"Johnny, do you know where we are?"
"Nope; bin goin" "round so fast I"ve got dizzy."
"You mean we are lost?"
"Yep; but that"s nothin" s" long"s we don"t stay lost."
"What shall we do, and where shall we go?"
"Go anywhere, only stick to it. Got ter do sumpthin; fresh water"s "most gone. Reckon we"d better go "bout sou"west. We kin find a river that"ll take us t" the coast, "nd I kin find a way that"ll take us where you wanter go."
An hour"s paddling brought the boys to a bay in which were several pretty keys, on one of which d.i.c.k saw a number of beautiful white birds.
"What are those?" he asked.
"Egrets," said Johnny. "Want ter shoot "em?"
"Of course not," replied d.i.c.k. "It"s against the law, and wicked, besides. They are the loveliest birds there are and never ought to be killed just for fun."
"We never kill "em for fun. Only tourists do that. If you Northern fellers didn"t pay us ter git plumes we"d never kill "em. D"ye remember that key over there?"
"No. What about it?"
"See that crik by the palmetter "nd the big stump? Know it now?"
"What! Isn"t that the creek we slept in night before last?"
"Sure! "nd that"s where we wanter go now. Them trees that we stopped fer was cut by our fellers to keep off the Lossman River plume hunters. We"ve got ter cut "em out, er git "round "em if "t takes a week."
"How about water?"
"Find it t"other side o" the crik. I"d rather go without than go back t" anybody"s house fer it."
"But that old shack where we killed the rattler isn"t far off, and I saw a water-barrel under the caves."
"So did I, "nd a possum floatin" in it, too. That"s why I didn"t fill up there. We"ll go slow on what we got "nd do without a day "r two, "nd we"ll find some by then if we stick t" anything."
"We"re going to stick to things hereafter, Johnny. It was plumb foolish to lay down just because a tree got in our way, and it was my fault, too. It isn"t going to happen again, though. Let"s get through that creek to-night, if we have to work by the light of the lantern."
"Ain"t you "fraid o" the snakes?" said Johnny.
"No. I"m too ashamed of myself for backing out of that creek to be afraid of anything, except doing it again."
When the boys got back to the trees which lay across the creek, they took turns with the little axe, which was not much heavier than a hatchet, until they had cleared an opening for the canoe. They found other trees in their way, but they kept on. Once they unloaded the canoe on stumps and logs until they could lift it over a log that lay so deep in the water that it was hard to cut. Five minutes later, and within a hundred yards of where they had turned back on the previous day, the boys reached the end of the creek, where it opened into a bay which seemed to d.i.c.k as beautiful as a dream. It was dotted with little islands, on some of which were picturesque groups of palmettos, and on others big trees filled with white-plumaged birds. Two black dots on the surface of the water a hundred yards from the canoe moved slowly across its bow. Johnny stopped paddling and said:
"There"s a "gator. D"ye want him?"
"I don"t see him."
"See them two black k.n.o.bs on the water? The little one"s his nose "nd the big one"s his eye. He"s turnin" "round "nd showin" both eyes, now. Shoot him in the eye if yer want t" kill him. It"ll take some time t" skin him, though, "nd mebbe ye"re in a hurry to get along."
"I sure am," replied d.i.c.k, and as the paddles dipped together in the water, the alligator, suspicious of them, slowly sank from their sight.
At the end of the bay the boys found a deep, narrow river with a current which d.i.c.k supposed was tidal, but which Johnny thought came from the Glades. d.i.c.k tasted the water and was surprised to find that instead of being salt it had the sweetish taste of merely brackish water. There were birds of many kinds in the trees on the banks of the river, and as the boys paddled against the current Johnny saw a brace of ducks swimming ahead of the canoe. He took in his paddle and picked up the shotgun, which, with much forethought, he had placed beside himself in the canoe before starting out. d.i.c.k paddled very slowly and quietly toward the ducks until they were within easy range. Johnny had been told that if he wanted to be a real sportsman he must never fire at birds with a shotgun unless they were flying. So he waited until the ducks rose before firing at them. The next instant a bird fell heavily on the water a few yards ahead of the canoe.
"Why, that bird fell out of this tree!" said the astonished d.i.c.k. "I didn"t know you fired up in a tree."
