All at once a slight jar of the boat
caused him to start; but before he could turn his head
it was enveloped in a thick fold of cloth that
effectually prevented his seeing or calling out. In a
few seconds two active forms had bound his hands and
feet, and slid him into the bottom of the boat, where
he lay blinded, helpless, and nearly smothered. One of
his captors picked up the biscuit bag from which the
prisoner had just been eating, and tossed it ashore
with a low laugh.
In the mean time two others had been unfastening
the canoes, and dragging them cautiously backward
through the Opening cut in the bushes to the channel,
where lay the craft in which they had come. It was a
large and well-shaped cypress dugout, capable of
holding a dozen men. In less than three minutes from
the time of Quorum's capture it was being poled
rapidly but silently along through the twilight
shadows, with the stolen boats in tow.
At a point about half a mile from the island these
were skillfully concealed ill a clump of tall grasses,
and Quorum was bundled into the dugout. A choking
sound from beneath the cloth that enveloped his head
caused one of the strange canoemen to loosen it
somewhat, so as to facilitate the prisoner's
breathing. Then, propelled by four pairs of lusty
young arms, the dugout shot away up one of the watery
lanes leading directly into the heart of the
'Glades.
An hour later it was run ashore on one of the
numerous islands whose purple outlines had so charmed
the observers from the top of the mound. Here it was
greeted by the barking of dogs and the sound of many
voices. The thongs that bound Quorum's legs were cut,
he Was lifted to his feet, and, led by two of his
captors, he was made to walk for some distance. At
length he was halted, his wrists were unbound, and the
cloth that enveloped his head was snatched from
it.
The bewildered negro was instantly confronted by
such a glare of firelight that for a minute his eyes
refused to perform their duty. As he stood clumsily
rubbing them, he heard a titter of laughter and the
subdued sound of talking. As his eyes gradually became
accustomed to the light, he saw, first, a fire
directly in front of him, then, several palmetto huts,
and at length a dozen or more Indian men, besides
women and children, grouped in front of the huts, and
all staring at him.
Until that moment he had not known who had made him
prisoner, nor why he had been carried off; and even
now the second part of the question remained as great
a mystery as ever. There was no doubt, however,
that,for some purpose or other, he had been captured
by a scouting party of Seminoles, and though Quorum
had met individuals of this tribe while cruising on
the reef, he had never visited one of their camps nor
been in their power. He therefore gazed about him with
considerable trepidation, and wondered what was going
to be done with him.
As he did not recognize any of the dusky faces
gathered in the firelight, he was amazed when one of
the men, addressing him in broken English, said:
"How, Quor'm! How! Injun heap glad you come. You
hongry? Eat sofkee. Good, plenty."
At the same time the speaker pointed to a smoking
kettle of something that a squaw had just lifted from
the fire and set close to the negro. A great wooden
spoon was thrust into it, and its odor was most
appetizing. Having fasted since early morning, Quorum
was very hungry. Not only this, but under the
circumstances he would have eaten almost anything his
entertainers chose to set before him rather than run
the risk of offending them. Therefore, without waiting
for a second invitation, he squatted beside the kettle
of sofkee, and began sampling its contents with the
huge spoon. To his surprise, he bad never in his life
tasted a more delicious stew. After the first
mouthful, he had no hesitation in eating Such a meal
as made even the Indians, among whom a large eater is
considered worthy of respect, regard him with envious
admiration.
It is no wonder that Quorum found this Indian food
palatable, for the Seminole squaws are notable cooks,
and sofkee is the tribal dish. It is a stew of
venison, turtle, or some other meat, potatoes, corn,
beans, peppers, and almost anything else that is at
hand. It is thickened with coontie starch, and a
kettleful of it is always to be found over one of the
village fires, at the disposal of every hungry comer.
The one drawback to its perfect enjoyment, according
to a white man's fastidious taste, is that, besides
the sofkee, the wooden spoon with which it is eaten is
equally at the disposal of all comers, and is in
almost constant use. This fact was not known to Quorum
at the time of his introduction to sofkee. If it had
been, it would hardly have lessened his relish of the
meal, for Quorum was too wise to be fastidious.
He was so refreshed by his supper, as well as
emboldened by the fact that no one seemed inclined to
harm him, that something of his natural aggressiveness
returned. After laying the sofkee spoon down, he
turned to the Indian who had already spoken to him,
and said:
" Why fo' yo' call me Quor'm? I 'ain't hab no ;
'quaintance wif you."
For answer the Indian only said, "Tobac, you got
um, Quor'm?"
"Yes, sah. Tobac? I got er plenty ob him back
yonder in de boat wha' yo' tuk me frum. Why fo' yo'
treat a 'spectable colored gen'l'man dish yer way,
anyhow? Wha' yo' mean by playin' sich tricks on him,
an' on de white mans wha' trabblin' in he
comp'ny?"
While speaking the negro had mechanically produced
his black pipe, and instead of answering his
questions, the Indian said: "Tobac. You no got urn. Me
got um, plenty. You take um, smoke um, bimeby talk
heap."
