THE CAMP FIRE 
 
 AND T£y^^ERIE3 
 
 K 
 
CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 Don Holbert 
 
CORNELL UNIVERSHY LIBRARY 
 
 402 844 
 
gg \4 Cornell University 
 f Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924051402844 
 
The Campfire and Trail Series 
 
 1. In Camp on the Big Stjnflowee. 
 
 2. The Rivals of the Thau. 
 
 3. The Steange Cabin on Catamount Island. 
 
 4. Lost in the Geeat Dismal Swamp. 
 
 5. With Teappee Jim in the Noeth Woods. 
 
 6. Caught in a Foeest Fiee. 
 
 7. Chitms or the Camppiee. 
 
 8. Afloat on the Flood. 
 
 By LAWRENCE J. LESLIE. 
 
 A series of wholesome stories for boys told 
 in an interesting way and appealing to their 
 love of the open. 
 
 Each, l^mo. ClotJi. JfO cents per volume 
 
 THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY 
 
 201 EAST 12th STREET .-. .-. NEW YORK 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT 
 DISMAL SWAMP 
 
^ ' ^^^/-^ 
 
 -"LI. 
 
 "HE BEGAN TO TURN THE MOVING BOAT 
 TO ONE SIDE" 
 
1 1 ■ II ■ I ii'« I i fTfT i f'n i * 1 If I iP'^i i' ^'r i PTH'*' T n~*T ir" Ti l"* n i "Ti i "*n ( "*Ti f i h * i if * r i n^n tTwr i ' tip 
 
 mm K^ 
 
 ^ THE CAMPFIRE AND TRAIL SERIES g 
 
 Lost 
 
 IN THE 
 
 Great Dismal Swamp 
 
 BY 
 
 Lawrence J. Leslie 
 
 THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY 
 NEW YORK 
 
COPTRIBHT, 1918, BY 
 
 THB NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTHR 
 
 I. — Thb Sudden Call 
 
 II. — ^A Missing Chum 
 III. — Brave Hearts to the Rescue 
 IV. — Plunging Into the Swamp 
 V. — ^A Startling Theory 
 VI. — ^What the Tracks Told . 
 VII. — The Perils that Lay in Wait 
 VIII. — From Bad to Worse 
 IX. — Steve's Swamp Camp Fire 
 X. — The Watcher Behind the Bushes 
 XI. — Ted Shafter's Way of Getting Even 
 
 XII. — On the Track 
 
 XIII. — Stumbling Into New Danger 
 XIV. — At the End of the Trail 
 XV. — What was Coming to Ted Shapter 
 XVI. — Steve Finds Out — Conclusion 
 
 PAGE 
 
 17 
 
 28 
 
 39 
 
 52 
 
 63 
 
 71 
 
 82 
 
 93 
 
 103 
 
 115 
 
 123 
 
 134 
 
 145 
 
 156 
 
 166 
 
 176 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL 
 SWAMP. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE SXTDDEK CAIiL. 
 
 " Hello ! Is that you, Steve? " 
 
 " Just wlio it is, Max, Say, I could tell your voice 
 over the wire among a thousand. What's doing? " 
 
 "A whole lot. Owen is here at my elbow, and 
 getting ready with a rush for a hurry trip. I'm go- 
 ing to call up Toby Jucklin, as soon as I switch off 
 from your number, and have him get around here in 
 double-quick time." 
 
 " What in the wide world " 
 
 " Can't stop to answer any questions right now, 
 Steve. Every second's worth a heap to us. Tell 
 me, do you think you could get away for a couple 
 of days or so ? Quick ! " 
 
 " Gee whiz ! but who's rushing the mourners now, 
 tell me? Talk about calling me 'Touch-and-go 
 Steve ' ; I guess there's another fellow in the same 
 running with me." 
 
 "Can you go?" 
 
 " You mean right now, Max? " 
 
 17 
 
18 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 " Yes. It's just nine o'clock. I'm having the little 
 gas-wagon Billikin, the livery man, rents out, come 
 around for us in half an hour. It ought to get us 
 up there before noon, easy." 
 
 " For gracious' sake, tell me where, ean't you. 
 Max? " 
 
 " I will, when you come ; if you can't get off, say 
 so right now, Steve." 
 
 "Get off? Wow! You couldn't hold me in old Car- 
 son with a rope, after what you've told me. I was 
 printing from some photo negatives of our other 
 trips ; and just started to get ready for a bath when 
 the phone bell jingled." 
 
 "Are you coming over right away, then?" 
 
 " You just bet I am, Max, as fast as my feet will 
 carry me. Wait up for me. My folks are all away, 
 and won't be home till the end of the week ; but I'll 
 lock up, and run over. Hello, Max ! " 
 
 " Yes, don't shout so, Steve. I'm here still, on the 
 wire. What do you want now? " 
 
 " Shall I fetch my gun along ; p'r'aps we might 
 need it; you never can tell? " 
 
 " Oh, do as you please about that ; I'm taking mine 
 with me, and maybe we might be glad to have 'em. 
 Now I want to get Toby on the wire. So long I " 
 
 Steve Dowdy hung up the receiver hastily, and 
 immediately went rushing through the house, shut- 
 ting windows and doors at a furious rate. 
 
