where they found the same old rattlety-bang
+stage waiting to carry them to Norton.
+
+As with a flourish of the driver's horn and a cracking of his whip they
+rolled into the well-known Norton street, a crowd of boys and girls,
+who seemed to have been watching for them, gave three rousing cheers
+for Mark Elmer, and three more for Ruth Elmer, and then three times
+three for both of them.
+
+The stage stopped, and in another instant Ruth was hugging and kissing,
+and being hugged and kissed, by her "very dearest, darlingest friend"
+Edna May, and Mark was being slapped on the back and hauled this way
+and that, and was shaking hands with all the boys in Norton.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+UNCLE CHRISTOPHER'S "GREAT SCHEME."
+
+
+How pleasant it was to be in dear old Norton again! and how glad
+everybody was to see them! Good old Mrs. Wing said it made her feel
+young again to have boys in the house. She certainly had enough of them
+now; for the Norton boys could not keep away from Mark. From early
+morning until evening boys walked back and forth in front of the house
+waiting for him to appear, or sat on the fence-posts and whistled for
+him. Some walked boldly up to the front door, rang the bell, and asked
+if he were in; while others, more shy, but braver than those who
+whistled so alluringly from the fence-posts, stole around through the
+garden at the side of the house, and tried to catch a glimpse of him
+through the windows.
+
+All this was not because Mark kept himself shut up in the house. Oh no!
+he was not that kind of a boy. He only stayed in long enough to sleep,
+to eat three meals a day, and to write letters to his father, mother,
+and Frank March, telling them of everything that was taking place. The
+rest of the time he devoted to the boys--and the girls; for he was over
+at Captain May's house almost as much as he was at the Wings'. He was
+enjoying himself immensely, though it didn't seem as though he was
+doing much except to talk.
+
+If he went fishing with the boys, they would make him tell how he and
+Frank caught the alligator, or how the alligator caught Frank, and how
+he killed it; and when he finished it was time to go home, and none of
+them had even thought of fishing since Mark began to talk.
+
+There was nothing the boys enjoyed more than going out into the woods,
+making believe that some of the great spreading oaks were palm-trees,
+and lying down under them and listening, while Mark, at their earnest
+request, told over and over again the stories of the wreck on the
+Florida reef, and the picnic his father and mother and Ruth and he had
+under the palm-trees, or of hunting deer at night through the solemn,
+moss-hung, Southern forests, or of the burning of the Wildfire.
+
+"I say, Mark," exclaimed Tom Ellis, after listening with breathless
+interest to one of these stories, "you're a regular book, you are, and
+I'd rather hear you tell stories than to read Captain Marryat or Paul
+du Chaillu."
+
+But there was one story Mark never would tell. It was that of his
+terrible experience in the buried river. Of this he tried to think as
+little as possible, and when the boys saw that it really distressed him
+to talk of it they forbore to urge him to do so.
+
+Of course Ruth did not feel as Mark did about it, and she told the
+story many times, and everybody who heard it declared it was a most
+wonderful experience. They also seemed to think that in some way the
+mere fact that the hero of such an adventure was a Norton boy reflected
+great credit on the village.
+
+Both Mark and Ruth saw a greater resemblance in the real Edna May to
+Frank March than had been shown by her photograph; but they remembered
+their promise to Captain Bill, and did not speak of it except to each
+other. It was very hard for Ruth to keep this promise, for Edna had
+become much interested in Frank through her letters, and now asked many
+questions about him. Ruth told her all she knew, except the one great
+secret that was on the end of her tongue a dozen times, but was never
+allowed to get any further.
+
+Two weeks had been spent very happily by the children in Norton, when,
+one beautiful evening in June, the old stage rattled up to the Wings'
+front gate, and from it alighted Uncle Christopher Bangs.
+
+"Halloo, Mark!" sung out the old gentleman, catching sight of his
+grandnephew almost the first thing. "How are you, my boy? Sakes alive,
+but you're looking well! Seems as if Maine air was the correct thing
+for Floridy boys, eh?"
