H. Irving Hancock

“ Not a little had young Halstead read of these outlaws of the Everglades. Since reaching Florida he had heard much more of them. In these vast, desolate stretches of swamp land there are a multitude of trackless ways. Once a criminal, fleeing from justice, gets two or three miles into the Everglades, he is almost certain to remain a free man as long as he stays there. In all these vast reaches of swamp and dark waters, with every advantage in favor of the hiding criminal, the officer of the law, if he pursues, has a very little chance of ever finding his quarry. ”

“ For four days, now, the Tremaines and their friends, including Captain Halstead and Engineer Dawson, had been at the big, luxurious Tampa Bay Hotel, at Tampa proper, nine miles up from the port.
Both Tom and his chum had demurred mildly, when invited to go with the rest of the party to the hotel.
“Oh, come along,” said Henry Tremaine, genially. “It will do you youngsters good to get away from your yacht once in a while. Up at the hotel you will mix with people, and learn some things of the ways of the world that can’t be learned on the salt water.” ”

“ DIXON’S COWARDLY ACT IN the next half hour the hull streak of the “Buzzard” became large enough for all aboard the “Restless” to see it with the naked eye.
“We’re surely gaining,” cried Tremaine, joyously.
“Not enough, sir,” replied Tom, shaking his head.
“What do you mean, lad?”
“Why, sir, if we don’t begin to gain faster, soon, then night will come down on us in a few hours, and we won’t be able to make out enough to keep that other boat in sight. She could change her course and slip away.” ”

“ Grasping Ida Silsbee’s right hand, he thrust the tiller stick into it.
“Hold onto this. Don’t drop the stick, no matter what happens,” he directed. “Use it against ’gators—or snakes.”
Then, without loss of an instant’s time, he turned and sprinted desperately. A hundred feet is a short distance when one is traveling as though on air.
Seeing the boy coming, the alligator wheeled clumsily about. By this time, however, Tom Halstead’s hands rested against the bow of the boat. At the start of the run he had opened his sailor’s clasp knife. At one stout slash the boy cut the line holding the boat. ”

“ Collected, cool enough, but feeling that all was up, Oliver Dixon stole away from the arbor in which the dazed young motor boat skipper still sat, staring at the sheet he held in his hand.
“I guess there’s just one thing to do,” muttered Tom. “That will be to go and show this letter to Mr. Tremaine. He can do as he pleases about it. If that robbery had happened within the limits of Tres Arbores, Clayton Randolph wouldn’t have written the letter; he’d have come here with handcuffs.”
Dixon, having gained the porch, where he found himself alone, paused to light a cigarette and ponder fast. ”

“ Jove! What a fine afternoon’s sport, almost within sight of the bungalow.”
“You shoot as splendidly as you do everything else, Tom!” effused Ida Silsbee.
“I guess it was a fluke shot,” Tom laughed, modestly.
But Oliver Dixon noted the use of his first name by the girl, and Dixon’s heart burned with jealousy.
Joe ran the boat up alongside the motionless, overturned alligator. Mr. Tremaine and Jeff bent far out over the gunwale, deftly, expertly slipped a noose taut over the hard, scaled tail of the dead creature, then made the line fast at the stern of the boat. ”

“ Yet it is the nature of mankind to yearn for a return to old haunts. So every now and then a fugitive from the Everglades is caught, though rarely or never in the Everglades themselves.
“A nice crowd I’m with, and a fine chance I’ve got ever to get back to my friends!” was the thought that rushed, with swift alarm, through Tom Halstead’s brain. “And it was plain they did want me. They were looking for me, more than for anyone else. But why?”
The more Halstead racked his brain for the answer the more puzzled he became.
“Of course, Oliver Dixon might want me out of the way; undoubtedly he does. ”

“ Once in a while the two boys met for consultation in low tones.
“Nothing doing in the ghostly line,” yawned Tom, at last.
“There won’t be,” nodded Joe, “as long as the ghost knows there’s an armed, unafraid guard patrolling.”
“Then what can it all mean?” wondered Halstead. “What object can any human beings [118] have in annoying other human beings in this fashion?”
Joe shook his head. It was all equally past his powers of comprehension.
Nothing happened up to the end of the two hours. Then, while Joe remained outside alone, for a few moments, Halstead went to call Mr. Tremaine. ”

