Frank A. Warner

“ With the other negro clinging desperately around his neck, it was a ludicrous spectacle, and as Mose cleared the fence in a wild scramble with the mule not ten feet behind him, the boys shouted with laughter.
“That was a close shave!” gasped Fred at last. “Old Baldy is out after dark meat to-day, I can see that.”
“Looks to me as though the mule had won the decision,” said Bobby. “How about it, Lee?”
“Oh, they can’t give up now,” said Lee. “That mule would never be worth a cent to us again if they let him win. But I’m going to see if a little strategy won’t help them out.” ”

“ Fred looked at him and grinned.
“What’s the matter, Lee?” he inquired. “You don’t mean to tell me you’re feeling seasick, do you?”
“Of course I’m not seasick.”
“No, of course he isn’t seasick,” said Bobby, with a wink at Fred. “He just doesn’t feel well, that’s all. People are often that way on salt water. It must be something about the air, I guess.”
“Yes, that’s probably it,” agreed Fred, in a tone of deep sympathy. “What you need, Lee, is a good bang up supper to set you up. How would a nice pork chop or two hit you?” ”

“ Your memory is nothing but a hole with no bottom in it.”
“All right, pick on my memory all you want to,” grinned Bobby, “but remember ‘it’s a long worm that has no turning.’”
“You fellows had better cut out all those fake proverbs and get down to business,” warned Lee. “We’re just as far as ever from getting out of this swamp, and we don’t even know where we’re going to get our next meal. Why don’t you exercise your minds on this problem: when do we eat, and if so, how?”
“You certainly start off with a terribly hard one,” said Fred. “Can’t you think of anything easier than that, Lee?” ”

“ THE MOCCASIN SNAKE The hearty breakfast and the bright sunshine, added to the consciousness that they had found a shelter to which they might retreat in case of need put new zest into the boys, and they felt much more hopeful and lighthearted than they had twenty-four hours earlier.
“Somehow I have a hunch that this is going to be a lucky day for us,” remarked Bobby, as he led the way.
“Here’s hoping that you’re right,” said Lee. “We’re certainly about due for a change in fortune. Poor mother!” he added, anxiety coming into his eyes, “she must be worried to death. ”

“ Both Bobby and Fred were impressed by the leisurely way in which life seemed to flow on in the various places through which they passed. Even the soft haze in the atmosphere was suggestive of rest and quiet. In the little towns, dogs lay in the dust in the middle of the road, not at all disturbed by the fear of being run over. ”

“ HALF A GALE In an incredibly short space of time a heavy sea was running, and the big ship, which at its dock had seemed so solid and immovable, was tossed about almost wholly at the will of the angry waves. The bow would rise up and up as it met a rushing hill of frothing green water, then, as the giant wave rushed astern, the bow would dip, and the whole vessel would seem to be coasting down into a frothing valley. Crests of the big rollers, picked up and flung aboard by the howling wind, drenched any hardy soul who ventured on deck. ”

“ We’ll have to get busy and catch about a hundred more before I’ll feel satisfied.”
“If you’ll eat a hundred, I’ll catch them for you,” laughed Bobby.
“And I’ll clean them and cook them for you,” seconded Lee.
“All right, go ahead and start in,” said Fred, but the others were not to be taken in so easily.
“No, you don’t,” laughed Bobby. “You get busy and catch some yourself. I’ll bet you couldn’t eat two more to save your life.”
“Well, I’d have a lot of fun trying, anyway,” said Fred, regretfully. “But if you fellows are too lazy to catch fish for me, I suppose I’ll have to do it myself.” ”

“ When shall we make another try to get out of this everlasting swamp?”
“I think we’d better start as soon as it’s light enough to see, to-morrow,” said Lee. “I hate to think of tackling the bog again, but we’ve just got to do it.”
“Well, then, that’s settled,” came from Fred. “We’ll get a good sleep to-night and start strong, anyway. Don’t you think it would be a good idea to cook a lot of those eggs and take them along with us? There’s no telling how long it may be before we find any other food.”
“That’s a good idea,” said Bobby. “Let’s get busy and cook some right now. ”

“ As it is, he’s tickled to death because he thinks he put one over on us.”
“But he called me redhead!” exclaimed Fred, “and no one can do that in earnest without a fight.”
“That of course is different,” admitted Bobby. “I wouldn’t let any one call me names and get away with it. But as far as we can, the best thing is to let him alone. Some time or other he’ll get to the end of his rope, just as his pal did and get out of Rockledge School.”
“I guess Bobby’s about right,” remarked Sparrow. “I suppose it’s always better to go round a skunk than take a kick at him. ”