+
+"Yes, indeed, 'Uncle Christmas,'" replied Mark, as he ran out to meet
+the dear old man, "Maine air is the very thing for this Florida boy, at
+any rate."
+
+"So it is, so it is," chuckled Uncle Christopher. "Wal, I suppose
+you're all ready to go to work now, eh?"
+
+"To be sure I am, uncle; ready to begin right off."
+
+"That's right, that's right; but s'posing we just look in on Mrs. Wing
+first, and see what she's got for supper, and then, after sleeping a
+bit, and eating again, and sort o' shaking ourselves together, we'll
+begin to consider. There ain't nothing to be gained by hurrying and
+worrying through the only lifetime we've got in this world, eh?"
+
+The Doctor and Mrs. Wing welcomed Uncle Christopher most warmly, for he
+was a very dear friend of theirs, and they never allowed him to stay
+anywhere in Norton but at their house, now that the Elmers had moved
+away. After supper Ruth and the Mays came over to see him, and he
+entertained them the whole evening with his funny stories and quaint
+sayings.
+
+In the morning, after breakfast, they began to "consider," as Uncle
+Christopher called it. First he made Mark stand in front of him, looked
+him all over from head to foot with a quizzical expression, and finally
+said, "Yes, you look strong and hearty, and I guess you'll do.
+
+"Fact is, Mark, I've got to take a trip down into Aroostook, and as I'm
+getting pretty old and feeble--Oh, you needn't smile, youngster, I am
+old and I've made so many bad jokes lately that I must be getting
+feeble. As I was saying, having reached an advanced state of infirmity,
+it has occurred to me that I need a travelling companion, a young,
+able-bodied fellow like you, for instance, to protect me against the
+dangers of the journey. Who knows but what we may meet with an
+alligator, eh? and so I want you to go along with me."
+
+Of course Mark agreed readily to this proposition, though he had
+expected one far different, and the next morning he and Uncle
+Christopher took leave of their Norton friends and started for Bangor.
+From there another train carried them for miles along the upper
+Penobscot River, past the Indian settlement at Old Town, past the great
+saw-mills and millions of logs at Mattawaumkeag, and finally to McAdam
+Junction in "Europe," as Uncle Christopher called New Brunswick. Here
+they took another road, and were carried back into Maine to Houlton,
+the county seat of Aroostook County. After staying overnight here they
+took a stage, and for a whole day travelled over pleasant roads,
+through sweet-scented forests of spruce and balsam, broken here by
+clearings and thrifty farms, until at last the journey ended in the
+pretty little backwoods settlement of Presque Isle.
+
+Here Uncle Christopher's lumber business detained him for a week, and
+here he introduced Mark to all his friends as "My grandnephew, Mr. Mark
+Elmer, Jun., President of the Elmer Mills down in Floridy," covering
+Mark with much confusion thereby, and enjoying the joke immensely
+himself. Now the real object of bringing the boy on this trip was
+disclosed. Mr. Bangs not only wanted Mark to meet with these practical
+men, and become familiar with their ways of conducting a business which
+was very similar to that which the Elmers had undertaken in Florida,
+but he knew that pine lumber was becoming scarce in that Northern
+country, and thought perhaps some of these men could be persuaded to
+emigrate to another land of pines if the idea was presented to them
+properly. So he encouraged Mark to talk of Florida, and to give them
+all the information he possessed regarding its forests of pine and its
+other resources. As a result, before they again turned their faces
+homeward, half a dozen of these clear-headed Maine men had promised
+them to visit Florida in the fall, take a look at the Wakulla country,
+and see for themselves what it offered in their line of business.
+
+When Uncle Christopher and Mark returned to Bangor, the latter began to
+attend school regularly; not a grammar-school, nor a high-school, nor a
+school of any kind where books are studied, but a mill-school, where
+machinery took the place of books, where the teachers were rough
+workmen, and where each lecture was illustrated by practical examples.