 Somehow or other, he never once remembered to 
 look in the bathroom, where he had been working 
 
LOST IN THE GEEAT DISMAL SWAMP. 19 
 
 with his negatives at the time the whirr of the tele- 
 phone bell had brought him downstairs, three steps 
 at a time, in his usual impetuous fashion. And as 
 it turned out, that little omission was fated to cause 
 him more than a few uneasy minutes, before a great 
 while. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, 
 they tell us; and while Steve did attend to nine 
 things connected with leaving the house to look after 
 itself until his folks returned, he neglected the 
 tenth. 
 
 On the way over to the home of Max Hastings 
 he stopped in at a neighbor's and left the front 
 door key. In his great haste Steve could not ex- 
 plain just why he was leaving while the family 
 were away. Doubtless it remained a puzzle with 
 the good lady as to whether Steve, who was known 
 to be rather a headstrong lad, were summoned to 
 where his people were spending a week at the shore ; 
 or meant simply to desert his trust, seized with a 
 boyish whim. 
 
 But she promised to keep an eye on the house, 
 and see that no one ran away with it during the 
 absence of the family. And she looked after Steve 
 as he ran furiously off, muttering to herself that 
 she hoped the Dowdy boy had not been going with 
 that bad Ted Shafter, who was always getting into 
 trouble through the vicious pranks he played, and 
 that Steve had to leave town so hastily to avoid 
 punishment. 
 
 Meantime, Steve, never dreaming as to what fears 
 
 38 
 
20 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 his strange actions were arousing in the mind of 
 the neighbor, was making record time toward the 
 home where Max Hastings lived, together with his 
 cousin, Owen, who was an orphan and a book- 
 worm. 
 
 The little town of Carson sat upon the bank of 
 the beautiful Evergreen Eiver, in a northern State, 
 not many hundred miles away from one of the great 
 cities. 
 
 Among all the boys of the town there were none 
 who were more desirous of having a good time 
 outdoors in the open, than Max and his four chums : 
 his cousin Owen, Steve Dowdy, Toby Jucklin, and 
 Clarence Griffin, the last named being known far 
 and wide as " Bandy-legs " Griffin, on account of 
 his short, and far from straight, underpinning. 
 
 In several stories that precede this volume, some 
 of the intensely interesting, and even thrilling in- 
 cidents that accompanied their search for amuse- 
 ment during the summer months, when school no 
 longer held them to their studies, have been 
 given. 
 
 Their initial exploit, and which formed the foun- 
 dation for many of the outings that followed, had 
 even been written up in the great metropolitan pa- 
 pers, as a sample of boyish enterprise and smart- 
 ness. 
 
 Between them Max and Owen had conceived an 
 idea that since pearls were being found in many 
 of the rivers of Indiana, Arkansas and some other 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 21 
 
 States of the Middle West, it might pay them to 
 ascend the Evergreen to the point where it was 
 formed by the junction of the two branches, the 
 Big Sunflower and the Elder rivers. 
 
 The former stream had long been known to har- 
 bor quite a large number of fairly large-sized mus- 
 sels. With his comrades, Max more than once had 
 gathered some of these shellfish, and cooked them, 
 in much the same fashion as those who live near 
 salt water prepare clams. 
 
 They had read up all they could find about the 
 nature and appearance of the valuable mussels, that 
 in some cases yielded pearls worth hundreds of 
 dollars; and so far as they could determine, those 
 along the Big Sunflower, of which the muskrats were 
 so fond, as the empty shells testified, answered the 
 bill. 
 
 Accordiagly, the §ve chums set out for a camp- 
 ing trip up the Big Sunflower; and from the com- 
 mencement of their journey they had met success, 
 as Steve put it, with a big S. From the proceeds 
 of the sale of several of the pearls, negotiated in the 
 city by the father of one of the boys, they realized 
 quite a large sum. 
 
 An d being boys with red blood in their veins, 
 their first thought had been to invest m motorcy- 
 cles; which gave them more or less delight, but to 
 the members of their respective families consider- 
 able concern. 
 
 After Bandy-legs, who never was able fully to 
 
22 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 master his machine, had met with several accidents, 
 none of which, however, was serious, the house- 
 holds of the boys got together, and discussed the 
 matter. It ended in an edict that the dangerous 
 motorcycles must go; which they immediately did. 
 
 Then the boys made a more modest purchase, and 
 this time it was in the line of canoes, two of the 
 single canvas type now so generally used in Maine 
 and Canada, in place of the old-time birch bark 
 contraption; another tandem or double paddling 
 craft of the same type, which the boys delighted to 
 call their " war canoe " ; and a fourth one made of 
 cedar, after the lap-streak pattern, which Bandy- 
 legs insisted upon having, his opinion of the canvas 
 boats being of the negative order. 
 
 Possibly the secret fears of the good mothers did 
 not altogether vanish after this change had taken 
 place. It may have seemed like six of one and half 
 a dozen of the other ; but nothing was said ; and the 
 five chums certainly did have a great time with the 
 little flotilla of canoes when they took their next 
 outing up the Big Sunflower branch of the Ever- 
 green. 
 
 Steve possibly was thinking along these lines as 
 he ran in the direction of the Hastings home. His 
 curiosity was wrought up to the highest pitch by the 
 air of mystery in which Max had chosen to envelop 
 his communication. 
 
 No doubt there was an expression of great con- 
 cern upon the face of the Dowdy boy. It aroused 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 23 
 
 the concentrated curiosity of one of his fellow school- 
 mates, whom he happened to meet on the way; for 
 the other immediately shouted out at him: 
 
 "Hey, Steve, what's the matter? Eunuing to a 
 fire?" 
 
