as the party approached the hotel, they saw on the wide porch which ran along the front of the main building a man in a wheeled chair.

“that’s the colonel,” said adam. “he owns the hotel and pretty much the whole town besides.”

“he’s in an invalid’s chair,” remarked phil; “but he don’t look very sick.”

“sick!” laughed adam. “not much! but he’s been in that chair a long time.”

they now reached the porch and ascended the steps.

the colonel, who had been steadfastly watching them as they came up the path, was a heavy, vigorous-looking man, broad-chested, and sun-burned, with a clear, piercing eye and a powerful voice. one of his feet was affected by chronic rheumatism,[205] and thus being unable to walk, he spent all his waking time in his wheeled chair, in which he moved about the premises, sometimes turning the wheels himself, and sometimes being pushed by a servant.

at meal times he was wheeled to the head of the table; when business was to be attended to, he was rolled to the clerk’s desk, and wherever he was needed, there he and his chair were sure to be found.

he had been a pioneer and a soldier in his time, and had been noted for his great energy and high spirit.

these qualities, which had once made him conspicuous in border warfare, and had carried him through many dangers, both by land and sea, had now made him the master spirit of this little settlement on the indian river. he had projected the settlement; owned the greater part of it; held its principal offices, and exercised a general power, which resembled that of an ancient baron over his feudal subjects.

“well, adam guy,” said the colonel, extending his hand to the sailor, “where did you come from? and who have you brought with you? i don’t mean sam brewer. i know all i want to know about him.”

adam then introduced the three boys, and proposed that phil, whom he seemed to consider the[206] best talker of the party, should tell how it happened that they were there.

wooden chairs, which were abundant on the porch, were now drawn up, and phil told the story of the adventures of himself and his companions from the time of the wreck of the tug-boat up to the present moment, leaving out, of course, many incidents, which, although interesting, were not necessary to be told.

the colonel listened, fixing his keen eyes on phil all the time that he was telling his story.

“well,” said he, “you’ve had a pretty rough time of it, but you’ve got to a safe port at last. i suppose you want to go on north as soon as you can, hey?”

“oh, yes,” said phil; “our friends must be very anxious about us, and we want to get to them as soon as possible.”

“no doubt of it,” said the colonel. “i’ve heard about you, and i’ve been looking out for you for three or four days. you’ve been a precious long time getting up the river. doctor walker told me about you—saw you down at brewer’s—and he had a message for your folks which he was going to telegraph when he got to sanford.”

“i suppose he has sent the telegram by this time,” said phil.

“oh, yes,” replied the colonel. “he got here the middle of the week, caught the boat, and went[207] right on. but you fellows will have to stay here till wednesday. there won’t be no boat till then.”

the boys looked at each other in consternation. this was saturday, and a delay of three days in this place seemed a grievous thing to them.

“you needn’t look so long-faced about it!” exclaimed the colonel. “you can’t go on, and you might as well be satisfied. here’s a good hotel, where you can be comfortable and live well at a reasonable price. you got safe to my place, and you’re all right. when the time comes i’ll start you off and fix everything straight for you. you needn’t give yourselves any more trouble about anything. you couldn’t be in a better place than this. here’s the finest air, the best accommodations, and the prettiest stretch of water in all florida. all you’ve got to do is to enjoy yourselves. if you want to know anything, just come to me.—bob!”

at this last word, which was shouted in a stentorian voice, a well-dressed negro boy came running to the colonel.

“bob,” said he, “take this party to number six and number seven,—two in one room and two in the other.—now, you’d better go and fix yourselves up. supper will be ready in half an hour.”

[208]when the boys had washed and dressed themselves and put on the white shirts they had brought in their valises, they looked quite neat and presentable, while adam, who shared phœnix’s room,—for this establishment was conducted on democratic principles,—came in afterward, and put himself into the best order possible, combing and curling his hair as carefully as if he had been an old-time dandy.

when the boys went into the large central room of the hotel, they found the colonel at his desk, for he was his own clerk, and they entered their names on the register.

“what are your charges, colonel?” asked phœnix, who was the last one at the desk.

“our regular charge is two dollars and a half a day,” said the colonel, “but i’ll take you four for nine dollars a day.”

phœnix made no answer, but for a moment his face seemed almost as long as chap’s legs. supper was now ready, and during the first part of the meal phœnix said but little, and seemed to have no appetite; but the example of his companions soon had an effect upon him, and he began to eat as heartily as anybody.

“this is a tip-top place,” said chap, as the three boys walked down the gravelled path after supper. “i don’t know when i’ve eaten such a gorgeous meal.”

[209]“the meal is gorgeous enough,” said phœnix, in a doleful tone, “but that isn’t all of it. the price is a great sight more gorgeous. what do you say to nine dollars a day for the four of us?”

“nine dollars!” exclaimed chap. “we can’t do anything like that. we haven’t got money enough, have we? after we’ve paid for the boat, we won’t begin to have enough.”

“we must go to some cheaper place,” said phil. “of course we can’t pay such rates as that.”

adam and brewer now joined the party, and as the identity of the latter had been established, he was paid the eight dollars that was due for the hire of the boat and the gun. he said he did not intend to start down the river that night, but further than this he seemed to have no plans, and strolled down toward the river.

“adam,” said phil, “we must get out of this place. it is too expensive for us. where shall we find the cheapest kind of a hotel or boarding-house?”

adam laughed.

“you can’t find it in this town,” he said. “if you want to stop in titusville, you’ve got to stop in this house. there isn’t any other place to go to. catch any of the people of this town takin’ boarders away from the colonel! they know better what’s good for ’em.”

[210]“but what are we to do?” asked phœnix. “we haven’t got the money to stay here.”

“well,” said adam, “i’ve very little money with me, but if i had it i’d lend it to you. but you needn’t bother yourselves about me. i can work my way north somehow.”

“no, that won’t do,” said phil. “you know we told you that if you’d sail our boat, and show us the way, and do all those things that we don’t know anything about, we’d pay your way north, and we’ll do it, too, as soon as we get money from our friends. but the thing is, what are we to do now? we’ve used more than we expected to, and we didn’t suppose there would be hotel bills here. we thought we’d go right on.”

“well, now i’ll tell you,” said adam, “what you’d better do. just go, all three of you, to the colonel, and tell him the fix you’re in. it’s his business to set things right in this town, and he’ll let you know what you have to do. if anything is to be set up or knocked down, he wants to do it himself.”

“i’m not particularly anxious to have him knock me down,” said chap.

“it’ll go easier to be knocked down now” said adam, “than after you’ve run up a great big bill, and i recommend you to go straight to him, and let him know how things stand.”