+Nor did Mark merely go and listen to these lectures: he took an active
+part in illustrating them himself; for Uncle Christopher had explained
+so clearly to him that in order to be a truly successful mill president
+he must thoroughly understand the uses of every bit of mill machinery,
+that the boy was now as eager to do this as he had been in Wakulla to
+learn how to fish for alligators, or fire-hunt for deer.
+
+All that summer he worked hard--two months in a saw-mill, and two more
+in a grist-mill--and though he did not receive a cent of money for all
+this labor, he felt amply repaid for what he had been through, by a
+satisfied sense of having, at least, mastered the rudiments of what he
+knew was to be an important part of his work in life for some years to
+come.
+
+About the end of September his Uncle Christopher called Mark into his
+study one evening, and telling him to sit down, said, "Well, Mark, my
+boy, I suppose you're beginning to think of going home again to
+Floridy, eh?"
+
+"Yes, uncle; father writes that both Ruth and I ought to come home very
+soon now, and I, for one, am quite ready to go."
+
+"So you ought, so you ought. When boys and girls can help their fathers
+and mothers, and be helping themselves at the same time, they ought to
+be doing it," assented Uncle Christopher, cheerfully. "Well, Mark, I've
+got a scheme, a great scheme in my head, and I want you to tell me what
+you think of it. In the first place, I want you and the other directors
+to increase the capital stock of the Elmer Mill and Ferry Company, and
+let me take the extra shares."
+
+"Oh, Uncle Christopher!"
+
+"Wait, my boy, I haven't begun yet. You see, as I've told you before,
+I'm getting old and fee--not a word, sir!--feeble, and my old bones
+begin to complain a good deal at the cold of these Maine winters.
+Besides, all the folks that I think most of in this world have gone to
+Floridy to live, and it isn't according to nater that a man's body
+should be in one place while his heart's in another. Consequently it
+looks as if I had a special call to have a business that'll take my
+body where my heart is once in a while. Now my business is the lumber
+business, and always will be; and from what I know and what you tell
+me, it looks as if there was enough of that sort of business to be done
+in Floridy to amuse my declining years."
+
+"Yes, indeed there is, uncle."
+
+"Well, that p'int being settled, and you, as President of the Elmer
+Mills, being willing to use your influence to have me made a partner in
+that concern--"
+
+"Why, of course, uncle--"
+
+"No 'of course' about it, young man; remember there's a Board of
+Directors to be consulted. Friendship is friendship, and business is
+business, and sometimes when one says 'Gee' t'other says 'Haw.' Having
+secured the influence of the president of the company, however, I'm
+willing to risk the rest. And now for my scheme.
+
+"Supposing, for the sake of argument, that I am made one of the
+proprietors of the Elmer Mills. In that case I want them to be big
+mills. I'm too old a man to be fooling my limited time away on little
+mills; consequently, I propose to buy a first-class outfit of machinery
+for a big saw-mill, ship it to Wakulla, Floridy, and let it represent
+my shares of Elmer Mill Company stock. Moreover, as the schooner Nancy
+Bell, owned by the subscriber, is just now waiting for a charter, I
+propose to load her with the said mill machinery, and whatever articles
+you may think the Wakulla colony to be most in need of, and despatch
+her to the St. Mark's River, Floridy.
+
+"Moreover, yet again, as she is now without a captain, Eli Drew having
+gone into deep-water navigation, I propose to offer the command of the
+Nancy Bell to Captain Bill May, as his ship won't be ready for some
+months yet.
+
+"And, moreover, for the third time, I further propose to invite Mr.
+Mark Elmer, Jun., President of the Elmer Mill and Ferry Company of
+Floridy, Miss Ruth Elmer, Secretary of the same, Miss Edna May,
+daughter of the captain, that is to be, of the schooner Nancy Bell, and
+the several gentlemen whom we met down in Aroostook last June, to take
+this Floridy trip on board the schooner Nancy Bell with me."
+
+"With YOU, Uncle Christopher!" exclaimed Mark. "Are you going too?"
