The Outdoor Girls in Florida; Or, Wintering in the Sunny South

by Laura Lee Hope

  "Comforting--isn't she?" asked Mollie, appealing to the others.

  "Well, I mean----"

  "Oh, never mind--don't make it any worse," interrupted Mollie. "Thequestion is what can we do?"

  "Let's call for him," suggested Grace. "He can't have gone very far, andit's a still day. He'll hear us."

  "It is rather strange where he could have gone," mused Betty. Anxiouslyshe looked toward the main shore. There was no sight of Tom Osborne.

  Together the girls raised their voices in a shout that must have carriedfar. They wailed, but there was no response. Then they called again,with like result. The outdoor girls looked anxiously at one another. Thealligators seemed disposed to maintain their position indefinitely, andthe neck of land was so narrow that the saurians occupied the entirewidth of it.

  "Well, here goes!" cried Betty when it was evident that their calls werenot going to be heeded. With that she threw a stone at the nearestalligator. Her aim was exceptionally good. Betty admitted that herself,afterward, the missile falling on the broad and scaly back of thereptile.

  "Oh--oh!" cried Grace. "Now you have done it, Bet!"

  They all looked and waited. Nothing happened. The alligator merely movedhis tail slightly and did not open his eyes.

  "Well, I don't see that I did very much," said Betty calmly. "I'm goingto try again."

  "Don't!" begged Grace. "They may come for us!"

  At that moment Amy, who had gone back a little way toward the far end ofthe spit of land, uttered a cry.

  "What is it?" cried Mollie. "Is there another alligator there?"

  "No, but I have found a way to get off, and back to the shore withoutgoing near those creatures. See! here is a sand bar curving from theside here, right around to that other point of land. You can see bottomall the way to shore. It isn't more than a few inches deep, and we canwade."

  They all ran to where Amy stood, forgetting for the time being thealligators that held them prisoners.

  "That's so! It can be done!" cried Betty, taking in at a glance Amy'splan. "We can wade right along that raised bar. The water is deep oneither side of it, but as she says, it is only a few inches deep on topof the bar. Come on, girls," and she sat down and began unbuttoning hershoes.

  "Don't--don't!" cried Mollie. "Keep them on. What if we do get wet? Ourshoes will soon dry, it's so hot. And there might be crabs or littlefishes or--little alligators on the bar. We'll wade in our shoes."

  "All right, I'd just as soon," agreed Betty.

  IN THE SHALLOW WATER OVER THE BAR WERE A NUMBER OFREPTILES.--_Page 153._

  _The Outdoor Girls in Florida._]

  Little Captain that she was, she prepared to take the lead. She wasabout to step out into the shallow water when she drew back with a gasp.

  "What's the matter--cold?" asked Mollie.

  "No--but look--snakes!"

  Betty pointed to where, pursuing their sinuous way in the shallow waterover the bar, were a number of reptiles.

  "Moccasins," whispered Mollie. "We--we can't go that way either," andshe glanced back toward the sleeping alligators. Both ways of escapewere blocked.

  CHAPTER XIX

  LOST

  Grace burst out crying. She said she knew it was silly, and not at allwhat an outdoor girl should do, and, very contritely afterward, she toldthe others how sorry she was that she had given way. But she just couldnot seem to help it. Without reserve she sobbed on Amy's shoulder.

  For a moment Mollie and Betty, looking at one another, feared that Amy,too, would give way to her feelings, and that they would have twohysterical ones on their hands. But the little outburst of Grace seemedto act as a sort of tonic to Amy, who put her arms about her chum,murmuring comforting words.

  "Oh, what--what are we going to do?" sobbed Grace.

  "We're not going to cry--at any rate!" snapped Mollie. "At least I'mnot."

  There was an incisiveness--a sharpness--to her voice that made Gracelook up a bit angrily.

  "I--I'm not crying!" she said, and there was more energy in her voicethan had been noticeable for some time.

  "Well, it's a very good imitation of it then," went on Mollie. "Cryingisn't going to do any good, and it gets on the nerves of all of us."

