Laura Lee Hope

“ Amy's announcement—unexpected as it was—had two effects. It dispelled, for a time, the gloom that had come with the news of Will Ford's disappearance, and it gave the girls something to talk about, to speculate over and to plan for.
"I must confess," admitted Betty, "that our strenuous life this Fall and Summer, living in the outdoors, has unfitted us for the hum-drum sort of existence that used to satisfy us. We seem to want some excitement all the while now."
"That's so," agreed Mollie. "But outdoor life is a little too chilling these days." ”

“ Grace pointed out. "Some animal must have become entangled in the anchor or painter, Betty. An alligator, perhaps."
"That's it!" cried Mollie. "An alligator is running away with our boat. Oh, Betty!"
"It may be that," admitted the Little Captain, as she gazed after her craft. "I didn't think of it, but that's probably what it is. I don't see the beast above the water, though. Do you, girls?" ”

“ And there is a river and a lake——" [27]
"My motor boat!" cried Betty.
"What's the matter with it?" demanded Mollie. "Do you see it?"
"No, but I wonder if we could take it along?"
"I'll ask Uncle Stonington," said Amy. "I'm sure you can. Oh, I do hope you girls can go! Do you think you can?"
"I'm going—if I have to walk!" declared Betty. "I can send my boat by freight, and we can have the most delightful times ever! Oh, Amy!" and she hugged her chum again.
"I'm not sure I can go," observed Grace, slowly. "If poor Will is in trouble——"
"We'll get him out!" cried Mollie. "Of course you'll go. ”

“ Hammond's workers, and made himself very useful about the orange grove. He could not do enough for the girls, or for Will and Tom, the latter two becoming fast chums, as they had been companions in misery.
"And to think that soon we will have to leave this lovely place," said Grace one day, when they had come back from a long trip on the river in the Gem. "It is perfect here."
"It is," agreed Mollie, "but do you know I am rather lonesome for the sight of a snowball, or an icicle."
"Mollie Billette!" cried Amy.
"Well, I am! Too much loveliness palls on one after a bit. ”

“ Betty, as well as Grace, Mollie and Amy, seemed much taken aback by the earnest words of Mrs. Belton. The wife of the labor contractor seemed under stress of some excitement, as she faced the girls after the warning.
"Don't go!" she went on. "Don't any of you think of going! I used to think my husband dealt with a rough enough class of men, but those in the interior—in the turpentine camps, and cypress swamps—oh, they are the most lawless element you can imagine. And no wonder, for no men, unless they are compelled, will work with those contractors. ”

“ Betty started toward it from the library, where she and Grace had gone when Grace let her chum in a short time before.
"Shall I answer, Grace?" inquired Betty, hesitating.
"Yes, do, please. I think Katy is with mamma. She took the news very much to heart. Let Amy and Mollie in, and then I'll tell you all about it. Oh, but I don't know what to do!"
"Now look here, Grace Ford!" exclaimed Betty briskly, pausing a moment on her way to the door. "You just stop this! If no one is dead, and no one is hurt, then it can't be so very dreadful. ”

“ She pointed to the youth, who was almost out of sight at a bend in the river.
"He wants to get away from those who are after him," observed Grace. "I wonder if he is a desperate criminal?"
"He didn't look at all like a criminal," spoke Amy. "I think he had a nice face."
"He wasn't bad looking," admitted Betty. "Poor fellow, he was very nervous, though."
"And no wonder—meeting four girls at once!" laughed Mollie.
"What shall we do if we meet those men who are after him?" asked Grace. "I shall be so frightened!"
"We won't meet them!" declared Betty. "If we do we need not speak to them. ”

“ Sound carries very distinctly over water, you know."
"They are coming toward us," added Amy, shrinking closer to Betty. There was no doubt of that. The eyes of all in the approaching motor boat, which was a powerful craft, were fixed on the girls in the Gem, and it was a strange sight to see the eyes of the colored men, with so much of the white showing in contrast to their dark faces, staring fixedly at our friends. Grace caught herself in a half-hysterical laugh. ”

“ Each held one of the long oars.
"All ready," answered Amy, who had taken up the boat hook.
"Wait a minute," begged Grace, looking for something on which to cleanse her hands of the brown smudge of chocolate. "This candy is so sticky!"
"There's the whole river to wash in," said Mollie. "'Water, water everywhere,' and not any solid enough to go ashore on," she concluded with a laugh.
"I'll never dip my hands in this water—not until I can see bottom," declared Grace, finally selecting a bit of rag that Betty used to polish the brass work of the engine. ”