 " No ! " grunted the other, brushing past with scant 
 ceremony. 
 
 " Mad dog? " persisted the boy, noting that Steve 
 carried a gun; and at that the runner only looked 
 back with a grin. 
 
 "Cop after you?" pursued the other, as if bent 
 on knowing. 
 
 " Oh, rats ! " called out the disgusted Steve, over 
 his shoulder. 
 
 " Hey, got a pain ; going after a doctor, Steve ? " 
 yelled the other, fully puzzled to know why the run- 
 ner seemed so serious. 
 
 But this time Steve declined to waste any of his 
 precious breath in making answer. He had caught 
 a glimpse of another boy running from a different 
 quarter, and had no difficulty in recognizing his 
 chum, Toby Jucklin, who lived closer to the Hast- 
 ings home than the Dowdy place happened to be. 
 
 Toby had an imfortunate habit of stammering 
 when excited. There were times when he could 
 speak as plainly as any of the other boys ; and again 
 he would get so tied up, that in order to bring him- 
 self to a proper realization of his nervous condi- 
 tion he had contracted the habit of stopping short, 
 giving a sharp whistle, swallowing hard, as though 
 
24 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 he were chokiBg, and then getting his words out 
 cakoly. 
 
 In the beginning some of the boys had made all 
 manner of fun of Toby, but long familiarity with his 
 aflSiction had caused them aim jst to ignore it. And 
 besides, he was slowly overcoming the stuttering 
 habit, so that nowadays he did not halt quite so 
 much in his speech as formerly. 
 
 Toby lived with a guardian, a Mr. Jackson, who 
 was as kind to him as old Uncle Nathan Jucklin 
 had been cross, up to the time the change had been 
 made in the boy's affairs; when it was found that 
 he really had quite a little fortune left him by his 
 father, to which the close-fisted uncle had been hold- 
 ing fast. 
 
 The two boys arrived in front of the Hastings 
 gate about the same time. Panting for breath they 
 looked at each other, as though wild with eagerness. 
 Steve was carrying his gun and several other things ; 
 while Toby also seemed to have a hastily tied up 
 bundle under his arm. 
 
 "Did he tell you what it was all about?" de- 
 manded Steve, as they pushed through the gate, 
 and hurried up the walk toward the house. 
 
 Toby only shook his head vigorously in the nega- 
 tive. In his present exhausted condition it would 
 have been an utter impossibility for him to have 
 attempted any sort of speech. And Toby, at least, 
 knew his own weakness, it seemed. 
 
LOST IN THE GEEAT DISMAL SWAMP. 25 
 
 Now they were at the door, which opened before 
 they could try the kaob. 
 
 "Hello, Owen," burst out Steve, as he clutched 
 hold of the boy who stood there, a fine looking young 
 chap, with a serious face, as became a great reader; 
 "what's it all about? Where are we going? What's 
 happened all of a sudden to start Max off like this? 
 For the love of goodness open up, and tell us some- 
 thing. We're just ready to burst, explode, go all to 
 pieces ! " 
 
 " Well," said Owen, with a smile, " just hold your 
 horses a minute more. Max is in the library, and 
 ready to explain the thing right away, now that 
 we're all here." 
 
 " Yep, all but Bandy-legs ; it's a shame he ain't in 
 this ! " grumbled Steve ; and then, as he noticed the 
 singular look Owen gave him, a sudden flash of in- 
 telligence crossed his face, causing him to ex- 
 claim: 
 
 " Great Jupiter, why didn't it strike me before ! 
 Look here, Owen, is Bandy-legs the cause of all this 
 hulla-balloo ? Are we going up where he's been vis- 
 iting his old great aunt, Miss Matilda Griffin, twenty 
 miles up the Elder Eiver?" 
 
 " Wait, and you'll know all we do, for here's Max, 
 ready to open up." 
 
 They had by this time entered the room, the walls 
 of which were almost entirely covered with book- 
 cases, filled with volumes on every known subject; 
 for Mr. Hastings, being a retired business man, with 
 
26 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 a love for wide knowledge, kept adding to his really- 
 fine library every time he visited the city. And 
 what a feast Owen had during the many happy 
 hours he browsed among those stores of informa- 
 tion and romance. 
 
 Max, of course, was smiling a little as he saw the 
 red faces of the two chums; but Steve could catch 
 a look of unusual concern on the countenance of the 
 other, who was in reality the acknowledged leader 
 of the five comrades. 
 
 " Ean all the way, both of you, I reckon ! " Max 
 remarked. " Well, I wanted to get you here just as 
 fast as your legs could carry you; because the little 
 gas-wagon is due in a hurry now ; and when it comes 
 we're going to get away on the jump." 
 
 " Where to. Max? You promised to tell, you know, 
 when I joined you? Don't you see we're mighty 
 near eaten up with wanting to know? " pleaded 
 Steve. 
 
 " D-d-ditto ! " stammered Toby, just as anxiously. 
 
 "Well, to begin with," said Max, soberly now, 
 " we're going up to the home of Miss Matilda Grif- 
 fin, Bandy-legs' aunt." 
 
 "Why?" snapped Steve, his lips tightening, as 
 though he might be getting himself ready for some- 
 thing in the nature of a shock. 
 
