"If it hadn"t been for your club, it would have been more of a reminder of me than it is now."
The alligator came to life a few times, while they were skinning it, and had to be killed over again, and the tail did some wiggling even after the spine had been severed. When the skinning operation was over the boys went back to camp, where they found an old kettle, in which they boiled the skull of the alligator and cleaned it of flesh and brains in preparation for mounting.
[Ill.u.s.tration: "HE HELD THE JAWS OF THE "GATOR SHUT, WHILE d.i.c.k SEIZED THE HIND LEGS OF THE REPTILE"]
"How did you sleep last night, d.i.c.k?" asked Ned, the next morning.
"Didn"t sleep at all. This place is sure bad medicine. First the hoots of the owls and the snarls of the wildcats kept me awake, then the booming of the big alligators worried me, and after I did get to sleep, the ghost of that alligator that we killed to-day shook his white teeth in my face, and I could feel the man in the grave under me trying to push me off of it. Let"s get out of this river this morning, Ned."
As they paddled down Rodgers River, in the bright sunshine, d.i.c.k"s spirits rose and when they were off the mouth of the river, headed down the coast and bound for Harney"s River, two miles distant, he took in his paddle and, calling to Ned to hold steady, vaulted lightly from the canoe, without even jarring it, and landed on a sandbank in water that was but little above his waist. Stooping under the water he picked up clams of several pounds weight each, with which the bottom was paved, until clam-roasts for days had been provided for. Getting back into the canoe was a ticklish operation, but was accomplished without disaster, although a pailful or two of water was taken aboard.
CHAPTER XII
HUNTING IN HARNEY"S RIVER
The boys had chosen the last of the ebb tide for the trip down Rodgers River, which gave them low water for their work on the clam bar and a flood tide to help them up Harney"s River. They made a false start at the mouth of the river by taking a channel that ran too far to the east and led them a mile or two out of their course, before they discovered their mistake and returned. After entering the channel, the course up the river, which averaged east-northeast, was plain, there being but a single branch to mislead them, in the first six miles. At the end of these the lower section of Harney"s unites with a branch of Shark River to form Tussock Bay. This bay is a labyrinth of channels and keys and opens into creeks large and small, and water-courses shallow and deep, gra.s.s-choked and clear.
After exploring its mazes for miles, d.i.c.k and Ned found, near the northeast end of the bay, a tiny key marked by two tall palmettos, on which were the signs of an old Indian camp. Here they roasted a mess of clams and spent the night. An entire day was wasted in following creeks that led nowhere and blind trails. That night they slept again at the Indian camp and on the following day found a small channel which, through twisting creeks and crooked waterways, led to the broad waters of the upper section of Harney"s River, which they followed until they were stopped by the Everglades. They made their camp by a lime tree which was burdened with fruit, and went out from it each day to hunt fish or explore and to study and chart the country about them. The waters of the streams were all flowing clear and fresh from the Everglades. The creeks were alive with fish of many kinds, and their surfaces dotted with the heads of edible turtles.
Alligators were abundant and otters could often be seen sliding down the banks, or in families, playing together in the water. Ned had seen a pet otter at Myers and wanted one for himself. He had brought with him an otter trap, with smooth jaws instead of the cruel teeth which are customary, and he set it near an otter slide. The next day as the canoe approached the point where the trap had been set the rattling of the chain that held it told of the victim it had made.
The hind leg of the otter was held firmly by the trap, but he sprang fiercely at Ned as he came near, and the sharp teeth snapped together within a few inches of the boy"s face as the short chain straightened out. The boys went back to their camp, where Ned made a cage out of the box in which they kept most of their stores, and then returned to their captive.
"How are you going to get him into the cage, Ned?"
"Hold his head down with a forked stick, take him round the neck with my hand so he can"t bite, take the trap off of his leg and poke him in the cage."
"Ned! He"ll eat you up. I"d rather tackle a wildcat."
"Just watch him eat me up. You stand by, when I"ve got a good hold, and take off that trap quick as you can. Then I"ll drop him in the box and--there you are."
"No, we won"t be there--not all of us. I wish I was the otter. He"ll have all the fun."
Ned got his forked stick and, after a long struggle, in which d.i.c.k had to help with another stick, caught the otter"s neck in the fork and held the creature firmly to the ground. Then putting his left hand around its neck he held the head down in the mud, and with his right hand clutched the skin of the animal"s back.
"All right, d.i.c.k, take off the trap."
"Trouble"s goin" to begin. Here goes," said d.i.c.k, and the trap was removed.
Like a flash of light, as Ned lifted the little beast, it thrust its head through the loose skin of the neck and turning backward bit Ned"s hand to the bone four times in something less than a second.
The otter would have been free, but that d.i.c.k, who was looking for trouble, had it by the neck with both hands and in spite of its biting, scratching and struggling, it was dumped in the box and the door of its cage closed.
"Been having fun! Haven"t we?" said d.i.c.k, ruefully, as the boys, scratched, bitten and bleeding, stood looking at each other, after their victory. Ned"s hand was disabled and so painful that d.i.c.k paddled the canoe, with its cargo of boys and pet otter, to their camp.
"Now, Ned," said d.i.c.k, "I"m the surgeon and you are to be respectful and call me Dr. d.i.c.k. Let me see your left hand first. I"ve got to decide whether to chop it off, or to try and save some of it."
"You look as if you needed some fixing up yourself, d.i.c.k."
