CHAPTER XIII.
THE FRONT DOOR OF THE 'GLADES.
There was little more sleep for the boys that night and when at daybreakhalf-a-dozen of the moonshiners appeared with the canoe it may beimagined that the boys lost little time in getting aboard the _CarrierDove_ where their inky navigator was so delighted to see them that hedanced a sort of double shuffle of joy from one end of his disreputablecraft to the other.
The story of how the _Carrier Dove_ had come to weather the storm wassoon told. After the two men, who had not harmed him, had set him ashorefrom the motor-boat at the other end of the island the black, with theinstinct of locality common to his race, had easily made his way to thecamp. To his amazement it was deserted and he was filled with fear thatsome disaster had happened to the boys and Ben. He had not much time forspeculation however, for hardly had he looked about him when the rapidapproach of the black squall that had caused such havoc on the otherside of the island made him bestir himself to get his beloved _CarrierDove_ to a safer place than her present anchorage. He therefore jumpedinto the Squeegee and rowed out to his craft. He had just time to sether sails and up anchor when the squall struck down in all its fury.Pork Chops told his story with a wealth of gesture and dramatic effectand the boys could hardly refrain from bursting into roars of laughteras he described "de mon'surious wabe what had rised up out of the sealike yeast bread an' et up de po' li'l Squeegee."
"How high was the wave. Pork Chops?" asked Frank.
"'Bout as high as de highes' mountain you ever see, Marse Frank, and datam a solemn gospel fact," averred Pork Chops. "He ris' so high above deol' _Carrier Dobe's_ mas' dat it 'peared lak I could'n see no sky."
"Oh, come, Pork Chops," laughed Harry, "you'll have to take a little offthe top of that wave."
"Won' tak off not a single solingtary inch, Marse Harry," indignantlyreplied the skipper of the sloop. "I wish ah may nevah see Miami againef dat dar wabe weren't jus' as I done describe him to you."
"Well, it was pretty big and that's a fact," said Billy Barnes with awink at the others, "but you must have magnifying eyes to see it as bigas you describe it."
"Hoi' on dar a minute, Marse Barnes," earnestly said the old negro, "ahdon' know jus' what you mean by dat dar magnaminous eye, but tell medidn' you all see dat dar wabe from de udder side ob de island?"
"Certainly," said Lathrop, "what's that got to do with it?"
"Wall, it mus' jus' naturally have growed by de time it got round here;das all ah got to say," triumphantly concluded the old darky.
Continuing his narrative Pork Chops told how the little sloop had driventhrough the water "faster than de fastest ex-press you eber seen." Hedidn't forget either to pay himself a high tribute to his own skill as amariner.
"Reckon dat ol' man Noah didn't have nothin' on Cap'n Pok Chops when itcome to sailin' roun' wid skill and duxturity," he remarked.
"Well," commented Frank, "we don't want to spoil you by too much praise,Pork Chops, but that certainly was an A No. 1 feat of yours, and I neverheard a more welcome sound than that croak of yours when you droppedanchor."
After despatching huge quantities of fried bacon and coffee, cooked onthe battered sea stove the _Carrier Dove's_ cabin boasted, and whichPork Chops proudly referred to as "de galley," the adventurers upanchored and with their little engine chugging merrily away stood ontoward the south. The canoes in a long tandem-like line were towedastern, as there was every prospect of smooth water for the rest of theday.
As the _Carrier Dove_ bore past the southern end of the island a canoeshot round the point. In it were two figures. One was the moonshiner whohad been so anxious to despatch the unfortunate Nego, the other was ayounger man whom the boys recollected to have seen in the camp the daybefore. They waved and shouted something that the boys could not catchbut, as they evidently had some important object in paddling out, theyoung commander ordered the engine stopped and the _Carrier Dove_ layto, rising and falling on the long swells over which the canoe rode asgracefully as a sea-bird.
A few moments later the canoe ran alongside and the elder of the two menaddressing Frank said:
"Wall, the bodies of them two came ashore this morning and on the oneyou wouldn't let us string up we found this."
He fumbled in his homespun shirt a minute and then produced a tinycarved figure of green jade. It was the image of a squatting Buddha andevidently of great antiquity.
"Was this all you found?" said Frank, examining the quaint figure withinterest.
"Sure," replied the other unblushingly, "ain't it worth something to you'uns for we 'uns to hev fetched it to you?"
Frank knew that the man lied when he said that the little jade god hadbeen the only thing found on the dead man but he did not deem it worthwhile to contradict. He had little doubt that the dead man's watch anddiamond rings were at that moment in the possession of the individualwho had addressed him, or some other of the moonshiners. He, however,took the hint conveyed in the man's last words and handed him over abill. The fellow took it without a word and shoved off.
"You 'uns may get out of the 'glades alive but I don't believe it," werehis parting words.
"He's got what you might call a nice sweet disposition that feller,"remarked Ben, as the canoe was rapidly paddled away and the adventurersgot under way once more, "he'd make a good shipmate, he would, with thatsunny nature of hisn."
Frank examined the little jade god with close attention while the othersleaned over his shoulders. The figure was not much more than two incheshigh and of beautiful workmanship. It was evidently of great antiquityand seemed to have been venerated as a charm by successive generations,for it was worn quite smooth in parts as if from constant rubbingagainst the clothing of the person wearing it.
At the top of the head there was a small opening, round the edges ofwhich were inscribed characters that were meaningless to the boys.