+
+"Why, to be sure I am," answered Uncle Christopher. "Didn't I tell you
+it was my intention to reunite the scattered members of my being under
+more sunny skies than these? Now what do you say to my scheme, eh?"
+
+"I say it's the most splendid scheme I ever heard of," cried Mark,
+jumping from his chair in his excitement, "and I wish we could start
+this very minute."
+
+"Well we can't; but we can start towards bed, and in the morning we'll
+look after that mill machinery."
+
+The next two were indeed busy weeks for our friends. In Bangor Uncle
+Christopher and Mark were fully occupied in selecting mill machinery of
+the most improved patterns, and in purchasing a great variety of farm
+utensils, groceries, and other things that Mark knew would prove very
+welcome in Wakulla. Captain May, who had gladly accepted the command of
+the Nancy Bell for this voyage, was equally busy getting her ready for
+sea, and superintending the stowage of her precious but awkward cargo
+of machinery.
+
+In Norton, Ruth and Edna had their hands full of dressmaking, packing,
+and paying farewell visits, and down in Aroostook the six families of
+the six gentlemen who had accepted Mr. Bangs's invitation to visit
+Florida with him were in a whirl of excitement, for to these
+untravelled people the journey from Maine to Florida seemed but little
+less of an undertaking than a journey around the world.
+
+At length everything was ready, and the Nancy Bell only awaited her
+passengers. Captain May and Mark ran over to Norton one day to bid the
+friends there good-bye, and returned the next, bringing the girls with
+them. Both the girls were as excited as they could be; Edna at the
+prospect of this the first long journey that she could remember, and
+Ruth at the idea of soon being at home with her own dear parents again,
+and with anticipating all she should have to show and tell Edna.
+
+A letter had been sent to Wakulla, saying that Mark and Ruth would take
+advantage of the first opportunity that offered to go home, and that
+Edna May would come with them; but nothing was said of Uncle
+Christopher and the rest of the party, nor of the schooner and her
+cargo. All this was reserved as a grand surprise.
+
+How different were the feelings that filled the minds of Mark and Ruth
+now, from those with which they had sailed down the Penobscot in this
+same schooner Nancy Bell eleven months before. Then they were leaving
+the only home they had ever known, and going in search of a new one in
+which their father could recover his shattered health. Even they had
+realized that it was a desperate venture, and that its success was very
+doubtful. Now they were going to that home, already well established
+and prosperous. They knew that their father was again a strong and well
+man, and they were taking with them friends and material that were to
+insure increased happiness and prosperity to those whom they loved most.
+
+The first of October was a charming season of the year for a Southern
+voyage, and with favoring winds the Nancy Bell made a quick run down
+the coast. In one week after leaving Bangor she had rounded the western
+end of the Florida Reef, and was headed northward across the green
+waters of the Gulf. Here she moved but slowly before the light winds
+that prevailed, but at last the distant light-house at the mouth of the
+St. Mark's River was sighted. Almost at the same time a slender column
+of smoke was seen rising to the east of the light, and apparently at
+some distance inland. As the lamp in the light-house shed forth its
+cheerful gleam at sunset the column of smoke changed to a deep red, as
+though it were a pillar of fire. While they were wondering what it
+could be, a pilot came on board, and in answer to their questions told
+them that it was the light from the Wakulla volcano. He said that no
+living soul had ever been nearer than five miles to it, on account of
+the horrible and impenetrable swamps surrounding it.
+
+Hearing this, Uncle Christopher declared that, before leaving that
+country, he meant to go in there and see how nigh he could get to it,
+and Mark said he would go with him.
+
+As the breeze and tide were both in their favor, it was decided to run
+up to St. Mark's that night. When, about nine o'clock, this point was
+reached, it was suggested that all hands should take to the boats, and
+tow the schooner the rest of the way up to Wakulla that same night, so
+as to surprise the folks in the morning. The children were wild to have
+this plan carried out, and finally Captain May and Uncle Christopher
+consented that it should be tried.
