"Is that the sort of thing you boys have been doing in your odd hours when you were not squabbling with panthers or mixing up with tarpon? I am afraid you need a traveling guardian to look after you."
A hundred feet was added to the rope that held the alligator and he was left to pasture in the water until the _Irene_ was ready to sail, when he was hauled aboard the skiff and lashed there. While he was being tied he was perfectly tame and peaceful, but, though he looked as if b.u.t.ter wouldn"t melt in his mouth, no one trusted him and even the captain fought shy of his tail.
For two miles from the Glades the river was broad and the navigation, excepting for many bunches of moss and manatee gra.s.s, was easy. Then came half a mile of a twisting narrow creek, in places not twice the width of the _Irene_, through which poured swiftly the whole volume of the big river. At the head of this creek the captain came to anchor.
"We won"t get through this creek without a lot of trouble. The current will throw us against the bank a dozen times and we haven"t speed to prevent it and couldn"t turn the corners if we had. The launch must go ahead and keep the bow of the big boat out of the bushes if it can. Then we can"t be bothered with the skiff or the "gator. We"d likely lose both. Somebody must take the launch and tow the skiff through and then come back, if he can get back, and help the big boat through. I hate to do it, but we can"t tow the skiff and, of course, it would be torn off of the davits in two minutes.
We are going to sc.r.a.pe the sides and perhaps tear out half the rigging of the _Irene_, anyhow. Now who volunteers to tow the skiff through the creek? I can"t go because the launch may not be able to buck the current and get back and I must stand by the big boat."
"I volunteer," said Molly, "if you can get anybody to go as engineer."
Every one laughed at this, excepting Molly, who blushed a little, and d.i.c.k pulled the power boat up beside the _Irene_ as if he were afraid that somebody would change her mind if there was any delay.
"Can she do it and is it quite safe?" asked Mr. Barstow.
"Do it as well as anybody. They may swamp the skiff or get caught in a corner, but they can get out on the bank without anything worse than a ducking."
As the power boat started, with Molly at the wheel, d.i.c.k standing by the motor and the skiff hauled close under the stern, the captain called out to d.i.c.k:
"Full speed. It"s your only chance to get through. Don"t bother with the skiff, but keep an oar handy to fend off from the bank." The speed of the boat was doubled by the current and d.i.c.k"s heart was in his mouth as the banks flew past and some log-guarded point threatened to smash the bow of the boat. But Molly was quick to see the coming peril and the wheel rolled swiftly to starboard or port, always in time to avert it. There were double turns which the boat could never have made but for the rush of the current which often swept them aside from a stump or log that it seemed impossible to avoid. It was a thrilling experience to both pilot and engineer, and when the broad, placid river opened before them and the perilous trip was past, the girl turned a flushed and beaming face toward her companion and said:
"Wasn"t it just lovely?"
And the boy replied with enthusiasm:
"It was glorious!"
d.i.c.k fastened the skiff to a tree on the bank, gave a look at the lashing of the alligator and the return through the creek began.
There was nothing exciting about this trip. As the craft was working against the current, the flow of the water balanced the power of the engine, and log stumps and points on the bank were pa.s.sed slowly, inch by inch. Often there was no progress and then the boat was steered close beside the bank and d.i.c.k pushed with his oar against the trees until less swift water was found. The run down the creek was made in three minutes. The return "took half as many hours. On the _Irene_ all were anxious but the captain and Tom. At the end of an hour Ned was for starting down the creek with the big boat, but Captain Hull said:
"No. It may take them three hours. Give them two at least. If we start now we"ll make sure of a smash-up."
In another minute the motor of the launch could be heard, although it was half an hour more before the wanderers were welcomed aboard the _Irene_ and their story told.
"It"s our turn for trouble now," said the captain, "and we"re likely to get it, good and plenty."
"Want me to tow?" said d.i.c.k.
"Sure," replied the captain.
"Me, too?" inquired Molly.