 "I had a telegram from her less than an hour 
 ago. She doesn't want his parents to know; but 
 struck the idea of telling his four chxuns first, to 
 
LeST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 27 
 
 see what oould be done about it. So we're going up 
 there as fast as we can." 
 
 "What's happened to our bully chum, Bandy- 
 legs, Max? Has he been taken down sick with 
 typhoid fever, or got the measles; or did he have 
 a tumble, like he does so often, and this time break 
 a leg? " demanded Steve. 
 
 " Bandy-legs is lost in the Great Dismal Swamp ! " 
 announced Max, in a troubled voice. 
 
CHAPTEE n. 
 
 A MISSING OHTJM. 
 
 Foe the space of a few seconds there was abso- 
 lute silence in the library of the big Hastings home. 
 Steve was so confounded that he gasped for breath, 
 staring at Max ; and as for Toby, he seemed utterly 
 helpless. 
 
 " Tell me about that ! " finally broke out the im- 
 petuous Steve. " Bandy-legs lost in that terrible 
 old bog up there ! Great Jupiter ! Hasn't he heard 
 enough about it to keep away? How did it aU hap- 
 pen, Max? Has he been gone long? Do you think 
 he's starved to death by now? Are there any wild 
 critters in that place like panthers or wolves, that 
 would eat our chum? Oh, tell us all you knowl " 
 
 "Um, um," grunted Toby; which was meant to 
 indicate that he was just as much concerned as 
 Steve, even if he lacked the straight tongue to say 
 so. 
 
 Max held up a yellow bit of paper which had lain 
 on the table ; an the boys both recognized it as the 
 familiar telegraph message form. 
 
 " This is all I know, fellows," he said. " It was 
 brought here less than an hour ago, with an answer 
 
 28 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 29 
 
 wanted- As soon as I read it I sent back the few- 
 words : ' Coming just as quick as I can get the boys 
 together.' Then I called you both up. Listen, and 
 I'll read what the old lady says. I reckon she must 
 have driven over to the nearest raUroad telegraph 
 station when she sent this." 
 
 " Go on ! " cried Steve, plainly tremendously ex- 
 cited by the prospect of their being called upon to 
 find their missing comrade, who, as seemed often 
 to be the case, was in deep trouble again. 
 
 " ' Clarence lost in swamp ; went there yesterday, 
 and has not returned to-day. Fear to let his parents 
 know; mother in delicate health, and shock might 
 injure her. Can you and his other young friends 
 hurry up ihere io ^ee what can be done? An- 
 swer.' " 
 
 Mas read this slowly, so that its true significance 
 might sink into the minds of his companions. As 
 usual Steve was the mouthpiece of the pair; and 
 Toby seemed only too willing that this should be so. 
 When a fellow has trouble in uttering his meaning 
 as clearly as he would like, it is pleasant to have a 
 chum who is ready to voice his sentiments. 
 
 " Will we go ? Well, I should say, yes ! " exclaimed 
 Steve. "Where's that old buzz wagon you men- 
 tioned, Max? Why isn't it waitin' for us? Say, 
 every minute we waste here might mean a whole 
 lot for poor old Bandy-legs. Since yesterday his 
 aunt says, twenty-four whole hours. Whew, that's 
 
30 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 a tougli deal, all right! And he does love feeding to 
 beat the band. By this time he's a living skeleton, 
 I reckon." 
 
 " Oh, not so bad as that ! " remarked Owen. "A 
 fellow wouldn't starve in so short a time, you know. 
 He might feel awfully hungry at first; but after 
 that, for some time it would just get to be an empty 
 void sort of condition. That's what people say 
 who've gone through forty days of fasting, living 
 only on cold water." 
 
 "I'm not so much concerned about Bandy-legs 
 starving, as some other things that might happen 
 to him," remarked Max, glancing out of the window, 
 as though he imagined he heard a sound like a 
 gasoline car coming along the road. 
 
 " Such as wild beasts attacking our chum? " sug- 
 gested Steve, gripping his gun in a fierce clutch, 
 and looking very resolute ; as though he felt that if 
 only he had the chance to get a sight of the said 
 animals they would never bother anyone more. 
 
 "Well, even that doesn't make me as uneasy as 
 some other things," Max went on, quickly. " What 
 if the poor chap has broken a leg, somehow? We 
 all know how clumsy he can be sometimes. And 
 while he's escaped any serious hurt up to now, I've 
 been feeling it in my bones lately that something 
 was due Bandy-legs soon." 
 
 " It's going to be a big job for you, Max, tryin' 
 to track him in that terrible swamp and cranberry 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 31 
 
 bog," suddenly remarked Toby, surprising himself 
 no doubt by bis fluent speech about as much as he 
 did his friends. 
 
 " I only hope it can be done," answered Max, with 
 a long sigh ; " and I'm bound to try my level best ; 
 you know that without my saying it. But there's 
 yet another possibility that gives me a cold shiver." 
 
 " What is it ; tell us, Max ! " demanded Steve. 
 
 " We may never find poor Bandy-legs," the other 
 went on, gravely ; " because, they say that there are 
 places in that bog where nobody has ever found bot- 
 tom. The slimy mud is just like quicksand, and if 
 you once get stuck fast, you can't break away. Inch 
 by inch you feel yourself being pulled down, just 
 like a giant had hold of your feet, till at last the 
 mud closes over your head — and that's all." 
 
