"Well, please leave enough pieces of me so I can eat an orange or twowhen we get to Florida," laughed Amy.
"Also enough to catch a few alligators," added Betty.
"Don't you mention the horrid things!" cried Grace with a nervousshiver. "Are there really any there, Amy? Say no, my dear, and I'll giveyou two chocolates."
"Well, there are some," said Amy, who never could seem to dissimulate."But Uncle Stonington says they are small--at least, near where we aregoing. Some people have them for pets."
"Mercy!" cried Grace. "I'd as soon have a pet snake."
"Well, we won't worry about them until we get bitten," suggested Mollie."And perhaps their bark is worse than their bite. Do they bark, Amy?"
"I'm sure I don't know."
"No, they cry--like babies," said Grace. "Don't you remember 'alligatortears?'"
"She's thinking of crocodiles," said Betty. "Or else alligator pears."
"Worse and worse," protested Mollie. "We'll have the fauna and flora ofFlorida hopelessly mixed before we get through. Now let's see if we haveeverything packed," and they went over their list of belongings for thetenth time.
But all things must have an end, and so did their preparations. The dayof the start came, final good-byes were said, and with Mr. and Mrs.Stonington the four outdoor girls took the train for the Sunny South.
CHAPTER VIII
LAUNCHING THE BOAT
"Can you smell the orange blossoms?"
"Yes. Aren't they delicious!"
"It reminds me of a wedding--hark, can you hear the strains ofMendelssohn?"
"Those are frogs, Betty," laughed Mollie.
The girls and Mr. and Mrs. Stonington were driving in a bigcanopy-topped carriage along a Florida road, toward the orange grove onthe outskirts of the town of Bentonville. Their journey was over and atlast they were in Florida.
"Oh, see the magnolias!" cried Grace, as they passed a tree in fullbloom, the fragrance being almost overpowering. "They are just likethose the boys sold us when the train stopped."
"Only they smell much sweeter," said Betty.
"Yes, almost too sweet," added Mollie.
Their trip had been practically without incident, and certainly withoutaccident. There had been one or two delays, caused by various smallhappenings, but finally they had steamed into the junction station,where they took a way train for Bentonville.
This last was a short trip, the one in the compartment car, withoutchange, having been rather monotonous. And yet not dull, for the girlsfound much to talk about, to speculate upon and to wonder at.
The snow, the cold and biting winds had gradually been left behind, andNature, coy and uncertain at first, had, with the advance into theSouth, grown bolder. They had come from the land of bleakness andbarrenness--from the place of leafless trees--into the region of Summer,almost in a day and night. They had exchanged snows for flowers.
Mrs. Stonington had stood the trip well, though a trifle weary and wornas the end of the journey came in sight. But the warm and balmy air ofthe South seemed to revive her, and her cheeks, that had been pale, tookon a tinge of color.
"Oh, I am so glad," murmured Amy, and the others were glad with her.
They had delayed at the Bentonville station long enough to make surethat Betty's boat had arrived, and to send home telegrams telling oftheir safe journey.
They had been met by a man from the orange grove, a kindly Southernworker, whose very nature seemed a protest against haste and worry.
"Well," he greeted them slowly, "I see you all has arrived. Welcome,folks! Now when you're ready we'll move along; but don't be in no rush.It's too pow'ful warm to rush."
Indeed it was warm, and the girls, who had changed to some of theirsummer garments, felt the truth of this.
"Oh, for a lawn waist and a white skirt, low canvas shoes and a palmleaf fan!" sighed Mollie, as they drove beneath great trees thattempered the heat of the sun.
"Anything else?" asked Betty with a laugh.
"Lemonade," suggested Amy. "Or, no, since we are on an orange plantationI suppose orangeade would be more appropriate, girls."
"Anything as long as it's cool," sighed Grace. "I declare, all mychocolates have run together," and she looked with dismay into a box ofthe confection she had been carrying.
"No wonder--it's summer, and we left winter behind us," said Betty."You'll have to give up chocolates down here, Grace, my dear."