  "I'm sorry--I couldn't seem to help it," spoke Grace, in a low voice."I--I won't do it again. But oh, what are we going to do?"

  No one knew what to answer. Certainly they were in a situation thatneeded help to enable them to escape from it. They could not approachthe alligators--at least they did not think they could, though perhapsthe creatures would have fled when the girls came near. And the snakes,while not aggressive, seemed to be numerous in the water that offeredthe only ford to shore. And moccasins, the girls had been told, weredeadly poisonous.

  "If Tom would only come!" muttered Betty. "I can't see what keeps him,"and she looked anxiously toward where the luncheon was spread. But therewas no sign of the young man.

  "Maybe we could drive the snakes away by throwing more stones,"suggested Grace, who seemed to have gotten over her little hystericaloutburst. "Let's try it."

  "It's worth trying," admitted Betty. "At least I don't believe thesnakes would come out to attack us, and we might be able to drive themaway."

  The girls, glad of the chance to do something, collected a pile ofstones and showered them into the water. Then when the ripples hadcleared they peered anxiously at the sand bar.

  "They're gone!" cried Amy joyously. "Now we can wade to shore."

  "Better wait," advised Mollie.

  There was an anxious pause, and then Betty said in a hopeless sort oftone:

  "No, there they come back again," and she pointed to where the writhingserpents could be seen. Evidently the sand bar was a sort of feedingplace for them, and though they might disappear for the moment at somedisturbance, they returned.

  Hopelessly the girls looked at one another. Then they glanced into thewater, that seemed fairly swarming with the snakes. There appeared to bemore than ever of them. Then Amy looked toward the neck of land and gavea cry of surprise--of joy.

  "Look!" she exclaimed. "They're going--the alligators. At leastthey're--moving!"

  "I hope they don't move toward us!" gasped Grace.

  The saurians indeed seemed waked into life. Whether they had completedtheir sun bath, or whether the call of their appetites moved them, itwas impossible to say. But they were walking about, dragging theirponderous, fat, squatty bodies, and their big tails.

  "Let's tell 'em we're in a hurry," suggested Betty, as she caught up astone. Running forward she threw it with such good aim that it struckone of the saurians on the head. With a sort of surprised grunt thecreature slid off the narrow neck of sand into the water. The otherfollowed with a splash.

  "There they go!" cried Mollie. "Come on now, before they take a notionto come back. Oh girls! I'm nearly starved!"

  Betty laughed at this--it was characteristic of Mollie, once theimmediate stress was removed, to revert to the matter that hadpreviously claimed her attention, and this had been their luncheon.

  "Come on!" she cried, and ran toward the main shore.

  Betty said afterward that they had never run so fast, not even at theschool games, where the outdoor girls had made records for themselves onthe cinder track. Just who reached shore first is a matter of nomoment--in fact it must have been a "dead heat," as Tom Osborne saidafterward.

  As the girls passed the place where the alligators had been sunningthemselves they gave one look each into the water where the saurians haddisappeared. One look only, and they did not pause to do that. But theysaw no signs of the ugly creatures.

  "Safe!" cried Betty, and the girls, breathless from their run, weresafe. They gathered about the eatables on the grass.

  "Oh, where can Tom be?" cried Betty anxiously. "I--I hope nothing hashappened to him!"

  "Now who is making direful suggestions, I'd like to know?" asked Grace.

  "Well, it is queer to have him disappear that way," voiced Mollie. "ButI'm
going to be impolite and--eat."

  She approached the "table," an example followed by the others. CertainlyTom had done his work exceedingly well. The spread was very inviting.

  Betty looked all around the little glade on the edge of the river, wherethe table was set. There was no sign of their escort. The _Gem_ floatedlazily where she was moored, and the scene was quiet and peacefulenough. But there was a certain mystery about the disappearance of TomOsborne.

  "Well, we may as well eat," sighed Betty. "Then we can look about a bit.There won't be any alligators inland, I guess."