"No," replied the captain, rather sharply. "It isn"t piloting this time. You can"t steer the launch much while it"s fast to the big boat. Best you can do is to fend off and then you"re likely to get caught, and when you do get caught and fifteen tons comes down on you at ten miles an hour, somebody has got to be spry."
"Is there much danger to whoever goes in the little boat?" asked Mr. Barstow.
"Some, not much. It"s the big boat that is likely to get caught and if the launch did get stuck and we couldn"t sheer off it would only mean a quick jump and a little swim and--a busted launch."
The _Irene_ started down the creek with her engine at half speed, the captain at the wheel and d.i.c.k standing in the bow of the motor boat with an oar at hand. Molly stood in the companionway at the captain"s request because he feared her being swept overboard by overhanging branches. Mr. Barstow and Ned were stationed near the bow with long poles for fending off from the banks when necessary.
The first trouble came from a wooded point on the starboard side, but d.i.c.k swung the power boat to port while Ned nearly went overboard as he threw his weight on the pole with which he was fending. The bow cleared the point, though the bowsprit swept the bushes and a low-growing branch tore out the screens on the starboard side. Before the point was pa.s.sed d.i.c.k had the launch on the starboard side, working to turn the _Irene_ before she should strike the opposite bank. The efforts of all hands failed to make the turn in time and a stump by the bank caught in the jib-stay of the boat and held her fast. As the stern of the _Irene_ swung on the point she had nearly pa.s.sed, she lay broad-side to the current, subject to all its power.
"We"re in for it now, if that jib-stay don"t part pretty sudden,"
said the captain.
And before the words were out of his mouth the eye-bolt that held the stay broke short off and the _Irene"s_ bow swung down the stream. The boat was not caught badly again, although her fore rigging on the port side was carried away and her sides somewhat scarred. The only accident that threatened was prevented by a precaution which d.i.c.k had taken. He had fastened his tow line to the stern of the launch with a knot that could be slipped and led the end of the line forward to where he stood by the wheel. It happened that when nearly through the creek it became needful to drag the bow of the _Irene_ far to port. d.i.c.k did this, but found himself in a pocket from which he could not escape and in position to be dragged stern first under the bow of the big boat. A quick jerk on the towing line, and the launch was safe behind the _Irene_. There was no more trouble for the big boat, which a minute later was headed down the broad but shallow river, at half speed, while d.i.c.k picked up the skiff with its alligator pa.s.senger who slowly opened one eye when spoken to. In a few minutes the _Irene_ was traveling at full speed toward Tussock Bay while her joyful pa.s.sengers sat on the cabin roof and talked of perils which had pa.s.sed.
[Ill.u.s.tration: "SLOWLY LIFTING HIS HUGE HEAD OVER THE SIDE OF THE SKIFF"]
From Tussock Bay to the coast, the _Irene_ sailed by way of a branch of Shark River. The deep water of this river near the Gulf of Mexico was roughened by a high wind and the rising and falling of the skiff seemed to excite the alligator which for hours had been as quiet as if he were asleep or dead. Slowly lifting his huge head over the side of the skiff he gave a lurch which strained the rope that held him and enough of the weight of the reptile was on the side of the skiff to capsize it. The captain, who first heard the struggle and saw the upset of the skiff, shouted to Ned, who was below oiling the engine, to shut off the power. Before the _Irene_ lost her headway Ned was in the river with the alligator, resting on the bottom of the skiff which he rolled from over the reptile to save it from drowning. Instantly the freed jaws of the alligator opened wide in his face and the boy threw himself backward in the water and swam swiftly away from his dangerous companion. The rope had slipped from the head of the reptile, which now seized the gunwale of the boat and thrashed about until he had freed himself from the rope which bound him, after which he quickly disappeared.
Half an hour later Ned was pouring his grievances into the ear of his chum, who was resting in his bunk from the fatigue of the morning.