"Or else keep them on ice," ventured Amy.
A turn of the road brought them in full view of the orange grove inwhich Mr. Stonington was interested, and at the sight a murmur ofpleased surprise broke from the girls.
"And to think of going out there and picking oranges as one wouldapples!" exclaimed Amy. "Doesn't it seem odd to see oranges that aren'tin a crate, or a fruit store?"
"Some of those will be in crates 'fore night," said the driver. "We'repicking every day now. It's a good season, and we're making the most ofit," he added to Mr. Stonington.
"Glad to hear it. You'll have to ship them as fast as you can with fourorange-hungry girls on hand," and he laughed at Amy and her chums.
"Oh, Uncle Stonington!" Amy cried. "As if we could eat all the orangeshere!" and she looked over the rows and rows of fruit-laden trees.
"You ain't no idea how many oranges you can eat, when yo'all get themright off a tree," said the driver. "They taste different from the onesyou Northerners have, I tell you!"
One of the foremen, whom Mr. Stonington had met before, came from thegrove to welcome them, and to show them the way to the bungalow theywere to occupy during their stay in the South.
"We hope you will like it here," said the overseer, a Mr. Hammond.
"I don't see how we could help it," said Mrs. Stonington. "I am in lovewith the place already, and I feel so much better even with this littletaste of Summer."
"That's good!" exclaimed her husband, with shining eyes.
As the carriage stopped in front of a cool-looking bungalow, a"comfortable-looking" colored "mammy" came to the door smilingexpansively.
"Bress all yo' hea'ts!" she exclaimed. "Climb right down, and come inyeah! I's got de fried chicken an' corn pone all ready fo' yo'all. An'dere's soft crabs fo' dem as wants 'em, an' chicken-gumbo soup, an'----"
"Hold on, Aunt Hannah!" exclaimed Mr. Hammond with a laugh. "Have alittle mercy on them. Maybe they are not hungry for all your goodthings."
"Oh, aren't we, though!" cried Mollie. "Just try me. I've always wantedchicken fried in the Southern style."
"You'll get it here," said Mr. Stonington.
Let us pass over that first meal--something that the girls did not do byany means--but the mere details of our friends arriving, gettingsettled, and then of resting to enjoy life as they had never enjoyed itbefore, can have little of interest to the reader. So, as I said, let uspass over a few days.
Each one, it is true, brought something new and of peculiar interest tothe girls, but it was only because they had never before been inFlorida. To the residents it was all an old story--even the picking oforanges.
The grove was near a beautiful stream, not such a river as was theArgono of Deepdale, but broader, more shallow and sluggish.
"I wonder if there are alligators in it?" asked Betty, of one of thepickers.
"Not around here," he answered. "You have to go into the bayous, orswamps, 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 theywill bring her up and launch her?"
"Let's go to the depot and find out," suggested Amy. "We can have acarriage and team with a driver any time we want it, Uncle Stoningtonsaid."
At the freight office the boat was promised to them for the followingday, but it was two before this promise was kept.
"You mustn't fret," said Mr. Stonington, when Betty grew ratherimpatient. "Remember you are down South. Few persons hurry here."
But finally the _Gem_ arrived, and after some hard work she waslaunch
ed. Proudly she rode the river, as proudly as at Deepdale, andBetty, with a little cry of joy, took her place at the wheel.
Batteries and magneto were in place, some gasoline was provided, and alittle later the motor boat was ready for her first trip in Southernwaters.
"All aboard!" cried Betty, as the engine was started.
Slowly, but with gathering speed, the trim craft shot out into themiddle of the Mayfair.
"Oh, this is just perfect!" breathed Mollie. There was a little cloud onthe face of Grace. They all knew what it was, and sympathized with her.No news had come about Will.
They puffed along, to the wonder and admiration of many of the coloredpickers, who stopped to look--any excuse was good enough forstopping--especially the sight of a motor boat. Suddenly Grace, who wastrailing her hand over the stern, gave a startled cry, and sprang up.