With this he handed a plug of tobacco to the negro,
who understood the action, if he had not fully
comprehended the words that accompanied it. As he cut
off a pipeful and carefully crumbled it in his
fingers, he began to think that his position was not
such a very unpleasant one, after all. He only wished
he could imagine his fellow explorers as being half so
comfortable as he was at that moment. Realizing from
the Indian's last remark that there would be no talk
until after the smoke, he assumed as comfortable a
position as possible, and gazed curiously about
him.
The little village, or camp, of half a dozen huts,
was nearly hidden in the black shadows of the forest
trees that surrounded it on all sides. Its huts were
built of poles, supporting roofs of palmetto thatch,
and were open at the sides. Each was provided with a
raised floor of split poles, thickly covered with
skins, and every hut contained one or more cheesecloth
sleeping canopies. Each hut had also several rifles
and other hunting gear hanging in it, while canoe
masts, sails, paddles, and push poles leaned against
its walls.
The men, who lay smoking on the furs inside the
huts, or stretched in comfortable attitudes on the
ground outside, were tall, clean-limbed,
athletic-looking fellows clad in turbans of bright
colors, gay calico shirts, and moccasins of deerskin;
the women wore immense necklaces of beads, calico
jackets, and long skirts, but were barefooted and
bareheaded; and the children were clad precisely like
their elders, with the exception of the turbans, which
are denied to the boys and young men until they reach
the age of warriors. Besides the Indians, Quorum saw
that the camp was occupied by numbers of fowls, dogs,
and small black pigs, that roamed through it at will.
Everybody and everything in it, animals as well as
humans, looked contented and well fed.
At length Quorum's smoke was finished, and he
knocked the ashes from his pipe. As if this were a
signal, the Indian men laid aside their pipes, and it
was evident that the time for talking had arrived.
CHAPTER XXIX.
A VERY SERIOUS PREDICAMENT.
THE four explorers left on the mound island were
very far from spending so pleasant an evening as that
enjoyed by Quorum in the Seminole village. They were
full of anxiety both as to his fate and their own. In
some respects their position was not so bad as if they
had been cast away on a desert island in the ocean,
while in others it was worse. In the latter case they
might hope to sight and signal some passing vessel,
but here there was no chance for anything of that
kind. At the best, they would not see anything except
Indian canoes, and, under the circumstances, they
could have little hope of obtaining aid from
these.
Their revolvers were still loaded, and they had
between them half a dozen cartridges for their guns,
but thus fat they had discovered no traces of game on
the island. They would not lack for fresh water, but
with only a single bag of biscuit, the food question
was likely to become a serious one within a short
time. They had no knowledge of any white settlements
within less than a hundred miles of where they were.
These could only be reached by wading and swimming
through the trackless 'Glades and bewildering cypress
swamps. Undoubtedly some of the 'Glade islands were
occupied by Indians, but they might explore as many of
these as their strength would permit them to reach
without finding one thus inhabited. Their situation
was certainly a most perplexing one, and as they sat
around a fire, eating a scanty supper of hardtack and
discussing their prospects, these appeared gloomy in
the extreme.
Still, the Lieutenant well knew that he must, if
possible, keep up the spirits of his little party, and
that the worst thing they could do was to take a
hopeless view of the situation. So he said:
"Well, boys, though we seem to be in a nasty
predicament, it might be a great deal worse, and we
have still many things to be thankful for. I once
drifted for a week in an open boat in the middle of
the South Pacific. There were seven of us, and only
one man of the party had the faith and courage to
continue cheerful and hopeful through it all. On the
very day that we swallowed our last drop of water, and
while the rest of us were lying despairingly in the
bottom torn of the boat, he sat up on watch, and
finally discovered the trading schooner that picked us
I up."
"I," said Sumner, "do not feel nearly so badly now
as I did when drifting out to sea in the dark on that
wretched raft a couple of weeks ago. I expected every
minute to be washed off and be snapped up by sharks;
but, after all, the loneliness was the worst part of
it."
"Right you are, Mr. Sumner," said the sailor. "A
man can stand a heap of suffering along with others,
that would throw him on his beam ends in no time if be
was compelled to navigate by himself. I mind one time
that I was lost in a fog, in a dory, on the Grand
Banks. As we had grub and water in the boat, I didn't
worry much, till my dorymate fell overboard and got
drownded. The weight of his 'ilers and rubber boots
sunk him like a shot. After that I well nigh went
crazy with the loneliness. I couldn't seem to eat or
drink; and though I was picked up the very next day,
that one night of loneliness seemed like a year of
torment. Oh yes, sir, men can save themselves in
company, when they won't lift a hand if left
alone."
"I don't think I was ever in a worse fix than this
one," remarked Worth, dolefully.
