CHAPTER XVI.
AN ACCIDENT.
HUNTER greeted the little party with a smile intended to be pleasantbut which resembled a grimace on his sallow, evil face.
"Good day, and how are all of you this fine day. Well, I hope," he said.
"We are all right," Charley answered, curtly. "What do you want?"
"Which of you is the leader of this pleasant little party? I want alittle business talk with the leader," he said, fawningly. "Just alittle business talk. It won't take more than five minutes."
"Wall," observed Captain Westfield, "when we are at sea I'm generallythe head man, but hyar on shore an' at this fishing business, I reckonCharley thar does the leading."
"And a good leader he is too, I'll bet," said Hunter, flatteringly.
"Oh, cut out all the soft-soap business," said Charley, shortly,disgusted with the fellow's attempts at flattery. "If you have anythingto say to us say it."
"But it's a private business," Hunter protested. "Just let me talk toyou alone for a few minutes."
Charley was about to refuse the request but curiosity as to what Hunterwanted to say prevailed. With a wink at his chums he accompanied thefellow to one side, apart from his companions.
"Now, say what you have to say and be quick about it," he said, curtly.
Hunter hesitated a moment. "Suppose there was something on this islandthat I was interested in," he began.
"There is," said Charley, with a grin, "but if you want to talk to me,talk plainly. I know you buried that aguardiente on the island."
"All right, say I did," agreed Hunter, defiantly, dropping his friendlypose. "I don't mind saying I did to you. You can't make anything outof that. If you said I told you I did, I'd swear I didn't. That's whyI wanted to talk to you alone. I wasn't hankering for any witnesses toour talk.
"Might as well wait and hear what I have to say," he continued,doggedly, "because I won't say a word before the others."
Charley had started to join his companions but he paused in indecision,and Hunter went on eagerly.
"Say, I did put the stuff there. Say, I could make a lot of money offit right now. Say, I ain't going to dig it up with witnesses to seeand testify agin me. Say, I'd give you fifty dollars to take yourparty off the island for one single night, one hundred dollars if youquit the island for good. What would you say to that, eh?"
Charley considered for a moment. "Nothing doing," he replied, slowly."In the first place, you and your gang have done us more than onehundred dollars' damage. No use denying it," he said, hotly, as Hunterprotested his innocence. "You were pretty slick with your tricks but weknow who has been responsible for our troubles. In the second place,to smuggle in and to sell liquor in a dry county is a felony. If weconnived at we would be guilty also. Third, I wouldn't take your wordfor anything. Lastly, I don't know where the stuff is, anyway."
"You lie!" snarled Hunter, his little black eyes flashing evilly. "Youknow where it is buried."
Charley grew white around the lips. "Be careful what you say," hecautioned. "If you will just follow me, I'll show you something."
He led the way in silence to where the liquor had been buried.
At sight of the hole and the freshly upturned earth, Hunter grew lividwith rage.
"You've stole it, you've stole it," he gasped.
"We have not touched the stuff," Charley denied. "If you fellows didn'tremove it, I don't know who did."
"A likely yarn," Hunter sneered. "Nobody knew it was on the islandexcept you and us." He conquered his rage with an effort. "Say," hesaid, "let's be partners in this. You can't sell the stuff like we can.You don't know the fellows who will buy and keep their mouths shut likewe do. I tell you, even we, have to be mighty careful. Why, you'd getarrested before you got it half sold out. Let's be partners; that'sfair. There's good money in it. You fellows could tend to the runningof it and we could do the selling. We would split the profits up even."
His earnestness convinced the lad that Bill Roberts was right. Thefishermen had not got the liquor.
"I have told you the truth, Hunter," he said. "We have not got thestuff and we do not know who has."
"You're holding out on us," Hunter fairly screamed. "You are trying tohog the whole thing. All right, young fellow, what we will do to youwill be a plenty. We haven't started on you good, yet. We'll make youregret the day you were born before we are through with you."
"Get off this island," commanded Charley, his patience at an end. "Tryall your tricks you want to. We are on the watch for them now. Sometimeyou'll make a slip and we'll take a turn. Now go!"
Hunter walked down to his boat sullenly, muttering oaths and threatsthat Charley ignored.