"Don"t you think, d.i.c.k, it was bad enough to be scared to death by a whopping old alligator that I thought was going to bite me in two, without being scolded by everybody on board for recklessness? First there was Dad, and he uses pretty powerful language when he gets real earnest, then Captain Hull gave it to me like a Dutch uncle, and even Molly lectured me and squeezed out a few tears. I told Dad it wasn"t half as bad as your jumping in the way of that panther, but he said that was altogether a different thing and had some sense in it."
CHAPTER XXV
IN FLORIDA BAY
After the _Irene_ had sailed twenty miles down the coast and was about opposite East Cape (Sable) Captain Hull asked for his orders.
"Isn"t Madeira Hammock on the coast, about thirty miles from here?"
inquired Ned.
"Yes, but you will have to go seventy to get there. You"ve got to go way round by the keys."
"Isn"t there water enough for the _Irene_ along the coast?"
"Isn"t enough to float the skiff. You can go about ten miles. After that there"s an inch of water and I reckon a mile of blue, soft, sticky mud. I"ve been a few feet down in it and the farther I went the softer and stickier it got."
"Suppose we go the ten miles you talk about what will we find?"
"Tarpon, sharks, porpoises, lots of fish, birds and enough sawfish to make a picket fence of their saws all around the coast."
"That"s us, Captain," said Ned.
And the _Irene"s_ mud hook went to the bottom that night in eight feet of water off Joe Kemp"s Key.
In the shoal water over the broad banks which lay to the south and east of the _Irene_ the bayonet fins of many tarpon rose high above the surface as the fish beneath them pursued their prey. Often the two fins shown by a wandering shark swept swiftly across a bank, or three big reddish fins moving in a straight line slowly behind a great, swaying, four-foot weapon marked the course of a fifteen-foot sawfish. There was water to float the power boat in the channels between the banks, and families of porpoises or dolphins were always ready to serve as pilots and point the path through these labyrinthine waterways. A school of porpoises, rolling in the water and leaping in the air, pa.s.sed the motor boat as if they had been telephoned for in the greatest haste. Two minutes later, a quarter of a mile away, a great splashing could be seen and huge bodies hurled in the air, which seemed to be filled with flying fragments.
The power boat, with Molly at the wheel, started for the fray at its best speed and when it reached the battlefield its occupants saw a little band of porpoises in the midst of a great school of silver mullet. Each blow of a porpoise tail sent several mullet flying in the air, each blow that was struck was followed by a quick turn or leap of the agile animal for the victim which it caught before it fell. Ned and d.i.c.k were in the skiff which had been towed by the power boat, hoping to harpoon a sawfish or a shark. They had not before thought of the swift and wary porpoise. They called to the captain to cast them loose, and soon Ned was poling the skiff toward the busy porpoises while d.i.c.k stood in the bow of the skiff with his harpoon handy. Quick as a flash the porpoises separated and scattered in every direction and the boys followed several in vain.
Then Molly took a hand in the game and sent the power boat at one after another of them until the captain called to her:
"If you"ll stick to one you"ll run him down."
Then Molly kept steadily after a single porpoise, until the animal came to understand that it was the chosen victim, and quickly put half a mile between it and its pursuer. In a few minutes the half mile between them had vanished and the creature made another frantic dash. After that it swam back and forth as if confused, and traveled in narrowing circles, wasting its strength, while the wheel of the pursuing boat rolled back and forth without ceasing as it followed the course of the animal or took short cuts to head it off. The boys came near with the skiff, but the worried quarry paid so little heed to them that soon d.i.c.k sunk his harpoon in the tail of the porpoise.
All the life and strength of the creature seemed to come back and it threw a column of water in the air which nearly swamped the skiff, while d.i.c.k"s hands were torn and blistered by the outgoing harpoon line, before way could be had on the skiff. The frantic creature tore back and forth, sometimes striking the skiff a powerful blow with its tremendous tail as it pa.s.sed, sometimes towing it at high speed until d.i.c.k, who was not yet strong, was more tired than the porpoise. He changed places with Ned and the two were nearly worn out when the porpoise surrendered.