  Even the fright the girls had experienced had not taken away theirappetites, and soon they were making merry over the meal, which was abountiful one--they could well trust Aunt Hannah for that.

  But "between bites," as it were, Betty and the others looked about for asign of the young man. He did not appear, however, nor were there anysounds of his approach. The woods back from the river teemed with birdand animal life. The latter was not so visible as the former, for thefeathered creatures flitted here and there amid the branches, burstinginto various melodious notes.

  The meal went on; it was finished. The girls packed up with a littlesense of disappointment. They felt that their outing had been ratherspoiled. They saved enough for Tom in case he should come back hungry,which would very likely be the case.

  "Well, we may as well put things on board," said Betty, at length. "Wecan't stay here much longer. It's getting late."

  "But can we--ought we--go back without Tom?" asked Mollie.

  "I don't see what else we can do--if he doesn't come," said Betty. "Wecan't stay here all night."

  The _Gem_ was made ready for the trip back. Then came a time of anxiouswaiting as the shadows lengthened. Betty, as well as the others, wasgetting nervous.

  "We simply must go," said the Little Captain, at length. "He will haveto come back as best he can. I don't see what made him go away. I amquite sure Mr. Hammond will not like it."

  "But if we go, can Tom find his way back?" asked Grace.

  "He'll have to. But of course we'll tell Mr. Hammond, and he, and someof the men, can come for Tom, if they think it necessary."

  There seemed nothing else to do, and presently the girls went aboard,taking the remains of the lunch with them.

  "We ought to leave some sort of note for Tom, telling him what happened,and that we couldn't wait any longer," suggested Mollie, as Betty wasabout to start.

  "That's so. I didn't think of that. We'll do it."

  "And leave him some lunch, too," voiced Amy.

  "Good!" cried Betty. "Tom has one friend, at least."

  A goodly packet of lunch was done up, and placed in a tree, wellwrapped, where it would be sure to be seen. Then a note was left, with abrief account of what had happened, and the information that the girlshad gone back to Orangeade.

  "He ought to see that!" remarked Betty, stepping back to inspect herhandiwork. She had pinned a small square of white paper, containing thewriting, to a sheet of light brown manila, so that it was visible forsome distance.

  "It looks like a whole book--instead of a note," laughed Mollie.

  The _Gem_ was started and began dropping down the branch stream towardthe main river. At least the girls hoped it was the main river when theyturned into a larger body of water. But as they puffed on, amid thelengthening shadows, an annoying doubt began to manifest itself inBetty's mind. She glanced at the shores from time to time.

  "Girls," she said finally, "does everything look right?"

  "Do you mean--your hair?" asked Amy.

  "No, I mean the scenery. Is it familiar? Have we been here before? Didwe come this way?"

  They all stared at Betty.

  "What--what do you mean?" faltered Grace.

  "Well, I don't seem to remember this place," went on Betty. "I'm afraidwe've taken the wrong turn in the river, and that----"

  "You don't mean to say that we're lost; do you?" cried Mollie.

  "I'm afraid so," was Betty's low-voiced reply.

  CHAPTER XX

  THE LOON

  Onward chugged the _Gem_ and the sudden acceleration in the heart-beatsof the girls seemed to keep time with the staccato exhaust of the motor.

  "Lost!" faltered Grace.

  "And night coming on," echoed Amy.

  "Oh, you two!" cried Mollie. "I wish I were a boy!"

  "Why?" asked Betty, as she guided her craft to the center of the stream.It was lighter there, for they were not so much under the overhangingtrees with their festoons of moss. "Why, Mollie, dear?"

  "Then I could use slang, such as--oh, well, what's the use? I don'tsuppose it would do any good."

  "But are you sure we are lost?" asked Amy. "What makes you say so,Betty?"

  "Because this place doesn't look at all like any part of the river wecame down before. The trouble was that we let Tom steer, and we didn'tnotice the course very much, as we should have done on coming in a newchannel. But I'm sure we are lost."