"That fellow is cunning," the lad said, as he related the conversationto his companions. "He admitted everything, but the admission does usno good. He would swear he had said nothing of the kind and the rest ofyou could not testify for you did not hear his words."
The incident depressed the spirits of all. They had begun to think thepersecutions were over and now they threatened to begin afresh.
"Well, there is no help for it," said Charley. "We will have to endureit until we get our plan to working. We will just have to be on ourguard day and night until it is settled. Let's turn in now and forgetit while we catch a nap. We will need the rest if we are going out atmidnight."
They had no watch amongst them but Charley possessed the not uncommongift of being able to wake at any hour he desired. When he awoke hesatisfied himself by a glance at the stars that he was not mistaken inthe hour and then aroused his companions.
As the time was short before daylight, they ran but a little way fromthe dock before anchoring the launch and taking to the boats.
They had hardly got fairly started with the skiffs when Charley calleda halt.
"See anything over where you are, Walt?" he called.
"Yes," shouted back his chum, eagerly, "the water is alive with fish ofsome kind."
"Same here," Charley stated, "but I can't make out just what they are.They are not catfish, and yet, they don't fire just like mullet. Let'stry them with just a little piece of our nets and see what they arebefore we make a big circle."
They had run out but a few yards of net when he gave the signal toclose up. "We will not drum up any," he said, as he halted his boatjust inside the little circle. "We will get enough in the nets,without, to tell what they are and will not frighten the rest of theschool."
A few minutes sufficed to pick up the few yards of net they had out.Charley scanned his puzzledly as it came inboard. It contained no fishbut was filled with great gaping holes here and there.
"Not a scale," he announced, disgustedly. "Did you fellows getanything?"
"Nothing but a lot of holes," said Captain Westfield.
"I've got a lot of the queerest looking fish I ever saw," Walterexclaimed. "Row over and take a look at them. One of them bit me. Gee!but it hurts!"
A few strokes of his oars brought Charley alongside and he peeped overinto his chum's skiff.
A score of big, eel-like, repulsive-looking creatures squirmed in thebottom.
One glance and Charley, chucking his anchor aboard Walter's skiff,sprang into it.
"Quick, show me where it bit you!" he cried.
Walter held out a hand in the palm of which a tiny puncture oozed outoccasional drops of blood.
Charley whipped out a cord from his pocket, bound it loosely around thewrist of the wounded hand and thrusting an oarlock in the slack twistedit around until the cord dented into the flesh. "Now, stick your handover into the water and keep it there," he commanded.
Seizing an oar, he gingerly ladled the repulsive-looking creature outof the skiff.
"Whew! My arm aches clear up to the shoulder!" Walter exclaimed. "Whatwere those nasty-looking fish, anyway?"
"Morays, a kind of salt water eel," said his chum, gravely. "I don'twant to frighten you, dear old chum, but those things are poisonous,almost as poisonous as a snake."
Walter received the startling information coolly. "I suspected theywere poisonous as soon as my arm began to ache," he said, quietly."Will I lose my hand do you think?"
"I guess not," lied Charley, cheerfully. He could not bear to tell himthat he was likely to lose his life as well as his hand.
Calling the captain to follow, the lad rowed the two skiffs to thelaunch, made them fast, and helped his chum aboard. As soon as thecaptain fastened on, he started the engine and headed the launch backfor the dock. He was thankful that they had not come far from home,for, short as the distance was, before they reached the little pier,Walter's arm had swollen to twice its natural size and he had falleninto a kind of listless stupor. The captain and Charley helped himtenderly out of the launch and supported him up to the cabin where theylaid him out on his couch.
Charley looked about in helpless despair. "If I only had some of thataguardiente, now, there would be a good chance to save him," he said,bitterly. "I don't think there was time for much of that poison to getinto his circulation before I got the cord around his wrist and shut itoff. Well, it isn't much use, but we will make a fight for it. Chris,heat up some water, quick, and make a big pot of coffee, as strong asyou can make it."
The little negro flew to do his bidding and, in a few minutes, Charleyhad the wounded hand plunged in a bucket of scalding hot water andwas forcing cup after cup of strong, steaming coffee down his chum'sthroat.
The Boy Chums Cruising in Florida Waters Page 16