“ Betty started her engine on the reverse again, and then, feeling sure that they were beyond the bar, she turned and steered her craft back toward the orange grove. The picnic plan was given up now as it was getting late and the girls were tired.
"Thank goodness that's over!" exclaimed Grace, with a sigh of relief. "Oh, I was so frightened!"
"At what?" asked Mollie.
"I—I don't know."
"Well, it was very kind of them," said Betty. "We might have had to stay there a long time."
"And I'm going to tell Uncle Stonington," spoke Amy. "He may want to hire men, for there are many more oranges to pick." ”

“ Whether it was the fact of her chocolates being safe, or that there was no immediate danger of sinking, or that no alligators were in sight, was not made manifest, but she certainly seemed all right again.
"It's enough of a ball game to have a base, and to be obliged to hold it," said Betty with a smile, as she bent over the machinery, testing the bolts and nuts that held the motor to the bottom of the boat. ”

“ The girls looked at one another on hearing Mr. Hammond's warning. The same thought was in the mind of each.
"What—what kind of suspicious characters were they?" asked Betty.
"Oh, just the usual kind," replied the overseer. "I don't want to alarm you, and you needn't be afraid. They're mostly a cowardly set that always congregate around where a lot of work is going on, hoping to get money without labor, either by some form of chance game, or by deliberately taking advantage of some of the simple-minded colored hands. ”

“ Mr. Hammond did not say they made inquiries for us, or for that poor young fellow. What was it they called him—'The Duck?'"
"'Loon—loon!'" corrected Betty, with a laugh. [143]
"Well, I knew it was some kind of a bird," asserted Amy. "I wonder why they called him that?"
"A loon is supposed to be a crazy sort of a bird," went on Betty, "and, come to think of it, that poor chap didn't look very bright. Maybe he was half-witted, and that's why they called him The Loon."
"Well, he knew enough to shoot the manatee, and get our boat for us," defended Grace. "I don't think he was very stupid." ”

“ Ford little realized how soon the time was to come when the outdoor girls were to prove their sterling worth in a peculiar manner.
"Well, things are certainly taking a queer turn," said Grace as she looked at the scribbled letter of her brother, so strangely forwarded to them. "There is no telling how long ago this was written. Poor Will is probably having a hard time this very minute."
"He probably is if he's at work in a turpentine camp," said Mr. Ford. "It is no easy work, and it is no wonder the contractors have to take criminals, and fairly kidnap their helpers. ”

“ As the girls walked with Grace toward her house, the Ford home being the first on their way, they saw a messenger boy with his little black-covered book and a bunch of telegrams just turning into the gate.
"There's a message!" exclaimed Grace, breaking into a run. "I want to take it from him before he rings the bell. Mamma is so nervous at the sight of a telegram. She always thinks the worst thing has happened. I suppose this is from Will, saying he is on his way home. Poor boy! he has had a lesson."
"I feel sorry for him, too," said Betty. ”

“ Betty, in a low tone. "He seems too fond of our boat."
"Throw more stones!" directed Mollie, and another shower of small rocks sailed through the air to fall with many splashes into the turbid water.
There was a swirl in the river just in front of the Gem, as though the creature towing it objected to the treatment it was receiving. And then, as the girls, anxiously watching, prepared to send another volley of stones, Amy uttered a cry, and pointed up the river toward a small point of land that jutted out into the stream.
"Look!" she cried. "A man in a boat!" ”

“ Hammond came in sight.
"Howdy, Hammond!" greeted the labor contractor, as he came out of the best-looking house in the clearing. "Why, it's the girls I hauled off the sand bar!" he added, as he recognized Betty and her chums. "Did you get home all right?"
"Yes, and we've come to do as you said, and hire some help for Mr. Stonington," ventured Betty, blushing a bit at her boldness.
"Good!" exclaimed Mr. Belton. "I've got just the kind of pickers you want, Hammond. Quick, cheerful lot of boys, that will work from sunrise to sunset." [107]
"That's what you always say," laughed Mr. Hammond. ”

“ Mollie pulled in her hand so suddenly that she flirted a little shower of drops on all in the boat.
"Stop it! You mean thing!" cried Grace.
"Oh, I beg your pardon," spoke Mollie with elaborate politeness. "I didn't think your sailor suit would spot—mine doesn't."
"It isn't that—no indeed. I meant Amy—for bringing up such a topic as alligators at this moment, when we can't move. And the ugly creatures always come out on a sand bar to sun themselves; don't they?"
"Not on this sand bar," asserted Betty. "It's under water. ”