“ That’s old Baldy, and I really believe he’s the meanest mule that ever lived, and if you know anything about mules, you’ll realize that that’s saying something. I should have warned you about him, but I didn’t think about it.”
“Oh, well it doesn’t matter as long as he missed me,” said Fred. “You can bet I’ll watch out for him in the future.”
“It’s a circus to see the darkeys when they have to harness him,” said Lee. “They’re all afraid of him, and yet they respect him, too, because he’s as strong as two ordinary mules, and when he feels like it can do a hard day’s work. ”

“ Lee was frankly seasick again, and even Bobby and Fred had to admit that they “felt a little off.”
“But anyway, a storm like this isn’t likely to last long,” remarked Bobby. “It came up in a hurry, and likely will go down just as fast.”
“It can’t go too fast to suit me,” groaned Lee, “‘A life on the rolling deep’ may be all right for some people, but it rolls entirely too much to be popular with me.”
“Not to mention how deep it is when the ship happens to sink,” said Fred. “Whether we like it or not, we’ve got to admit that the man who wrote that poetry knew what he was talking about.” ”

“ On the boat Lee had said quite a little of this Jim Boolus to Bobby and Fred. He was a mean old skinflint, who had thriven on the misery of others, and by many a shady deal had brought ruin on honest people. While everybody knew him to be unscrupulous and dishonest, he was so cunning and crafty that he always managed to keep out of the grip of the law. At present he was trying to prove his ownership to a large part of Mrs. Cartier’s estate, and she was in serious danger of losing it. ”

“ If you ever come within reach of his jaws or the swish of his tail, it’s all up with you.”
“It must be awfully exciting,” exclaimed Fred.
“It is that all right,” agreed Lee. “Then we have lots of other sports in which there’s plenty of fun. There’s badger hunting, and coon hunting with the dogs at night, and once in a while a panther comes round, and take it altogether there isn’t much dullness on the plantation. I only wish you fellows could share the fun with me.”
“There’s nothing I’d like better,” said Bobby, and his companions nodded assent. ”

“ But none had perished and none had been seriously hurt, and in this they found ample reason for thanksgiving.
“Gee, Bobby, but it was lucky that you woke up just then!” exclaimed Shiner. “If you hadn’t, a lot of us might have been burned to death.”
“It’s lucky that I had that nightmare,” replied Bobby with a grin, and he narrated the details of his fight with the alligators in his dream. “If I hadn’t been shocked awake by that,” he concluded, “I’d have been as sound asleep as the rest when the fire broke out.” ”

“ As the ship crept up to the dock at a snail’s pace, many of the passengers crowded over to the starboard side, where the boys were standing, and when the perspiring dancer finally ended with a double shuffle and a bow, he was rewarded by a shower of coins that rained down from the side of the ship which was now being warped up to the dock and made fast.
“Some pep to that boy,” commented Fred. “You’d think they’d save their energy for the work ahead of them.”
“Oh, a negro always has time and energy for a little fun, no matter how hard he has to work,” replied Lee. ”

“ In all probability, as Lee told them, the panther would wait until toward dark, and then leap on them at the first opportunity.
“If that’s so,” said Bobby, who had been doing some quick thinking, “it seems to me as though we’d best pick out the place to fight it out instead of leaving it to Mr. Cougar.”
“Yes, but one place looks about as bad as another to me around here,” said Lee. “What’s your idea, Bobby?”
“I think we’d better get up a tree,” said Bobby, “then if he comes up after us, as he’ll probably do if we keep him waiting long enough, we’ll have a chance of beating him off with clubs. ”

“ His stout shoe had saved him.
“You’re all right, old boy,” said Bobby, though his voice trembled. “That snake came mighty near doing for you but didn’t quite make it.”
Fred almost collapsed as he realized that he was safe, for he had feared the worst.
“If he had struck above the shoe top it would have been good-night,” said Lee, who shared to the full the joy and relief of his friends. “Those moccasins are the deadliest snakes of the South. People are more afraid of them than of rattlesnakes. A rattlesnake will give warning, but a moccasin never does. ”

“ He’d just shake hands with you and forgive you.”
“I’d advise you to try it,” said Lee, scornfully. “I know it always takes an awful lot to make Fred mad, but still, I’m not going to chance it.”
Mrs. Cartier, who was an interested listener, laughed. “That’s all that boys seem to think of—eating and fighting,” she said. “Sometimes I wonder how they ever get time to study.”
“Well,” said Bobby, “at school, especially, there always seems to be some one who’ll bully everybody else, if he gets the chance, and so once in a while we just have to show him that he can’t.” ”