"What do you suppose is the significance of it?" asked Harry.
"It is evidently some sort of an amulet," responded Frank.
"I've seen 'em in China and Japan," put in Ben Stubbs, "whistling godsthey call 'em there. Lend it here a minute."
Frank handed it to him and Ben put his lips to the orifice at the top ofthe figure's head. He blew hard in it and the figure gave out a clear,penetrating note that evidently traveled a long distance, for the twomoonshiners stood up in their now distant canoe and gazed back inastonishment at the sound.
"Them Chinas and Japs set a high value on these," commented Ben, "someof 'em would give their lives for one."
"Well, we'll keep it as a souvenir," remarked Frank, slipping it in hispocket. "It will be amusing to have it to recall some of our adventureswhen we get back to New York."
That afternoon a good brisk breeze from the northwest sprang up and the_Carrier Dove_ with her canvas spread bowled along at a good ten knotsbefore it, heeling over till the foam creamed at her lee scuppers. Itwas exhilarating sailing. After a long series of alternate calms andfavoring breezes the adventurers' craft finally rounded Cape Sable andshortly afterwards entered the maze of channels, islands, sandbars andtreacherous shoals that make up the Ten Thousand Island Archipelago.
The young adventurers had finished the first stage of their daringenterprise. By far the most difficult part lay before them. As Frank putit they had arrived "at the front door of the Everglades," what laybeyond was only conjecture.
According to the prearranged plan they were to cruise about at the edgeof the archipelago till the _Tarantula_ hove in sight and they couldmake final arrangements for wireless codes and signals and also completethe plan of rescuing Lieutenant Chapin and getting the formula out ofthe hands of those who had it. After two days of waiting, which sadlyirritated the boys, who were keenly impatient to begin their task, onemorning the placid waters of the gulf were furrowed by the sharp bow ofthe _Tarantula_ and the _Carrier Dove_ sailed out to meet her.
On board the destroyer the boys were greeted by a ve
ry youthful lookinglieutenant, whose name was Selby. He explained that his orders were tokeep in constant touch with the expedition, so far as was possible, bywireless and that if they were missing without sending any word for morethan a week he was to take a squad of men and penetrate the Evergladesin search of them.
He was very anxious for the boys to take several picked men of his crewalong with them in their bold dash. But Frank and Harry, after a briefconsultation, agreed that the force they had at present formed a goodworking unit and there was no need of shortening their supplies andoverloading the canoes by taking any more. After a dinner aboard thehospitable _Tarantula_ the boys dropped over the side into the _CarrierDove_, which had lain sociably alongside the grim war-vessel while theywere aboard, and with warm words of farewell from Lieutenant Selby and acheer from the crew, among whom word of what was on foot had spread insome mysterious way, they started for the maze of islets and channelsbeyond which lay the mouth of the Shark River. They anchored that nightoff a small island covered with a dense undergrowth that promised snakesand that there was at least one variety of reptile ready to receive themwas evidenced when, as the _Carrier Dove's_ anchor rattled down intoabout twelve feet of water, a huge body slipped off the bank and slidinto the water with a sullen splash.
"An alligator!" cried the boys.
"No, sah," rejoined Pork Chops, "dat dar ain't no 'gator, dat's acrokindile and where dey are dere's mischief."
"Are they more dangerous than alligators?" asked Frank.
"More dangerouser!" scornfully replied Pork Chops. "Ah should jes' saydey is. 'Gators--huh! they am big cowards, but crokindile he'll fightyer till his teef drap out--yes, sah, they's bad critters iscrokindiles."
"I'd like to get that fellow's skin though," said Frank.
The old darky scratched his head.
"Wall, sah," he said; "I ain't saying that dat's impossible. 'Spose wetry to git him by jacklight."
"By jacklight?" exclaimed Lathrop wonderingly.
"I've read about that," replied Frank, "it is supposed to be the mosteffective way of trapping these saurians. Now as there isn't much to dobefore tomorrow, after we have unloaded our duffle and got it stowed inthe canoes, we might as well have a little pot-hunt after supper."
The boys enthusiastically agreed and the work of getting the duffle offthe _Carrier Dove_ and into the canoes for transportation into theEverglades went ahead with a will. By supper time the canoes which wereto be occupied by Frank and Harry were completely loaded and there onlyremained the stowing of the few additional sections of the _Golden EagleII_ in the craft that were to be paddled and poled by Billy Barnes,Lathrop and Ben.
Supper over, old Pork Chops rigged a lantern up in the bow of one of thecanoes and fitted a strip of canvas over it.
"No use letting Mister Crokindile know what we're going to do till wegit ready," he remarked as he hooded the light.
As only one of the canoes could be used, the others being loaded down,it was agreed that Frank and Harry should occupy it with old Pork Chopsand the others would watch the fun from the deck of the _Carrier Dove_.The spot where the _Carrier Dove_ lay was a sort of natural basinenclosed by the thickly grown islands all about. Pork Chops paddledalmost noiselessly into about the center of the enclosed pool and thenstopped. Then came a dead silence for more than half an hour broken onlyby the occasional nightcry of some bird or creature of the jungle andthe sharp clicks of the adventurers' rifles as they got them ready foraction.
Suddenly the quiet was broken by a roar like that of an enraged bull.
"Heah he comes foh shuh," commented Pork Chops with his hand on the hoodof his lantern.