  "It isn't a very pleasant thing to be sure about," said Mollie grimly,"but we may as well face the worst. Grace, let's you and I look to ourstock of provisions."

  "What for?" asked Grace, who had found a few stray pieces of candy in abox, and was contentedly eating them.

  "Well, if we're lost that doesn't mean we're not going to eat, and if wehave enough for supper and breakfast----"

  "Breakfast!" cried Grace. "Are we going to be here for breakfast?"

  "And stay out all night?" added Amy.

  "There may be no help for it," said Betty as calmly as she could. "Wehave slept aboard before this, and we can do it again."

  "But you're not going to give up without trying to get back to thegrove; are you?" asked Mollie, who, after the first shock, was her ownbrave self again, as was Betty.

  "Of course I'm going to try," replied Betty. "But that doesn't meanwe'll get there. Often, after you're lost, trying to find your way backagain only makes you lost the more--especially with night coming on."

  "But what are we going to do?" queried Grace blankly. She had ceasedeating candy now.

  "Well, it's very evident that we're not going the right way," went onBetty. "The farther we go the more sure I am that we were never on thispart of the stream before. So I think we had better turn back, and, ifnecessary, start over again from where we had lunch.

  "We may be able to see the right turn by starting over once more. Thenwe will be all right. Once I am started on the right track I think I canfollow it. We have a compass, and I noticed, in a general way, whichdirection we came, though I was not as careful as I should have been."

  "But it will be very dark," objected Amy. "It is getting darker all thewhile."

  "That will be the worst of it," admitted Betty frankly, "and if we findwe can't go on, we shall have to tie up for the night. We might doworse."

  "But anchor far enough from shore so that nothing can--get us," pleadedGrace. "No alligators, I mean."

  "Don't worry--they won't come aboard," declared Betty.

  "These rivers are split up into a lot of side brooks, bayous and suchthings," said Mollie. "Tom mentioned that, and he said that often onecould wander about in them being close to the right route all the while,and yet not know a thing about it."

  "Cheerful prospect," remarked Grace.

  "Oh, I'm sure we'll get on the right stream--sometime," spoke Molliecheerfully. "What do you say--had we not better turn back?"

  They all agreed that this was best, and soon, in the fast gatheringdusk, the _Gem_ was swung about and was breasting the rather sluggishcurrent.

  To the credit of the outdoor girls be it said that even in thisnerve-racking emergency they did not altogether lose heart and courage.Of course there was that first instinctive fear, and something like agasping for breath, as when one plunges into cold water. But thereaction came, and the girls were themselves once more--brave andself-reliant.

  "I only hope we don't pass the stream up which we went to have ourlunch," spoke Mollie as th
ey went on. She and the others were peeringfrom side to side in the gloom.

  "Oh, I'm sure we can find that," declared Betty. "There is a big, deadcypress tree, with a lot of moss on it, just at the turn. We must watchfor that."

  There were one or two false alarms before they saw it, but finally theywere all sure of the turn, and Betty made it.

  "Oh, are you going all the way back to where we ate?" asked Grace, asBetty guided her craft into the branch stream.

  "I think so," answered the Little Captain. "It will not take muchlonger, and we may find Tom there. If we do, all our troubles will beover. I think we had better go up."

  "But it's getting dark so fast," objected Grace.

  "Then a little more dark won't make much difference," returned Molliewith a shrug. "Go on, Betty."

  The _Gem_ chugged her way up "Alligator Brook," as the girls had namedit. Eagerly they looked for some sign of their missing escort, andlistened for any sound that would indicate he was coming to meet them.But the forest was silent. Night was settling down, and birds and beastswere seeking their resting places.

  They reached the place where the boat had been tied, and could see wherethey had eaten their lunch. Over in the gloom there fluttered the paperBetty had fastened to a tree to indicate to Tom the fact that hischarges had left.

  "He hasn't been here," said Mollie in a low voice.

  "No, there's the packet of lunch," went on Grace pointing to it. "Wemay need it ourselves."