"I didn"t," replied Johnny. "That was a water-turkey, and he isn"t hurt a bit. They often act so when they"re scared. Watch out for him under the bank."
In a minute or two d.i.c.k saw a long, snake-like head and neck thrust out of the water by the bank. The head twisted about with a quick, jerky motion till the bird"s eyes rested on the canoe, when it disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared.
"What became of the ducks?" said d.i.c.k.
"Reckon we"ll find one of "em "round that p"int. The other got away." Johnny was right, and the duck was found just around the point.
At some places the river narrowed into deep creeks and at others broadened out into wide, shallow bays, where the boys were puzzled to find the inlet they wanted. It was nearly noon when they struck a stream of quite a different sort from anything they had previously seen. Its mouth lay between banks that were high for Florida, and through it flowed a stream of crystal-clear water, which, to the great relief and delight of the boys, was fresh as a mountain brook The bed of the stream looked like sand to d.i.c.k, but when he thumped it with his paddle he found it was coral rock. Suddenly Johnny called to him:
"Watch out fur the boat," and resting his hands on the sides of the craft leaped into the water without disturbing in the least the balance of the canoe.
As Johnny swam rapidly under water, close to the white coral bottom of the creek, d.i.c.k saw that he was chasing a turtle which was skurrying toward the bank for protection. It got there all right, but the bank didn"t protect it, and soon Johnny came to the surface hugging to his breast with his left hand a wildly flapping turtle, while with his right he struck out for the canoe. Getting into the canoe would have been a ticklish job, so Johnny handed the turtle to his companion and swam to the bank while d.i.c.k followed with the canoe. By the time Johnny had butchered the turtle, d.i.c.k had constructed a very creditable camp-fire under a palmetto, in the shade of which the boys rested while they waited for the turtle stew to be ready for them. Their breakfast had been a cold one, consisting entirely of fruit, and they had decided that for dinner they would begin with turtle stew and end with broiled duck. When the stew had been finished, Johnny inquired:
"Want that duck cooked now?"
"No, I don"t. If I ate another mouthful I"d bust. Let"s have the duck next week."
Yet each of the boys managed to eat about a hatful of wild grapes, which they found growing a short distance from their camp-fire.
Just as the boys were starting out again, d.i.c.k saw a turtle, and, laying down his paddle, said:
"Johnny, if you can catch turtles, I can. See me go for that one."
"Hold on," shouted Johnny, as d.i.c.k was about to jump overboard.
"That"s an alligator turtle. Bites worse"n a bulldog, and ain"t good fur much t" eat, nohow."
As they kept on up the creek, its banks came nearer together, trees were more numerous, and the bushes thicker. Soon these began to close overhead, while the stream itself broke up into several smaller ones. As these twisted about, forming a labyrinth of little channels bounded by hundreds of tiny keys, all cohered by an interlaced canopy of leaves and branches, d.i.c.k wondered if ever they could find their way out. But he had resolved that morning that never again would he turn back in his exploring so long as it was possible to go on. The little streams continued to become smaller and the turns shorter, until to get around the bends the axe was in constant use to clear a path, while the boys waded and often dragged or carried the canoe. It was wearing work, and they frequently sat down to rest. On one of these occasions Johnny inquired:
"How long you want ter keep this up? This ain"t the right creek, not the one Mr. Streeter told about."
"I know that. The creek he spoke of must be away south of this, but this will probably take us to the Everglades, or near them. So we had better keep on till the brook gives out and then travel to the east, toting the canoe till we get to the Glades. We may be away north of Osceola"s camp, but there will likely be a trail that will help us to find it, and anyhow we will be near the line that Mr.
Streeter thinks Ned and the Indian will follow. Don"t you like the plan?"
"Me? Sure! I don"t want any better fun than t" keep on t" the Atlantic Ocean, only "fraid it"d be too hard fer you."
Night found the toys in a narrow stream, scarcely more than the width of the canoe, with bushes around them so thick that they found it hard to clear a place big enough to sleep on. They were tired enough to sleep soundly, in spite of the occasional cries of the birds and beasts of the forest.
They made an early start in the morning, and, although the creek was crooked and they had to cut away many small trees, they were encouraged to find the bushes becoming less abundant as the water grew more shallow, and by dark they were on the border of an open prairie, where they made camp for the night.