when everybody who was going had leisurely gone on board the little steamboat, and the two or three negroes who were not going had deliberately got off into the flat-boat, and the engineer and fireman had followed the example of everybody else on board, and had gone to take a look at adam’s little bears, which he had brought with great care from titusville, stowed away in the front part of the wagon, and when there really seemed to be no reason why a start should not be made, the anchor was hauled up and the engineer signalled to go ahead.
among the passengers were the two young men who had stolen the boat; but they kept as much out of the way as possible, appearing especially anxious to avoid adam and the boys. they spent most of the time in the engine-room and lived[252] with the crew, probably hoping that by so doing the story of their misdemeanors and banishment from titusville might not be told on board.
the boys, however, knew that they were on the boat; but, as they had not the slightest desire either to speak to them or look at them, the two miscreants were avoided quite as much as they wished to be.
after leaving the lake, which is a small body of water, the boat entered a narrow stream, which twisted and turned and bent back upon itself in such curious loops and curves, that few persons would have supposed it navigable by a steamer, until they had seen the winkyminky perform the feat.
sometimes the turn was so sudden that the bow of the boat almost touched the back, while the stern barely swept clear of it at the other end of the curve. in such cases the engine was stopped, and the boat pushed around the curve by the negro hands with long poles, which they thrust against the bank.
often when they had just pushed the boat around one curve, they had to run to the other side of the deck to pole her around another, which bent in an opposite direction. none but a very small vessel would have made the necessary turns, and the boys were not surprised at her size when they saw the peculiar work she had to do.[253] anything larger than that could not have got along that stream at all. even after they at last got into the upper waters of the st. john’s, the river was, at some points, very narrow.
the country they passed through was almost entirely uninhabited, although they sometimes stopped at a lonely wharf to take on vegetables or fruits, which were brought from the hummock farms, generally lying a little back from the river.
alligators were plentiful along the banks. water-fowl and other birds were in great numbers everywhere, and the boys had a very good time fishing for black bass from the stern of the little steamer. they caught enough to supply everybody on board with fresh fish during the entire trip, and many of the passengers, including the gentleman in the blue shirt, spent most of their time shooting at the alligators and birds.
the captain was a pleasant man, and talked a good deal with the boys.
“it seems pretty hard,” he once said to them, “to get a boat along this narrow and crooked stream, but there are times in the year when i have no trouble at all. when the waters are high all this flat country is overflowed, and, as my boat only draws two feet of water, i sail right straight along over all this land that you see here, and pay no attention at all to the bed of the stream, wherever it may happen to be.”
[254]after a slow passage of two nights and parts of three days, they entered a broad lake, on one side of which was situated the town of enterprise, and on the other that of sanford.
without stopping at the first, they proceeded to the last-named place, and the boys had scarcely scrambled upon the long pier when they were met by a portly gentleman, in a white necktie and broad straw hat, who, after asking their names, handed phil a telegram. phil hastily tore open the envelope, and read the following message:
“to philip berkeley, sanford, florida: telegraph to inman house, jacksonville, by what boat you leave sanford. call there on arrival.
“john robinson.”
this was a message sent by mr. godfrey berkeley, and put in charge of a gentleman with whom mr. berkeley had an acquaintance, and who resided at sanford. mr. berkeley knew that the boys must stop at this place in coming from the indian river, and there had been time to write to the gentleman, as well as to telegraph. he and helen did not wish the boys to know that they would meet them at jacksonville, and the message was sent so as to make it sure that the boys would not be missed when they arrived at that place.
phil and his two friends were very much surprised when they read the message, for they could[255] not imagine who john robinson might be. when they made inquiries in regard to this point of the stately gentleman, that individual waved his hand and raised his eyebrows.
“it is not to be supposed,” he said, “that i should be cognizant of the personality of the gentleman who sent this message. all i have undertaken to do was to meet every boat which arrived from the locality from which you set forth, and when i should have the honor of meeting you to deliver you the message. if there is anything more i can do for you, i hope you will command my services.”
“i suppose,” said phil, “that this john robinson is somebody in jacksonville to whom our money has been sent, and he has telegraphed here so that we can go to him and get it.”
the stately gentleman was further interrogated, but he dismissed all remarks relating to john robinson with a majestic wave of his hand, and proceeded to other topics. he was very kind, however; took them all, including adam, to his house to supper, and gave them a great deal of information in regard to their trip to jacksonville.
after going over to enterprise for some freight, the winkyminky intended to proceed to jacksonville, but they had been told at titusville that it would be better to take a larger and faster boat, if they could do so. the william von glode, the[256] stately gentleman informed them, would, by a fortunate concatenation of circumstances, leave sanford at about eight o’clock that evening, and he advised them to take passage in her.
some hours would elapse before the von glode started, and there was time enough for the boys to walk about the place.
before supper, adam, who knew people here, and had heard where he could get a good job of work in repairing and refitting a boat,—for he was a boat-builder as well as a sailor,—had gone to see about this business, and was returning, when he noticed the two boat-thieves sitting under a tree by the side of the road.
he did not wish to speak to these fellows, nor did he care to pass them without a word. they had their faces turned away from him, and as there was a high board fence behind them, adam went through a gate into the lot enclosed by this fence, so that he might altogether avoid these two fellows.
the board fence was not a very tight one, and as in passing the place where they sat he was but a short distance from them, he heard some words which made him stop.
“the long-legged fellow is always keeping to himself,” were the words that he heard.
now, as chap was pre-eminently a long-legged fellow, this remark instantly recalled to adam’s[257] mind the captain of the rolling stone, and this suggestion was made stronger by the fact that adam had noticed that chap was very fond of separating himself from the company, and doing something on his own account.
if these men were talking about chap, it could bode no good to that young man, and adam wanted to hear what should be said. so he stopped.
“if i can git a hold of him,” was the next remark, “i’ll pay him off square.”
“yes,” said the other one, “and i’d like to pay off that no-account sea-rat. if it hadn’t been for him we’d ’a’ had our guns.”
“that’s so,” said the other; “but it won’t do to tackle the whole lot of ’em. if we can git hold of the feller that knocked us into the water and fired at me, we can give him his share and the sailor’s too.”
“i’m bound to bag some kind of game,” said the other, “and he suits me better than any. what we’ve got to do is to keep a sharp eye on him and we’re pretty sure to git a chance. the boat don’t start till after dark.”
adam did not care to hear any more. it was plain enough that the two men intended to be revenged on chap, and, as usually happens, they were the more determined on vengeance because they had deserved all they had suffered.
[258]the point now was, what could he do to prevent this piece of rascality? for something must be done instantly, and the important thing was to warn chap.
if the boys could be kept together until they went on board the steamboat, there would be no further trouble, for he was certain that the two rascals did not intend to take passage on the von glode.
having settled these points in his mind, he set off for the house of the stately gentleman, which was on the main street of the town.