"Probably not, my boy," said the Lieutenant,
cheerily. "You are young yet, and have just made a
start on your career of adventure. All things must
have a beginning, you know. The next time you find
yourself in an unpleasant situation, you will take
great satisfaction in looking back and describing this
one as having been much worse. No adventure worth the
telling can be had without a certain degree of mental
or physical suffering, and the more of this that is
endured the greater the satisfaction in looking back
on it. Now that we can do nothing before daylight, I
propose that we make ourselves as comfortable as
possible, and sleep as soundly as possible. By so
doing we shall be able to face our situation with
renewed strength and courage in the morning. Tomorrow
we will explore the island, discover its resources,
and perhaps find traces of Quorum and the boats.
Failing in this, I propose that we construct as good a
raft as we can with the means at hand. With it to
carry our guns, besides affording us some support, we
will make our way back to the place where those
cowboys were camped this morning. From there we can
follow their trail until we overtake them, or reach
some settlement."
Cheered by having a definite plan of operations
thus outlined, all hands set to work to gather such
materials for bedding as they could find in the
darkness, and an hour later the little camp was buried
in profound slumber.
To their breakfast of hardtack the following
morning Sumner added a hatful of cocoa plums that he
had gathered while the others still slept. Soon after
sunrise they divided into two parties -- the
Lieutenant and Worth forming one, and Sumner and the
sailor the other -- and set out in opposite directions
to make their way around the island.
"I don't want any one to fire a gun except in case
of absolute necessity;" said Lieutenant Carey. "And if
a shot is heard from either party, the others will at
once hasten in that direction."
"Can't we even shoot my gobbler if we meet him ?"
queried Worth.
"No, I think not," replied the Lieutenant, with a
smile; "that is, unless he shows fight, for I expect
your gobbler would turn out to be a turkey without
feathers, and standing about six feet high. I mean,"
he added, as Worth's puzzled face showed that he did
not understand, "that the call by which you were led
away from Quorum was, in all likelihood, uttered by an
Indian for that very purpose."
So difficult was their progress through the
luxuriant and densely-matted undergrowth of that
Everglade isle that, though it was not more than a
couple of miles in circumference, it was nearly noon
before the two parties again met. They had discovered
nothing except that the island was uninhabited, and
they were its sole occupants. Nor had they seen
anything that would give a clew to the fate that had
overtaken poor Quorum.
"While I don't for a moment suppose that the fellow
has deserted," said the Lieutenant, "I wish, with all
my heart, that we knew what had become of him."
"Indeed, he has not deserted," replied Sumner,
warmly. "I'll answer for Quorum as I would for myself,
Wherever he is he will come back to us if he gets half
a chance.'
"Yes, I believe he will; and I only hope he may get
the chance. Now let us go to the top of the mound for
one more comprehensive look at our surroundings, and
then we will begin our preparations for leaving the
island."
From the summit of the mound the same tranquil
scene on which Lieutenant Carey and Sumner had gazed
with such pleasure the evening before, only more
widely extended, greeted their eyes. It was as devoid
of human life now as then, and its present beauties
failed to interest them.
"I said that we would probably spend today here,"
remarked the Lieutenant. "But I must confess that my
present interest in this mound lies in getting away
from it as quickly as possible. I have no longer the
least desire to investigate its mysteries, and so let
us descend to our more important work."
Returning to their landing place, and eating a most
unsatisfactory lunch of hardtack, they began to search
for materials from which to build their raft. These
were hard to find, and still harder to prepare for the
required purpose. There was plenty of timber, but it
was green, and they had no weapons with which to
attack it except their sheath knives. Neither had they
any nails nor ropes, and their lashings must be made
of vines.
After a whole afternoon of diligent labor, a
nondescript affair of different lengths and jagged
ends lay on the ground at the water's edge ready for
launching. With infinite difficulty and pains they got
it into the water, only to have the mortification of
seeing it immediately sink.
"Well, boys," said the Lieutenant, in a voice that
trembled in spite of his effort to make it sound
cheerful, "that raft is a decided failure. Unless we
can find some wood better suited to our purpose, I am
afraid we must give up the idea altogether, and try to
reach the cypress belt without any such aid."
"If we only had a few sticks of the timber that is
so plenty along the reef!" said Sumner, thinking of
his own previous efforts in the raft line.
" We might as well wish for our canoes, and done
with it," said Worth, despondently.
Just then they thought they heard a faraway shout
in the forest behind them. Instinctively grasping
their guns, they stood in listening attitudes It was
repeated, this time more distinctly, and they looked
at each other wonderingly.
At the third shout Sumner exclaimed, joyously:
"It's Quorum! I know it is!" He would have plunged
into the forest to meet the newcomer, but the
Lieutenant restrained him, saying: "Wait a minute. Let
us be sure that this is not another trap."
A few moments later there was no longer any
mistaking the voice, and their answering shouts guided
Quorum, his honest face beaming with joy and
excitement, to the place where they were awaiting
him.
..
© 2001 Craig
O'Donnell, editor &
general factotum.
May not be reproduced without my permission. Go scan
your own damn stuff.