“ Joe Dawson nodded.
“Then we’ve got to find Mr. Tremaine like lightning. There’s a speed cruiser for charter down at the port. Dixon may even now be hustling away on her,” cried Captain Halstead, springing away. “If he has done that he can land on some wild part of the coast of Mexico, [223] or transfer to some ship bound for South America. The earth may swallow him up—him and his booty!” ”

“ AGAIN the December day was warm and bright, as the little launch glided over Lake Okeechobee.
The boat that had lately been used by Sim and his crew was now being towed astern. In it were four of the Florida men, the other two being in the launch itself. All of these Florida men were armed with their own rifles. Thus, with the Tremaine party itself, the host considered the expedition too strong to be in danger from any lurking criminals who led a fugitive existence in the Everglades. ”

“ Tremaine.
“Oh, I’m all right,” vaunted Halstead. “I’ll go up on deck, now, and feel better for the air.”
Mr. Tremaine insisted on going forward with him as far as the motor room hatch, seeing the young skipper safe out on deck. Then the charter-man turned upon Ham, whose eyes were rolling at a more furious rate than ever, and dragged him back to the cabin.
“Ham, you infernal scared-cat!” roared Tremaine, as he stood the steward up by the sideboard. Then the charter-man explained what really had happened.
“Yet you said you saw a ghost!” finished Mr. Tremaine. ”

“ Out on the porch at this moment, bringing a pitcher of lemonade and glasses on a tray, bustled Ham Mockus. For inquiry ashore had brought out the information that Ham bore an excellent reputation; he had, therefore, been brought along as cook and general servant to this brief alligator hunting expedition.
Two or three hundred yards below the house a pier ran some fifty feet out into the lake. At the end of the pier was a high-hulled twenty-foot gasoline launch—a boat capable of carrying fifteen passengers at a pinch. Just now Joe was alone in the little craft, overhauling the engine. ”

“ Joe, meantime, was circling about on the lake, sounding his whistle once in a while, as though he wished to invite the attention of those on the porch. At last he turned and sped back to the pier.
“She seems to run all right, Joe,” called Halstead, as his chum came up the boardwalk.
“Runs first rate for a little lake boat,” replied Dawson.
“Are you really pleased with the craft?” inquired Henry Tremaine. “I wish you’d tell me candidly, because I ordered her by mail, on the builder’s representations. He claimed she’d make fifteen miles an hour.”
“The boat will do eleven, all right,” nodded Joe. ”

“ Come along, Haight!”
“I guess Dixon stock has dropped,” uttered Joe, grimly, as the two motor boat boys hurried away.
As they were passing the entrance to the dining room they encountered Mrs. Tremaine and Ida Silsbee coming out.
“We couldn’t wait for the rest of you,” confessed Mrs. Tremaine. “We’ve lunched. But—what on earth——?”
“Oliver Dixon,” spoke Tom, in a cautious undertone, “has presented a note for fifty thousand dollars at the bank, with Mr. Tremaine’s endorsement forged on the note. It is feared he has gotten away with the money.” ”

“ Among this stuff was a jointed bamboo “ghost,” covered with cotton cloth—the same thing that had frightened Ham Mockus so badly in the kitchen.
“Now, do you see what you were shivering about?” demanded Henry Tremaine, laughingly.
“Ah reckon Ah’s done bin a plumb idiot,” admitted Ham, shamefacedly.
“Not any bigger idiot than folks hereabouts have been during the last three years,” rejoined Tremaine. “Nor any bigger idiot than people have always been, all over the world. ”

“ Ida had already made some attempt to thank the young motor boat boys for their gallant conduct. Now, she tried to say much more. Mr. and Mrs. Tremaine and Oliver Dixon now started to overwhelm the boys with their gratitude, but Joe Dawson interposed quietly:
“The least said is soonest mended, you’ve heard, and I guess the same idea applies to thanks. We’re glad we could be useful, but there is no use in making a fuss about us.”
“That’s about right,” smiled Halstead. He turned to take his seat by the steering wheel, then observed the wistful looks of Jeff Randolph. ”

“ The propeller churned and the launch glided out, stern foremost, into deeper water, while the alligator, [88] bringing its jaws down with a crunching snap on the bar of wood, went through some absurd antics in trying to expel the tiller stick from its mouth. Then Tom Halstead laughed. ”