“ It’s hours since the last of those alligator eggs disappeared,” complained Lee.
“Then you shouldn’t have thrown the cougar into the quicksand,” retorted Fred, “he might have made tough eating, but it would have been a lot better than nothing.”
“I thought of that,” admitted Lee. “But I was more anxious to keep him from eating me. Besides,” he added, “you and Bobby never thought of anything but getting rid of him at that time either.”
“No use crying over spilt milk,” said Bobby, philosophically. “We’ll have to move and trust to luck for something to eat.” ”

“ Shortly afterwards Bobby and Fred went downstairs, and found Lee waiting for them on the veranda.
“I thought you fellows must have been overcome by the excitement of that buckboard ride and dropped asleep,” grinned Lee. “You never used to take as long as that to get spruced up back at school, especially when you happened to get up late and thought you’d be late for breakfast.”
“When in Rome do as the Romans do,” quoted Bobby. “When you hit a place where everybody seems to take things easy, why be in a hurry?” ”

“ He took Bobby and Fred through the big barn, where now only a few horses and mules were stabled, although there was room for a hundred. As they passed one stall, there was a flash of vicious hoofs, which narrowly missed Fred, who was the nearest.
“Wow!” he exclaimed, as he jumped back, “I pretty near stopped something that time. That beast must have a grudge against me, I guess.”
“Oh, it isn’t against you, in particular,” said Lee. “He’s got a grudge against the whole human race. ”

“ After passing the last rig, they had gone perhaps half a mile, old Jerry stopping at frequent intervals to rest, when they saw another buggy approaching them. As it drew nearer, Lee gave an exclamation.
“What’s the matter?” inquired Bobby. “Anything wrong?”
Lee’s face was flushed as he pointed to the oncoming buggy.
“There comes the meanest man in the world,” he exclaimed, his voice shaking. “That’s Jim Boolus, the fellow that’s trying to steal our land.” ”

“ He grabs you as if you were a long-lost brother.”
“He came mighty near stopping me,” admitted Bobby. “I just felt his fingers touch me as I dodged. But a miss is as good as a mile, in football as in everything else.”
“It was a tough game for Belden to lose,” commented Perry Wise, a big, fat boy, who went by the ironical nickname of “Pee Wee.” “But both teams couldn’t win, and we were just a little bit too good for them,” he added complacently.
“Listen to that ‘we’,” jibed “Sparrow” Bangs. “Lot you had to do with it, you old elephant.” ”

“ It was arranged that Fred should go with him, and the boys embarked in high spirits. Their ship caught fire, however, and they with others found themselves adrift, landing at last on a volcanic island, narrowly escaping with their lives.
“The fellows at Rockledge will hardly believe us when we tell them all we’ve gone through,” declared Bobby, as they were on their way home.
“It will sound as if we were stretching things,” admitted Fred, “but I guess they’ll believe us when we cross our hearts. Anyway, we know it’s true.” ”

“ Lee hastily scrambled back from the end of the branch, and all three boys slid down the trunk of the tree to where the cougar lay, still stunned from the terrific blow and from its fall.
“Quick,” said Bobby, “grab hold of him, and we’ll throw him into that big bog-hole we passed when we left the main path.”
“Right!” exclaimed Fred. “But we’ll have to act mighty quick. He’s apt to come to life any second.” ”

“ When she caught sight of the boys she gave a bellow and dragged herself through the sand at increased speed, but the boys did not wait for her coming this time, and were soon at a safe distance.
“Gee!” exclaimed Bobby, slowing down. “It’s a lucky thing that alligators can’t run fast. If they could, I guess we’d have to live in trees.”
“They’re slow enough on land, but you ought to see them in the water,” returned Lee. “They can go fast enough then, believe me.”
“I’ll believe you right away, without putting it to a test,” laughed Fred. “An alligator’s mouth seems too full of teeth to suit me.” ”

“ The boys were eager to hear more of the wireless man’s adventures, and he, nothing loth, spun them more than one yarn of exciting episodes in far corners of the earth, for he had been almost everywhere that ships go. He was often interrupted by messages coming or going, but the boys were fascinated by his stories, and could hardly tear themselves away when dinner time came.
“That man has surely seen a lot,” remarked Bobby, while they were eating an excellent meal, “and he knows how to tell about what he has seen, too. I’m sorry we didn’t get acquainted with him earlier on the trip.” ”