"Oh! oh!" she screamed. "An alligator. I nearly touched the horridthing! Go ashore, Betty!"
CHAPTER IX
ON A SAND BAR
"Alligators!" screamed Amy. "Don't you dare say that, Grace!"
"But it's so--I saw one--I nearly put my hand on his big black head. Oh,isn't it horrid!"
Grace and Amy were clinging to each other now in the middle of the boat.Betty had turned about at their exclamations, and Mollie was gazingcuriously into the swirling water.
"I don't see any alligator," she announced, unbelievingly. "Are you sureyou saw one, Grace?"
"Of course I am. Oh, Betty! There's one now, just ahead of you. You'regoing to run into him!"
Betty turned her attention to guiding the boat only just in time.Certainly something long and knobby and black was almost at the bow. Sheveered to one side, and then exclaimed:
"Alligator! That was nothing but a log, Grace Ford! How silly of you!"
"Silly? Nothing of the sort. I tell you I did see an alligator."
"It was a log--but it does look like one of the big creatures, though,"said Amy. "Oh, if it should have been one!"
"Well, it couldn't eat us--here in the boat," said Mollie.
"No, but it might have capsized us, and then--" Grace pausedsuggestively.
"'All's well that ends well,'" quoted Betty, as she turned the boatnearer shore. "Some day we must take our lunch, and have a picnicashore. See the lovely Spanish moss hanging down from the trees. It'slike living history over again. Just think of it, how Balboa came hereand discovered the land, and----"
"It wasn't Balboa, it was Ponce de Leon who located Florida," correctedMollie. "Don't you remember--Flowery Easter?"
"Oh, so it was. Well, anyhow----"
"THERE! THERE!" SCREAMED GRACE. "THERE'S ANALLIGATOR!"--_Page 76._
_The Outdoor Girls in Florida._]
"There--there!" screamed Grace. "There's an alligator, surely. It'salive, too! Oh, dear! An alligator!"
She pointed to something long and dark floating in the river--somethingthat seemed to be covered with scales and ridges--something thatsuddenly turned up an ugly head, with bulging eyes, which looked fishilyat the girls in the boat.
Then, with a swirl of its tail, the creature sank below the surface.
"Yes, that was an alligator," said Betty quietly.
"I told you it was," spoke Grace. "And to think I nearly had my hand onit. Oh, I don't want to remember it."
"But it didn't bite you," said practical Mollie.
"If it had--well, the less said the better," remarked Betty. "Now let'sforget all about it and enjoy ourselves. Maybe there are only a few ofthem here in the river."
"I wonder what alligators are good for, anyhow?" came from Amy, as sheresumed her seat. "They don't seem fit for anything."
"You forget about alligator bags," corrected Mollie. "What would we dofor valises and satchels if we had no alligators, I'd like to know?"
"That's so," admitted Amy.
Grace was looking over the surface of the river as though to see if anymore of the ugly creatures were in sight, but the water was unruffledsave by the wind.
Not knowing the character of the stream Betty did not want to venture tofar. So, after going down about a mile or so, she turned the boat andheaded up stream. They passed a number of small boats, manned bycolored boys who were fishing, and the youngsters suspended operationsto gaze with mingled wonder and fear at Betty's swiftly-moving craft.
They tied up at the small dock which extended out into the river at thefoot of the orange grove, well satisfied with their first trip, eventhough they had been frightened by the alligators.
"Yes, you will find one or two 'gators, now and then," said Mr. Hammond,the overseer, when told of the girls' experience. "But they won't botheryou, especially in a big boat. Don't worry."
But Grace was so nervous that night that she did not sleep well, andMrs. Stonington grew quite alarmed. Perhaps it was as much worry overthe fate of Will, as the recollection of her escape from the alligator,that disturbed Grace.
For no good news had come from Mr. Ford. He had set many influences atwork on the case, but so far nothing had come of his inquiries.