+
+All night long the schooner moved slowly up the solemn river through
+the dense shadows of the overhanging forests. The boats' crews were
+relieved every hour, and shortly before sunrise the children, who had
+been forced by sleepiness to take naps in their state-rooms, were
+wakened by Uncle Christopher, who said,
+
+"Come, children, hurry up on deck. The schooner has just been made fast
+to the 'Go Bang' pier, and we're going to fire a gun to wake up the
+folks--a sort of a 'Go Bang' good-morning, you know."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+EDNA MAY MARCH.
+
+
+Mark, Ruth, and Edna hurried on deck, and reached it in time to see
+Captain May load to its muzzle the small brass cannon that was carried
+on the schooner for firing signals.
+
+How beautiful and peaceful everything looked! The tide, with which they
+had come up, filled the river to the brim, and it sparkled merrily in
+the light of the rising sun. The ferry-boat lay moored to the bank just
+in front of the schooner, and they could see the tin horn hanging to
+its post, and the very card on which were the ferry rates that Ruth had
+printed so many months before. The house was hidden from their view by
+a clump of trees, but over their tops rose a light column of smoke, and
+they knew Aunt Chloe was up and busy, at any rate.
+
+Suddenly, flash! bang! the small cannon went off with a roar worthy of
+a larger piece, and one that woke the echoes for miles up and down the
+river, disturbed numerous wild water-fowl from their quiet feeding, and
+sent them screaming away through the air, and set all the dogs in
+Wakulla to barking furiously. In the midst of all the clamor the
+children heard the loud bark of their own dog, Bruce, and in another
+moment he came bounding down to the landing, and was the first to
+welcome them home.
+
+At the same time a number of colored people, among whom the children
+recognized several familiar faces, came running down to the opposite
+bank of the river, where they stood rubbing their eyes and staring at
+the big schooner, the first that had been seen in their river in many
+years.
+
+The children did not pay much attention to them, however, for a
+landing-plank was being run ashore, and they were eager to go to the
+house. As Mark reached the wharf, and was holding out his hand to Ruth,
+who followed, there was a loud hurrah behind him, and before he could
+turn around Frank March had thrown his arms round his neck, and was
+fairly hugging him in his joy.
+
+"I knew you'd come when we weren't expecting you! I knew you'd surprise
+us! and I told 'em so last night when they were worrying about you,"
+shouted the boy, dancing about them, and almost inclined to hug Ruth as
+he had Mark. But he didn't; he only grasped both her hands, and shook
+them until she begged for mercy. As soon as she regained possession of
+her hands, she said,
+
+"And here's Edna, Frank. Miss Edna May, Mr. Frank March."
+
+"I'm awfully glad to see you, Miss Edna," said Frank; and "How do you
+do, Mr. March?" said Edna, as they shook hands and looked at each other
+curiously.
+
+Then Frank was introduced to Uncle Christopher, who said, "My boy, I'm
+proud to make your acquaintance. So you didn't expect us, eh?" and the
+old gentleman chuckled as he thought of the quality and size of the
+joke they had played on the inmates of "Go Bang" by surprising them.
+
+Captain May and the gentlemen from Aroostook had not left the schooner
+when the others turned towards the house, talking so fast as they went
+that nobody understood, or even heard, what anybody else was saying.
+
+As they came in sight of the house two well-known figures were leaving
+the front gate, and the next minute Mark and Ruth had rushed into the
+arms of their father and mother, and the latter was actually crying for
+joy.
+
+"It is all your doing, Uncle Christopher," she said to Mr. Bangs, as
+soon as she could speak. "I know it is; for you never in your life have
+neglected opportunities for giving people joyful surprises."
+
+"Well, Niece Ellen, I won't say as I didn't have a hand in it,"
+answered the old gentleman, his face beaming with delight. "But, sakes
+alive! Mark Elmer, is this the place that I let you have rent free for
+ten years?" and he pointed to the pretty house, and swept his hand over
+the broad fields surrounding it.
+
+"Yes, Uncle Christopher, this is the place. This is 'Go Bang,' as the
+children have named it, and we welcome you very heartily to it."