 " Wow, you do give us the cold creeps. Max ! " 
 muttered Steve, turning pale as he listened; "and 
 yet I know that's as true as anything. I heard a 
 man tell once how he got caught fast that way, and 
 came near perishing. His yells were heard by a 
 woodcutter half a mile off, when the wind changed ; 
 and that feller managed to get him out by using a 
 log and a rope that he fastened to the limb of a 
 tree overhead. Oh, my! I hope our poor old chum 
 didn't get stuck in that treacherous bog ! " 
 
 " Here's the gas-wagon ! " announced Max, to the 
 great relief of the impatient one. 
 
 Picking up what packages they had to carry, the 
 four boys hastened out of the house. There was a 
 
32 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 small gasoline machine standing at the door, driven 
 by a pretty powerful motor. Billikia himself acted 
 ,as pilot and chauffeur. He was a little man, but 
 capable of attending to his business. 
 
 Into the vehicle the four piled in a great hurry. 
 It mattered not that with the bundles they were tak- 
 ing along, they filled it to the crowded stage. Boys 
 are willing to endure aU sorts of discomforts with- 
 out a murmur, if the object is fun; and when an 
 emergency like the present one arises, they make 
 light of such a minor matter as sitting upon one an- 
 other's lap if necessary. 
 
 Mr. Billikin was urged to " let her out for aU she 
 was worth"; and having left the confines of Car- 
 son in the rear, they began to make pretty rapid 
 time. Indeed, the livery stable keeper rejoiced in 
 the chance to ascertain just how fast his new little 
 car could travel along the roads which, at this time 
 of year, were in a good state of repair. 
 
 The boys soon had to pull down the peaks of 
 their caps to hold the head gear on, for their swift 
 passage created a terrific wind. But such rapid ac- 
 tion was in keeping with the excited state of their 
 aroused feelings ; and none of them felt that he be- 
 grudged the occasional twinge, as they were bumped 
 by passing over some little hole in the road. 
 
 "This — is — goia' some!" gasped Steve; " Touch- 
 and-Go Steve," mind you, who had never before been 
 known to have things move fast enough to suit him. 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DIS.MAL SWAMP. 33 
 
 " I shoiild say, yes," declared Max, out of one side 
 of his mouth, as though he feared that if that wind 
 once found a way to get in it might choke him. 
 
 " Wow ! " was Toby's way of expressing that his 
 sentiments were along the same linfes. 
 
 " Must have gone five miles already ! " ventured 
 Steve, a little later. 
 
 Mr. Billikin glanced down at the little cyclometer. 
 
 " Six and a quarter, boys ! " he remarked. 
 
 " If everything goes on as well as it has up to now, 
 we ought to be there inside of half an hour; and 
 you said noon. Max ! " remarked Steve, with a grin. 
 
 " I was wrong. Never rode with Mr. Billikin be- 
 fore ; and didn't know what great speed he could get 
 out of his new car," Max replied, as they slackened 
 their speed while climbing a steep hill. 
 
 "She's something of a climber, too, I notice," 
 Owen observed- 
 
 " Go up the side of a house, if pushed," was the 
 rather far-fetched declaration of the new gasoline 
 wagon's owner. 
 
 " I was just thinking about Bandy-legs," remarked 
 Steve; "and how he often used to say there was 
 nothing he was so much afraid of as getting lost. 
 If I've heard him tell that once, I did twenty thou- 
 sand times. He used to shiver every time he pic- 
 tured himself sitting down there in the woods, tired 
 and hungry, with not a match along to make things 
 seem more cheery; and hearing the wild animals 
 
34 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 yowling all around him. And now to think that 
 he's just had to do that very thing!" 
 
 Max glanced at the livery man. 
 
 " We might as well tell Mr. Billikin about it," he 
 remarked ; " he will promise to keep it all a dead 
 secret till we say he can speak about it, won't you, 
 Mr. Billikin?" 
 
 " Surely I will," was the hearty reply. 
 
 Thereupon Max explained what had happened; 
 and the man was quick to express his sympathy; 
 for he knew Bandy-legs Griffin well, and had the 
 utmost respect for his mother and father. 
 
 " That same swamp has got a bad name, if I do 
 say it, owning a little part of the same myself," he 
 remarked. " I've never been through the place, but 
 one look was enough for me. I had a big bill against 
 Sile Benner, a relative of the Shafter family in 
 Carson, and he offered me his holdin' in swamp land 
 to settle. There's a heap of valuable timber in there, 
 that might some time be got out some way, and as 
 the Benners didn't have any other way of settlin', 
 I just closed the deal. That was nigh on four years 
 back; and nothin' has ever been done to cut that 
 timber. P'r'aps there never will be, because few 
 men could be found willing to go into that swam|p 
 and work." 
 
 "Why, yes," Steve went on to say; "I knew Ted 
 Shafter had an uncle up there, runnin' a sort of bog 
 that had cranberries on it. Some years he makes 
 money, and then again he loses his crop. But I 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 35 
 
 hate to hear you say such bad things about the 
 Great Dismal Swamp, Mr. Billikin, seein' that our 
 poor chum has gone and lost himself there." 
 
 Max had started at hearing what Steve said. A 
 look of intelligence flitted over his face, and then 
 passed away. If he tad an inspiration just then, 
 he said nothing to the others about it. Mas was 
 not apt to be too sanguine. He waited until he 
 could discover some proof before believing a thing 
 might be true ; especially when on the face of it the 
 matter seemed almost incredible. 
 