"That will be all right. You shall have a chance at me--if you survive the operation."
d.i.c.k got a bottle of carbolated vaseline from their stores, tore up one of Ned"s shirts and put the strips in boiling water. He then washed Ned"s wounds with warm water and soap and dressed and bandaged them. His own injuries were less serious than Ned"s, although more numerous, and although he spoke lightly of them, his companion insisted on their having as careful treatment as his own.
When the bandaging was over, d.i.c.k said:
"We ought to have a yellow flag to fly over this hospital. I wish we had a medical book to tell us what we"ve probably got. The only things I"m sure of are blood poisoning and hydrophobia. Then there"s enlargement of the spleen. I"ve got all the symptoms of that."
"Your only danger is from melancholia, d.i.c.k. But what are we to do with the otter? That box is too small for his comfort."
"I"m not losing any sleep over his comfort. I thought I"d take him out of his cage every morning and lead him around the camp for exercise until you were ready to begin his education."
"It does not seem quite as easy to tame him as it looked before we caught him."
"Guess you mean before he caught us."
"Shouldn"t wonder if I did. Couldn"t we build a cage of poles, with some of these big vines woven in basket fashion?"
"That would be all right. We could watch him day times and you could put him back in the box every night for safe keeping. I don"t think he"s an otter at all. He just fits the definition of a white elephant."
On the day after his little difference of opinion with the otter, Ned"s left hand and wrist were so sore and stiff that he could neither hold his paddle nor his gun. d.i.c.k, too, was partially disabled by the soreness of his arms, but he managed to get about in the canoe and shoot ducks enough for their meals. They could not induce the otter to eat anything, although it seemed much less fearful of them. The leg which had been in the trap was broken and appeared to trouble the animal, but they could do nothing to help it. d.i.c.k did propose to take the otter out of the cage and offered to set its leg if Ned would hold the creature. On the second day their wounds continued to be so troublesome that the boys stayed in their hospital camp. As they sat that afternoon in the shade of a lime tree, drinking limeade, d.i.c.k, the philosopher, began to question Ned.
"Don"t you pity all these folks about here, Ned? Crackers, alligators, Indians, the whole ignorant lot of "em. If they had got hurt as we did, they would have gone right on about their business.
They"d never have found out that they were probably suffering from appendicitis and microbes and ought to go to a hospital and be carved up."
At this moment the bow of an Indian canoe glided silently into the tiny cove in front of the camp. The boys recognized one of the two bronzed, bare-legged Seminoles that stood so erect in the canoe, as from Osceola"s camp. His response to Ned"s greeting was a question.
"_Whyome_ (whiskey), got him? Want him, _ojus_ (very much)."
Ned told them he had no _whyome_, but brought out coffee and sugar and invited them to make a brew for themselves. He also produced grits and venison. The Indians sat down to a feast which lasted as long as any food remained in sight. One of the Indians looked curiously at Ned"s bandages and smiled a little as he pointed to the box that held the pet otter. Ned nodded and asked the Indian, by signs, if he had ever been bitten by one of the creatures. The Indian held out his hand and showed the scar of a bite that must have nearly taken off his thumb. After the Indians had gone d.i.c.k looked ruefully over the diminished stores and exclaimed:
"There"s going to be a famine in this camp if those Injuns. .h.i.t us again."
The next day the boys were very much better and ready for work. Ned could not hold a paddle with his left hand, so they took a trip into the Everglades, where the water was so shoal that they used their paddles as poles and he could push with one hand. They left their stores in camp, for which afterwards they were glad, and pushed out several miles among the keys of the Glades, where d.i.c.k got a shot at a deer which was running from one key to another, but made a clean miss. They saw several alligators and in the afternoon chased one with the canoe. The boys could go faster than the "gator, but the reptile could turn more quickly. At last the canoe was right behind the quarry and within a few feet of it.
"Give it to her!" yelled Ned, as he seized his paddle in both hands and threw his weight upon it.
"Here goes!" shouted d.i.c.k, as he threw his weight on his paddle, which, unfortunately, slipped from the point of coral rock on which it first struck. d.i.c.k landed on his back in the water, capsizing the canoe as he fell. When the young canoemen had picked themselves up, righted the canoe, and found the rifle, it was too late to look for the missing alligator, and they plodded slowly home to camp. They found their captive much tamer. He drank a little water, although he refused to eat. His leg was badly swollen and they were anxious about him, and with good reason, for when they awoke in the morning he was dead.
Ned"s last, reckless thrust with his paddle had broken open his wounds and they became very painful. d.i.c.k dressed them again and warned him that he wasn"t to use his hand until he had Dr. d.i.c.k"s permission. They explored the creeks around their camp in the canoe, d.i.c.k doing most of the paddling, while Ned helped as well as he could, with his unhurt arm. The clear water of these little streams abounded with baby tarpon and other small fish, while often, in the deeper pools, turtles could be seen scurrying along the bottom. d.i.c.k had never told Ned of the turtle-catching that Johnny had taught him, so when he said, very casually, "Ned, I think I"ll go overboard and pick up that turtle for supper," Ned replied:
"Don"t be an idiot. You couldn"t catch that thing in the water in a thousand years."
"Just hold the canoe steady and watch me." And d.i.c.k, resting his hands on the gunwales, threw himself overboard.
The splash frightened the turtle, which made off up the creek, but the boy was on his trail and, after a few futile grabs, had the reptile in his hand.
"Think that will do for supper, Ned, or shall I pick up a few more?"
said d.i.c.k, as he put the turtle in the canoe.