+
+"Well, well," said Uncle Christopher, mournfully, "what chances I have
+thrown away in this life! eh, Niece Ellen?"
+
+"You never threw away a chance to do good or make others happy, uncle,
+I am sure of that. But now come into the house and get ready for
+breakfast, which will soon be ready for you."
+
+As the others went into the house, Ruth ran around to the kitchen to
+see Aunt Chloe, and so surprised that old woman that she just threw her
+floury arms about the girl's neck and kissed her, saying,
+
+"Tank de Lo'd, honey! Tank de good Lo'd you's come home ag'in! We's all
+miss yo' like de sunshine, but nobody hain't miss yo' like ole Clo
+done."
+
+Mr. March and Jan had gone to Tallahassee the day before, but were to
+be back that night.
+
+Mrs. Elmer sent Mark down to the schooner to invite Captain May and the
+Aroostook gentlemen to come to the house for breakfast, but, rather to
+her relief--for she was not prepared to entertain so many guests--they
+declined her invitation, saying they would breakfast on board, and come
+to the house to pay their respects later.
+
+How jolly and happy they were at breakfast. How shy Frank was before
+Edna, and how many funny things Uncle Christopher did say to make them
+laugh! Little by little the "great scheme" was unfolded to the three
+members of the mill company present who had not heard of it, though
+Uncle Christopher and Mark had intended to keep it a secret until they
+could lay it before a regular meeting of the directors. But, beginning
+with hints, the whole story was finally told, and Mr. and Mrs. Elmer
+and Frank were only too glad to sustain President Mark in his promises.
+They said they should not only be proud and happy to have the "best
+uncle in the world" become a member of their company, but that new
+saw-mill machinery was just what they needed, for they found the
+present mill already unable to supply the demands upon it for lumber.
+
+While the others were talking business, Ruth and Edna had gone out on
+the front porch to look at the garden, and now Ruth came back to ask
+whose house the pretty little new one was that stood just on the edge
+of the woods to the right.
+
+"Why, that's ours," said Frank, jumping from the table. "Don't you want
+to go and look at it?"
+
+They said of course they did, and Mark said he would go too. They were
+perfectly delighted with the new house and everything in it, and
+praised it for being so tiny and cosey and comfortable, until Frank
+thought he had never felt so happy and proud before. It was no wonder,
+for this was the first time he had ever known the pleasure of
+extending, to those whom he loved, the hospitality of a pleasant home
+of his own.
+
+When they returned to the big house they found the rest of their
+friends from the schooner there. Captain May started when he saw Frank
+March, and on being introduced to him held his hand so long, and stared
+at him so earnestly, as to greatly embarrass the boy.
+
+As Uncle Christopher and the Aroostook gentlemen were anxious to visit
+the mill, Mr. Elmer invited them to walk up there through the woods. On
+their way they passed the sulphur spring, which had been cleaned out
+and walled in, and over which a neat bath-house had been built. Uncle
+Christopher was delighted with it, and declared that, to an old
+"rheumatizy" man like him, that spring was worth all the lumber in
+"Floridy."
+
+Mark had asked Edna and Ruth to go up to the mill by water with Frank
+and him in the canoe, and they accepted the invitation. At first Edna
+was very timid in the frail craft, but she soon gained confidence, and
+said "she thought it was the very nicest little boat, on one of the
+prettiest rivers she had ever seen."
+
+As they neared the mill its busy machinery seemed to Mark to say,
+"Welcome, Mr. President, welcome, Mr. President, welcome Mr. President
+of the Elmer Mills"; and when he drew the attention of the others to
+it, they declared that they, too, could distinguish the words quite
+plainly. The mill looked just as it had when they last saw it, but at
+one side were great piles of sawed lumber that Uncle Christopher and
+the Aroostook gentlemen were examining carefully.
+
+That afternoon Mark handed Frank thirty dollars as his share of the
+money the former had received from their otter-skins, which he had
+carried North and sold. Frank had several more that he had caught
+during the summer, but their skins were of little value compared with
+those caught during the earlier months of the year.