 They had reached the top of the long hill by this 
 time ; and as they shot down the other slope like a 
 comet, talking was absolutely impossible. So they 
 could only sit there, gripping each other, or the 
 sides of the motor, and counting the telegraph poles 
 that seemed to fly past in endless procession; for 
 at this point the line connected between two railroads 
 across country. 
 
 Steve bent down presently to see what the regis- 
 ter told. 
 
 " Bully ! Eleven miles done, boys ! " he managed 
 to cry out; for nothing pleased this nervous boy 
 better than flying through space as though mounted 
 on a meteor. 
 
 " We'll soon be up there ! " remarked Max, con- 
 solingly. 
 
 " Looks kind of marshy already ! " said Owen, 
 pointing to one side of the road as they clipped along 
 with a whirr. 
 
 39 
 
36 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 " Oh, the big swamp looks down this way, all 
 right," observed Mr. Billikin. "It's the largest of 
 its kind in the whole State; and if ever they can 
 drain it, perhaps my holdings will be worth ten times 
 what they cost me. Yes, that's the beginning of 
 the swamp your friend young Griffin is lost in. Wish 
 I could stay up and help you hunt for the poor boy; 
 but I've got to be back this afternoon sure. A 
 plumber is coming to do a heap of work about my 
 house, put in a new bathroom, too." 
 
 The boys were all turning to the left to observe 
 the swamp they had now commenced to pass, and 
 no one paid much attention to what the livery man 
 said; though to be sure Max did remark they felt 
 able to do everything that could be done in the search 
 for the missing chum. 
 
 " Eighteen miles, boys ! " announced Steve, after 
 a little more time had slipped by. 
 
 " Do you happen to know where Miss Griffin lives, 
 Mr. Billikin ? " asked Max ; " because, you see, none 
 of us has ever been up here before. Bandy-legs hated 
 to go aU by himself; but his great aunt expects to 
 leave all she has to him some day, and is mighty 
 fond of him; so his folks shoved him off for a 
 week." 
 
 " Yes," replied the other, promptly, " I met the old 
 lady, and her queer old man, Black Bob, who's dou- 
 bled up with rheumatism so that he seems hardly 
 able to hobble around. I'll take you right to her 
 door, and then it's back for me." 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 37 
 
 Five miniites later, and he pointed ahead. 
 
 "Yen's the place, boys, where you see that big 
 clump of trees," he said. "Long ago Miss Griffin 
 used to farm, and owned a cranberry bog, too. 
 That's where old Bob got his rheumatics, I reckon, 
 stayin' out so much in the marsh, a-pickin' berries. 
 But she had a nice little f ortime left her, and ever 
 since just takes life easy. Look close, and you'll 
 see her right at this minute, a-standin' there at the 
 gate, wavin' her white handkerchief to you, boys ! " 
 
 Max felt his heart beating much faster than natu- 
 ral, as he replied to the signal. How he did hope 
 that it meant good news; and that Bandy-legs had 
 turned up, safe and sound, after his aunt had sent 
 her telegram for help. 
 
 The little car bore down upon the entrance to the 
 Griffin farm at a hot rate of speed, and presently 
 pulled up in front of the gate. An elderly woman 
 and a bent-over black man stood there, also a small 
 boy. 
 
 Max and his three chums jumped pellmell out 
 of the machine that had carried them over those 
 roads in record-breaking time. 
 
 " This must be Miss Griffin, Bandy-legs — I mean 
 Clarence's aunt," he said, as he held out his hand. 
 " I am Max Hastings. Tell me, is there anything 
 
 new? " 
 
 And the old lady shook her white-crowned head 
 sadly as she replied: 
 
38 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 " No news, my boy ; we have heard nothing, seen 
 nothing, from our poor Clarence since he left us 
 about this time yesterday, meaning to be gone only 
 an hour or two. And hope is beginning to turn into 
 despair. Oh! I do wish you could find him!" 
 
CHAPTEE in. 
 
 BBAVB HEARTS TO THE EESCTTB. 
 
 " Tell us what you know about it, please, Miss 
 Griffin," said Max, " and then we'll try our level best 
 to find Clarence." 
 
 " It is so little, I don't see how it can assist you 
 in any way," she replied, as she tried to compose 
 herself again, after giving way to her feelings in 
 tears. " He told me he thought he would go out and 
 try the fishing old Bob had been speaking about. 
 We have plenty of boats around, you see, because 
 long ago when we ran the cranberry bog it was 
 necessary that the pickers use them to get there 
 through the water of the marsh." 
 
 " And he went, with his fishing rod and tackle, 
 that I happen to know he brought up here with 
 him 1 " Max asked, more to encourage the old lady 
 than anything else. 
 
 " Yes, that was it," she replied. " I saw him go 
 away, and he waved his hand and blew me a kiss. 
 Poor, poor boy, to think that I should never see him 
 again." 
 
 " But it's too soon to say that. Miss Griffin," Owen 
 interposed. " Here are four stout fellows, eager to 
 
 39 
 
40 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 search that Great Dismal Swapp through, from end 
 to end, imtil they can learn something of Bandy- 
 legs, We can shont, and fire gims, so he's sure to 
 hear us. Don't give way to despair. When we play 
 ball we always say that the game isn't over until the 
 last fellow is out In that way we keep our pluck 
 up; and sometimes it pays, too." 
 
 " But you can tell us where he expected to fish? " 
 asked Max, desirous of learning any possible facts 
 before starting out 
 
 " Bob, here, can tell you," she replied. 
 