“ Florida police officers are not cowards. The men of Florida are brave. Yet officers have been known to pursue fugitive criminals into the Everglades and never come out again. Those who do get out alive often have a tale to tell of days or weeks of patient search through the gloomy, swampy fastnesses without ever once having caught sight of the men they sought. ”

“ If that happened, every throb of our propellers would be carrying us further and further from Oliver Dixon and his booty.”
“Good heavens, yes!” agreed Tremaine. “Well, I’m holding that signal mast steadily.”
“Does she seem to be nearing land?”
“Not yet. I judge her course to be southward.”
“Let me have the glass a second,” begged Halstead, jamming the wheel spokes with his knees as he reached out for the glass. ”

“ After an hour of watching, Tremaine, who was a good sleeper, began to yawn.
“I’ll tell you what, sir,” proposed Halstead, finally. “Joe and I will remain on guard, on opposite sides of the house. You and Mr. Dixon may as well turn in and get some sleep.”
“All right, then,” agreed the owner. “But see here, you call me in two hours, and Dixon and I will come down for a turn at this business. We’ve got to catch this ’ghost,’ if there’s any chance at all; yet we must all of us have some sleep.” ”

“ Dixon, stepping up the after companionway after dinner, a cigarette between his lips, encountered the young sailing master.
“Good evening,” Tom greeted, pleasantly.
“Oh, good evening,” returned Mr. Dixon, smiling and showing his teeth.
“Did you ever see a pleasanter night than this on the water?” asked Halstead. [202]
“Not many, anyway. I hope the ladies will soon come up to enjoy it.”
“I hope so,” nodded Tom. “Somehow, this sort of a night suggests the need of singing and stringed instruments on deck, doesn’t it?” ”

“ It seems absurd to think of a full-grown [92] young woman like her falling in love with a mere boy. Bah! That really can’t happen, of course. Yet it isn’t wholly unlikely that she’ll become so much interested in Tom Halstead’s kind that my sort of man won’t appeal to her. I must be watchful and keep myself properly in the foreground.”
If young Dixon felt himself much devoted to Ida Silsbee, even he knew that he was much more attracted by the fact that, as money went, Ida Silsbee was a rather important heiress. ”

“ Halstead, turning his hand, repeated the order to Joe Dawson by signal. The launch almost immediately fell off to a speed that was barely more than drifting.
“We mustn’t miss that fine fellow,” exclaimed Tremaine, throbbing with all the ardor of the sportsman. “Halstead, I think that fellow must be bigger than the one you bagged. He’s an old-timer!” [180]
The ladies entered into the general excitement. They rose, remaining standing, though Ida Silsbee, who did not enjoy the report of a gun close to her ear, slowly tiptoed toward the stern.
“My shot first!” spoke up Tremaine, eagerly. ”

“ She laughed heartily, her mirth and the resting of her gaze on Tom making Dixon secretly more furious than ever.
“Let me have the wheel, now,” volunteered Joe, moving into place. “You’ll want your eyes on the lookout for game now.”
“Slow down the speed a whole lot,” directed Halstead. “If we’re going to explore this stretch of water we don’t want to travel too fast.”
“That’s right,” nodded Mr. Tremaine. “And, Dawson, if we sight an alligator, we don’t want more than to creep over the water. ’Gators are wary of fast-moving boats, and they’re easily scared below the surface by voices.” ”

“ Tremaine was bargaining with the negro boatman to put them ashore, Ida Silsbee moved over to Tom’s side.
“I know, Captain Halstead,” she whispered, “that you feel disappointed over not having a search made. But believe me, Mr. Tremaine does not understand how you feel. He doesn’t for a moment suspect, now, that you or Mr. Dawson took the money, and he knows Ham hasn’t it. Mr. Tremaine has his own notions of sensitiveness, and he prefers to drop the whole matter. He has been drugged. There isn’t a doubt about that, and his head is still bothering him so that he isn’t able to think clearly. ”

“ There were times when they believed the pounding seas must snap one of the propeller shafts. With one shaft gone, the other shaft could not long have done double duty on such a night and in such a sea.
At last Captain Tom sternly ordered Joe Dawson below for a rest. Joe came up on deck again, after a nap of an hour and a half, when it was within an hour of daylight.
“Now, you get below,” begged Dawson. “I feel as strong as a horse, Tom. And go back to your berth in the cabin, at that. You know, I have the electric signal to your berth, if I need you.” ”