+
+Mr. Elmer had invited all the gentlemen to dine with him that evening,
+much to the consternation of Aunt Chloe, who said "she was sho' she
+couldn't see how she was gwine fin' time to po'wide vittles fo' so many
+guesses; an' dem po' hung'y Norfeners too. 'Specs dey'll be powerful
+tickled to git a squar' meal."
+
+The "guesses" spent the afternoon in crossing the river to Wakulla, and
+in driving several miles into the great pine forests, which pleased
+them greatly.
+
+The dinner turned out to be a most bountiful meal, in spite of Aunt
+Chloe's fears; and at half-past six a very merry company gathered
+around the long table, which, for want of space elsewhere, had been set
+in the wide hall that ran through the house from front to rear. The
+evening was so warm that the front door stood wide open, and when
+dinner was nearly over, the whole party were laughing so heartily at
+one of Uncle Christopher's funny stories, that no one heard the sound
+of wheels at the gate, nor noticed the figure that, with white face and
+wild eyes, stared at them from the open doorway.
+
+No, not at them; only at one of them--the fair-haired girl, almost a
+woman, who sat at the head of the table, on Mr. Elmer's right hand, and
+on whose face the light shone full and strong.
+
+Then a cry rang through the hall, a cry almost of agony, and it was
+"Margaret! Margaret! my wife Margaret! Am I dreaming, or can the dead
+come to life?"
+
+As the startled guests looked towards the door Mr. March entered the
+room, and without noticing any one else, walked straight to where Edna
+May was sitting. She, frightened at his appearance and fixed gaze,
+clung to Mr. Elmer's arm, and Captain May half rose from his chair with
+a confused idea that the girl, whom he loved as his own daughter, was
+in danger.
+
+"Who is she, Elmer? where did she come from?" exclaimed Mr. March. "She
+is the living image of my dead wife; only younger, much younger, and
+more beautiful than she whom I drove from her home," he added, with a
+groan.
+
+Mr. Elmer had noticed the strange resemblance between Frank March and
+Edna May, and had determined to speak to his wife about it that night.
+Now it all flashed across him as clear as sunlight; but before he could
+speak, Ruth sprang to his side, and taking her friend's hand in hers,
+cried,
+
+"Don't you see, father, she is his own daughter, the baby he thought
+was drowned in the Savannah River so many years ago? Captain May saved
+her, and now he has brought her back to her father and brother. Frank,
+Edna is your own sister."
+
+Mr. March tried to take Edna into his arms, but she slipped away from
+him and ran to Captain May, saying, "This is my father, the only one I
+have ever known. As he has loved and cared for me, so do I love him. I
+will never, never leave him!" and she burst into tears.
+
+After soothing and quieting her, Captain May said, "Mr. March, I
+suspected this long ago. Mark and Ruth told me of the resemblance
+between Edna and your son on our way North together last spring, and I
+made them promise not to mention it to her. I hoped it would prove to
+be only a fancied resemblance; but, as a Christian man, I could not
+keep father and daughter separated, if indeed they were father and
+daughter. So I brought her here to meet you face to face; and from what
+I have just seen I am inclined to think you are her own father, but you
+must prove it to me. Prove the fact beyond a doubt, and I will yield to
+you an undivided half interest in this dear child. Only a half, though.
+I can't give up the love that has twined round my heart for nearly
+fifteen years."
+
+Then Mr. March sat down, and in faltering tones told to the listening
+company the sad story of his married life. He gave the date of the
+disappearance of his wife and her baby from home, and he described as
+well as he could the clothes that each wore at the time.
+
+As he finished, Captain May went to him and gave him a warm, hearty
+hand-grasp. "That's enough," he said. "Gentlemen, I call you to witness
+that from this time forth I renounce all claims, except those of love,
+to her who has been known for the last fifteen years as my daughter
+Edna May. I am satisfied that this man is her father, and that whatever
+he has been in the past, he is now worthy to occupy that position
+towards her. Edna, my girl, you have only got two fathers instead of
+one, and a brother of whom I think you will live to be very proud
+besides; your heart holds enough love for all of us, doesn't it, dear?"
