"I should be glad to continue the arrangement to the end of the year,"
replied Owen.
"No; Alick can go where he pleases with his yacht from this day. He may invite whom he pleases to go with him. But he shall be under n.o.body"s authority but mine."
I was as much astonished at the decision of my father as Owen could be; but I said nothing, and my cousin soon went on sh.o.r.e, for he was staying at the house of Colonel Shepard. We had landed the Garbrooks at Green Cove Springs, where their yacht was waiting for them.
On Tuesday came the trial of Griffin Leeds. Cornwood"s defence was weak, and he seemed to have no pluck. His client was convicted of a.s.sault with a dangerous weapon, and sentenced to five years; and I suppose he is now serving in some convict gang. Chloe found a permanent place with the Shepards. Cornwood left for St. Augustine as soon as the trial of Griffin Leeds was finished. My father and I called at the saloon of Captain Boomsby, merely to satisfy him that I was not an orphan, and that it would be useless for him to enter into any more conspiracies. I paid Cornwood one hundred and fifty dollars; and I don"t know what the captain paid him, but I think nothing. If he had obtained possession of the Sylvania, he might have collected a heavy fee. As a pilot and guide he was a greater success than as a lawyer.
My story is told, so far as Florida is concerned, for the present, though I did not believe I should be able to pa.s.s Indian River Inlet without running in and catching a few of those redfish. With my newly-acquired liberty I was considering where to go next, and whom to invite to go with me. My father spent much of his time with the Hon.
Mr. Tiffany, at the Carlton, where I was glad to meet Miss Margie as often, at least, as once a day.
The future was still an open question, though I liked my cousin Owen so well that I did not wish to think of parting with him. I was certainly indebted to him for the pleasure of being "Down South" during the winter, and the magnificent time I had enjoyed during our "Yacht Adventures in Florida."
THE GREAT WESTERN SERIES.
I.
GOING WEST; or, The Perils of a Poor Boy.
II.
OUT WEST; or, Roughing it on the Great Lakes.
III.
LAKE BREEZES; or, The Cruise of the Sylvania.
IV.
GOING SOUTH; or, Yachting on the Atlantic Coast.
V.
DOWN SOUTH; or, Yacht Adventures in Florida.
VI.
UP THE RIVER; or, Yachting on the Mississippi.
(_In Press._)