“ We thought an alligator had her."
"It was rather queer," said the ragged youth. "I never see a boat towed by a manatee before. I'll be ashore in a minute."
He was poling his scow over toward the girls, towing their boat in, aided by the current. A little later he had leaped ashore with the rope, pulling the anchor after him.
"We're a thousand times obliged to you!" exclaimed Mollie, impulsively. "We never should have known what to do without our boat. We're from Bentonville."
"Yes? That's quite a ways down." The youth, in spite of his rags, had a good-looking face and a pleasant manner. ”

“ Ford, who had told his wife something of the truth, but not enough to cause her to worry. He said they had word from Will, and hoped soon to have him home. And Mrs. Ford, who leaned much on her husband and daughter, was more content than she had been. "Get ready, Grace," said her father, "and enjoy your winter in the South."
"I certainly don't enjoy a winter in the North," she replied. "Girls, did you see my chocolates?"
"Hopeless! Hopeless!" murmured Mollie, with a smile, as she found the confections on the mantel.
Preparations for the Florida trip went on apace. ”

“ They were scanning the shores ahead of them, looking for a suitable place to land and eat their lunch, when Betty, who had taken the wheel, with The Loon to stand beside and direct her steering, uttered a cry and pointed ahead.
"See!" she said. "What is that?"
The other girls looked.
"Some sort of a raft," answered Mollie.
"And someone is on it!" added Amy. [195]
"It's a man!" cried Grace. "A young man! Oh, maybe it's the one who escaped from the Everglade swamp. Hurry to him, Betty!" ”

“ We are the girls, you know, whose boat you got when the manatee was towing it away."
"Wha—what?" gasped the other, and he seemed much afraid.
"We're the same girls," went on Betty. "You know, we saw you poling down the river that day. If you come closer you can see us and make sure. We need help again. We are lost and a friend of ours is missing. Wait, I'll light the lamps," and with a turn of the switch Betty set aglow the electric lights, operated by a storage battery.
The youth started again. Clearly he was a most timid creature. ”

“ We have imagined all sorts of terrible things about you."
"We got lost," explained Betty quickly, "and some men have captured Tom. They are holding him a prisoner in an Everglade camp. This young man can take us back there. We must rescue him," and they quickly filled in the other details of the story.
"Well, this beats all!" exclaimed Mr. Hammond. "Those timber men are getting worse and worse all the while. We'll have to teach them a lesson!"
"Will you rescue them?" asked The Loon.
"Surely, Harry," spoke the foreman, who knew the simple-minded lad. "We'll get right after the fellows. ”

“ Now that a communication had come from the youth, seeming to indicate that all was well with him, his former employer was ready to deal harshly with him. He was even meditating what form of punishment could be applied, and he planned harder tasks for him, in case his father should send Will back to the cotton mill in Atlanta.
"Yes, stay, by all means," spoke the younger Mr. Ford, in rather absent-minded tones, as he flipped open the letter. "We have no secrets from you girls, and if you are going to Florida, and Will is in that neighborhood, he can take a run over and see you. ”

“ Is anyone dead—or—or hurt?" and Betty Nelson, who had called at the house of Grace to talk over plans for a dance they were going to attend the following week, looked anxiously at her chum. Only the day before Grace had seemed like her nearly-always jolly self. She and her three chums, including Betty, had been down town shopping, and Grace, as usual, had indulged in chocolates—her one failing, if such it can be called. ”

“ Belton started from her chair.
"Don't you do it, honey! Don't you do it!" she exclaimed earnestly. "Keep away from the turpentine camps whatever you do. There's a desperate lot of men there—convicts a lot of 'em, and there's worse men guarding 'em. Keep away if you know what is good for you," and she looked earnestly at Grace, who paled as she thought of poor Will. ”

“ The two big alligators, and they were exceptionally large, so the girls said afterward, seemed to have taken permanent possession of the narrow neck of land that connected the peninsula with the main shore. The girls were practically prisoners on what, with a rise of the river, would be an island.
"They don't seem to be coming after us," remarked Mollie looking about for some stones, or anything else, to use as a weapon of offense.
"No, they're just waiting their time," said Amy, who was still clinging to Grace. ”

“ The grove was near a beautiful stream, not such a river as was the Argono of Deepdale, but broader, more shallow and sluggish.
"I wonder if there are alligators in it?" asked Betty, of one of the pickers.
"Not around here," he answered. "You have to go into the bayous, or swamps, for them critters. Don't yo'all worry 'bout the 'gators."
"We won't when we get in the Gem," said Betty. "I wonder when they will bring her up and launch her?"
"Let's go to the depot and find out," suggested Amy. "We can have a carriage and team with a driver any time we want it, Uncle Stonington said." ”