+
+Edna's answer was to throw her arms around his neck, and kiss his
+weather-beaten cheeks again and again. Then, with a smile showing
+through the tears that still filled her eyes, she went over to Mr.
+March, whom she no longer doubted was her own father, but of whom she
+could not help feeling very shy, and half timidly held up her face for
+him to kiss. The happy father opened his arms and clasped her to his
+heart, exclaiming, in a broken voice, "God bless you, my daughter! That
+He has restored you to me is the surest sign of His forgiveness."
+
+Then Frank came to them, saying, "Sister Edna, won't you kiss me too?
+The thing I have envied Mark most was his having a sister, and now that
+I have got one of my own, I do believe I am the very happiest boy in
+the world."
+
+"Sakes alive!" exclaimed good old Uncle Christopher, who had all this
+time been blowing his nose very loudly with a great red silk
+hand-kerchief, and occasionally wiping his eyes, "with all this kissing
+going on, where am I? Grandniece Ruth, come here and kiss your 'Uncle
+Christmas' directly." Ruth did as she was bid, and the old gentleman
+continued: "What a country this Floridy is, to be sure. They change
+March into May, or vicy versy, and each one is as beautiful as the
+other. Sakes alive! what an old April Fool I was not to think of all
+this myself when I first saw those two young people together."
+
+Long before this, honest Jan Jansen, who had returned from Tallahassee
+with Mr. March, but waited to put up the mules, had come into the room,
+and he was now brought forward and introduced to everybody. Among the
+Aroostook gentlemen he found an old acquaintance who had met him in New
+Sweden, and who now told him that, owing to the death of a relative in
+the old country, a snug little property awaited him, and that a lawyer
+in Bangor was advertising and searching for him.
+
+Having now spent almost a year with our Wakulla friends, perhaps they
+are getting tired of us, and we had better leave them for a while, only
+waiting to draw together the threads of the story, and finish it off
+neatly.
+
+Edna May March has been installed mistress of the pretty little house
+that Mr. March and Frank built while the young Elmers were in the
+North, and she and Ruth receive daily lessons in cooking, sewing, and
+all sorts of housekeeping from Mrs. Elmer and Aunt Chloe; and the
+latter says "she's proud to 'still Soufern precep's into deir sweet
+Norfern heads, bress em!"
+
+The Nancy Bell lay in the St. Mark's River long enough to secure a load
+of lumber from the Elmer Mill, and then sailed for the North. But she
+will return, for Captain May has bought a half interest in her from
+Uncle Christopher, and will hereafter run her regularly between New
+York and Wakulla.
+
+The new Elmer Mill is nearly finished, and four of the six gentlemen
+from Aroostook have gone home to get their families, and to buy more
+machinery with which to erect another saw-mill farther up the river,
+and they are expected back on the next trip of the Nancy Bell.
+
+Jan has gone to Sweden; but they have had a letter from him saying that
+he should return soon, and invest his property in Wakulla.
+
+Dear old "Uncle Christmas" is busy preparing for his expedition in
+search of the famous Wakulla volcano. He revels in the warmth of the
+climate, and in bathing in the sulphur spring, and he says that if a
+good thing's good, a better may be better, and he may find more warmth
+and more sulphur if he can only find the volcano.
+
+Edna has been taken on several picnics to Wakulla Spring, over the
+"humpety road," and "de trabblin' road," past "Brer Steve's" down to
+the light-house, and to other places of interest. The contrast between
+what is, and what the people of Wakulla hope will be when they get the
+great ship-canal across Florida built, and other schemes carried out,
+amuses her greatly. She smiles when they come to her and in strict
+confidence unfold their plans for future greatness; but is such a
+patient listener, and so ready a sympathizer, that she is rapidly
+winning their admiration and love.
+
+
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Wakulla, by Kirk Munroe
+
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