 " 'Deed an' I kin, sah," remarked the bent-over 
 colored man, eagerly ; and it was plainly evident that 
 Black Bob thought considerable of the lost boy, and 
 was greatly concerned about his fate. "Yuh jes' 
 goes along de canal we uster tuh foUer at de time 
 we gathers de crangberries, till yuh gits to de turn- 
 in' pint Dar yuh'U see a tree wid three tops like 
 de queerest thing eber. In de open water nigh dat 
 ere tree wae whar de fishin' uster be de bestest. 
 An' I done told dat boy tuh make a try dar. Whar 
 he done gwine tuh arter, dat gits me, it suah do." 
 
 Bob shook his white woolly old head mournfully, 
 as though he felt it a personal loss. 
 
 Max asked more questions. 
 
 " Before we plunge into the swamp I'd like first 
 rate to get some sort of idea about how it runs,'* 
 he remarked. " Do you know anybody who can give 
 me points that way, Bob? " 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 41 
 
 "I suah does, sah," grinned the other, his eyes 
 sparkling. " Beckons as how dar beant anudder pus- 
 son roundabout heah, as knowed ebery crook an' turn 
 in dat same ole swamp as well" as I done. Yuh see, 
 sah, heaps o' yeahs ago, long afore I took up wif 
 Miss Matildy heah, I uster poke around in dat same 
 place, settin' traps fob de mushquash, dat dey calls 
 muskrats. Dey ain't rats 'tall ; and is jes' de bestest 
 eatin' yuh eber seed." 
 
 " Yes, I've heard of that," said Owen, " and read 
 a lot about it." 
 
 Max already had his pencil out, and lost no time 
 in asking questions of the old lame darky. He 
 found Uncle Bob quite intelligent, and able to tell 
 him considerable about the shape and dimensions 
 of the big swamp. 
 
 Taking advantage of Miss Griffin's temporary ab- 
 sence, as she hurried into the house to get a big 
 lot of food ready, so that they might carry it with 
 them (for she knew her nephew must be almost 
 starved by this time), Max proceeded to ask the 
 old negro other things, which he would not have 
 liked her to hear. 
 
 " Is it possible for a boy to get lost in that place, 
 and never find his way out?" was the first ques- 
 tion he put. 
 
 " It sartin suah am, foh a fact, sah," came the 
 disquieting reply, as Black Bob scratched his woolly 
 pate, and shook his head mournfully. " Reckon I'se 
 
42 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 knowed ob more'u one as never kim outen dar agin. 
 It am a suah enough hoodoo place, dat ere swamp 
 am." 
 
 "And we have been told that there are lots of 
 places where, if a feUow happens to get caught in 
 the slimy mud, he'll never be able to pull himself 
 out again; and unless help comes, may perish; is 
 that so, Bob?" 
 
 " I've been ketched dat aways mawself more'n a 
 few times, sah ; uster kerry a rope round my waist, 
 like dat ; an' if eber I felt mawself a-sinkin' in de 
 mud, neber got excited like, 'case dat'd only push yuh 
 f urder in ; but I'd throw de rope up ober de branch 
 ob a tree, an' in dat way pull maw feet loose. Yah ! 
 yah ! it am hard to git a swamp trapper ketched in 
 de mud, sah." 
 
 " I hope you told our chum about that, Bob, and 
 that he'd have a rope along with him," Max went 
 on. " But whatever could have tempted him to leave 
 that open water, and paddle into the gloomy old 
 swamp ? " 
 
 Black Bob shook his head. 
 
 "Neber knows wat boys dey kin t'ink ob doin', 
 dat's right," he remarked. " Beckon now, if so be 
 dere happened tuh be a 'coon run erlong a log, an' 
 dat boy seed de same, he done forgot all I told him 
 'bout neber gwine in dar, but jest up wid de anchor, 
 an' paddle, paddle arter dat 'coon to see wha' he 
 gwine." 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 43 
 
 " Here comes Miss Matilda agaia, and loaded 
 down with, bundles," remarked Steve. " Looks like 
 it might all be something to eat, too. Say, she knows 
 our chum, Bandy-legs, all right, and that he's got 
 a husky appetite. But then there are four of us 
 here, and we've got to eat some, too, I reckon." 
 
 " Bob, can you get us a couple of lanterns, and a 
 bottle of oil to carry along? A box of matches, too, 
 don't forget," Max remarked. 
 
 " Yas, sah, suah I kin," the other answered heart- 
 ily ; " an' I wanter say dat it nigh breaks my heart, 
 it do, dat dis pesky rheimiatiz keeps me from gwrae 
 'long wid you boys. Nebber uster think a thing 
 'bout stayin' days in dat swamp. Knows de trails 
 like I does my own name, yas, sah. Willin' tuh do 
 anythin' dat I kin tub help yub find dat boy. Missy 
 Matildy, slie takes a heap o' stock by Mm, so sbe 
 do." 
 
 Max did not wish, to lose more time than was 
 necessary. He knew of nothing else that could be 
 done at the farm. Mr. Billikin had long since started 
 back home, and bound again by a sacred promise not 
 to mention a word about anybody being lost in the 
 terrible Great Dismal Swamp. 
 
 Upon inspecting the boats Max found two that 
 seemed to answer their purpose, although they were 
 pretty old, and liable to spring a leak if roughly 
 used. 
 