Will seemed to have been taken into the interior of Florida, and therelost. There were so many turpentine camps, or places where contractlabor was used to get out valuable wood, or other products, that acomplete inquiry would take a long time.
Mrs. Ford was as well as could be expected, Grace's father wrote,though naturally very much worried. And Grace was worried too. If shecould have engaged actively in a search for her brother perhaps shemight not have fretted so. But it was harassing to sit idly by and letothers do the work.
"Especially when we have already done so much," said Betty, agreeingwith her chum's view of the case.
Watching the work of gathering oranges, occasionally themselves helpingsomewhat, taking walks, drives and trips in the motor boat, made timefor the girls pass quickly.
Then, one day, Betty said:
"Girls, we must go on a picnic. Take our lunch and go down the river inthe boat. Go ashore and eat. We will do some exploring."
"And perhaps find the fountain of youth that Ponce de Leon missed,"added Mollie.
"If you find it, bring some of the water back," begged Mr. Stonington."You girls will not need it--I do."
"We'll bottle some for you," promised Amy, laughing.
Soon they were off in the _Gem_ again, Grace, at least, keeping a waryeye out for alligators. But they saw none of the unprepossessingcreatures.
"Though perhaps we may meet with a sea-cow," suggested Betty, as shelooked for a pleasant place whereon to go ashore for lunch.
"What's a sea-cow?" asked Mollie.
"One that eats sea-weed," cried Amy.
"No, I mean a manatee," went on Betty. "Don't you remember the bigcreatures we saw in the New York aquarium a year or so ago?"
"Oh, yes!" exclaimed Amy. "Well, they're not as bad as alligators--atleast they haven't such large mouths."
"And they only eat--grass," added Mollie.
Betty was sending her boat ahead at good speed, scanning the shores ofthe river for some quiet cove into which to steer. The day was warm, andthe sun shone down unclouded. From the banks came the odor of flowers.
Suddenly, as the boat chugged along, there came a momentary halt, asthough it had struck something.
"What's that?" cried Grace.
"Maybe an alligator has us," suggested Mollie with a laugh. For the_Gem_ went on as though nothing had happened.
"Don't be silly!" chided Grace. "It was certainly something."
Betty looked back a bit nervously, and glanced at the engine.
"I hope the gasoline isn't giving out," she murmured.
"The idea!" cried Grace.
Then with a shock that threw all the girls forward in their seats the_Gem_ came to a sudden halt, and the engine raced furiously. Betty atonce shut off the power.
"Oh, oh!" cried Grace. "What is it? Has an alligator got hold of us?"
Betty looked over the bow. Then she said grimly:
"We've run on a sand bar--th
at's all. Run on it good and hard, too. Iwonder if we can get off?"
CHAPTER X
DOUBTFUL HELP
Betty's words caused her three chums to stare at her in wonder. Then, byglancing over the side of the boat themselves, they confirmed what shehad said.
"A--a sand bar," faltered Grace, sinking back among some cushions thatmatched her dress wonderfully well. Mollie said later that Grace alwaystried to match something, even if it was only her chocolates.
"A plain, ordinary sand bar," repeated Betty. "One of the men at thedock warned me about them, and even told me how to locate them, by thepeculiar ripple of the shallow water over them. But I forgot all aboutit. Oh dear!"
"Well, it can't be so very bad," spoke Mollie, who was idly splashingthe water with one hand. "We can't sink, that's a consolation."
"Don't do that!" exclaimed Amy quickly. She had "cuddled" closer toBetty following the shock as the boat came to a stop on the concealedbar.
"Don't do what?" asked Mollie wonderingly.
"Put your hand in the water. There may be alligators, you know. Ithink--I'm not sure--but I think I saw something like the head of one amoment ago."
Mollie pulled in her hand so suddenly that she flirted a little showerof drops on all in the boat.
"Stop it! You mean thing!" cried Grace.
"Oh, I beg your pardon," spoke Mollie with elaborate politeness. "Ididn't think your sailor suit would spot--mine doesn't."
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