 Into these they piled all the stuff that they were 
 
44 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 likely to need while on their hunt for the missing 
 comrade. Miss Griffin hovered aromid all the time, 
 and from the eager look on her wrinkled face it was 
 plain to be seen that once more dying hope had 
 sprimg into new life, since the coming of these en- 
 ergetic boys on the scene. 
 
 Already had Max decided about how they should 
 conduct the hunt. He and Steve would occupy one 
 boat, while Owen and Toby took the other. Each 
 party was provided with a gun and a lantern, the 
 other things being also equally divided. This was 
 a wise provision; for one of them might happen to 
 run across the absent lad, and be in sore need of 
 refreshment, which without this precaution might 
 all be in the other boat. 
 
 It was nearly noon by this time. Miss Griffin 
 had hurried to the house again, and reappeared bear- 
 ing another package. 
 
 " This is some lunch for you, boys," she explained. 
 " You will be hungry before you get fairly started. 
 I haven't had a boy of my own, but I know some- 
 thing about them. And eating constitutes a big 
 part of the affairs of life with most of them. They 
 have to eat plenty when they're growing so fast, 
 and so full of life. Clarence was never still a min- 
 ute, but so full of vim and vigor. Poor, poor boy; 
 I hope and pray he may be spared ; for his mother's 
 sake, if not his own." 
 
 They parted from the old lady and her crippled 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 45 
 
 manservant There was no cheer given to signal- 
 ize the start on this expedition, such as usually 
 marked their outing trips. 
 
 Even impetuous Steve, nearly always ready to 
 burst into song or merriment of some kind, seemed 
 strangely quiet What he had seen of that terribly 
 big swamp as they came along, and heard concern- 
 ing its horrors, depressed his spirits. The very 
 thought of their chum. Bandy-legs, being lost in 
 that place was enough to discourage merriment. 
 
 If it had been Max now, they might not have done 
 so much worrying, since he had always been accus- 
 tomed to looking out for himself, and knew so many 
 things connected with the wilderness; but Bandy- 
 legs was next door to a " tenderfoot " when it came 
 to practical things in the woods ; and might go hun- 
 gry when a dozen sources of food supply were ac- 
 tually within hand's reach, simply because of igno- 
 rance. 
 
 " That BUlikin is a pretty decent sort of a fellow, 
 after all," remarked Max, after they had been pad- 
 dling along for a little while, following the plainly 
 marked route, where poles had been thrust into the 
 mud under the water. 
 
 " That's right," added Owen. " He was real pro- 
 voked that he had to go back in such a hurry, when 
 he wanted to stay with us the worst way. What 
 was it he said about having the plumber at his 
 house, putting in a new bath, or something like 
 that?" 
 
46 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 "Bath!" 
 
 Steve half sprung to his feet as he almost shouted 
 that word; then he dropped back upon the thwart 
 again, and his face had a blank look that aston- 
 ished the others not a little. 
 
 " Why, hello ; what ails Steve ? " remarked Max. 
 
 " W-w-when he h-h-heard you s-s-say bath he j-j- 
 just g-g-got a shock ! " declared Toby Jucklin, him- 
 self just as curious as either of the others to know 
 what could have affected Steve so strangely. 
 
 " Guess anybody'd get a cold chill, when it burst 
 on him like that ! " declared the one they were dis- 
 cussing, and speaking almost savagely. 
 
 "What's gone wrong, Steve?" asked Majc, pleas- 
 antly. 
 
 "I'm blessed if I can remember, that's what," 
 muttered the other ; who looked as if he were trying 
 to think harder than ever before in his life, if the 
 lines that appeared around his half -shut eyes stood 
 for anything at all. 
 
 "Eemember about what?" Max continued, bent 
 on getting at the secret of these sudden queer actions 
 on the part of Steve. 
 
 " Hang the luck if I believe I did shut it off 1 " 
 Steve declared, smiting the palm of one hand with 
 his other, clenched in a fist. " Glory be 1 Just to 
 think of what a howling mess there'll be if I stay 
 away several days, and she keeps on a-rnnning all 
 that blessed time. Oh, gracious! I feel weak just 
 thinking about it, and that's a fact ! " 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 47 
 
 "Shut what off?" asked Owen; though Max be- 
 gan to see something like light; for he suddenly 
 remembered certain things Steve had spoken about 
 at the time he was talking over the wire and after- 
 wards. 
 
 " That cold-water faucet in our bath tub at home," 
 came the dejected reply. " For the life of me I just 
 can't remember for sure whether I did stop the 
 water, before running down to answer the telephone 
 bell, or not. One minute I seem to remember doing 
 it all right, and the next I'm that scared I didn't 
 that I feel a chill chasing up and down my back." 
 
 " But somebody would hear it running, and go in 
 the bathroom to stop it," said Toby, once more speak- 
 ing splendidly. 
 
 " That's the trouble," groaned poor Steve ; " no- 
 body home, and won't be till the end of the week. 
 Gee ! if that water keeps on running there won't be 
 a thing left of the house by then. I bet you the 
 walls crumble and fall in. Day and night that old 
 faucet will keep on flowing, flowing till first the ceil- 
 ings crack and tumble ; then, as it gets deeper in the 
 rooms below, the walls will soak, and give way. Oh, 
 just think what a grand surprise my folks will get 
 when they come home ! " 
 
 " Perhaps you'd better turn back, then, and find 
 some way of getting home," suggested Owen, feel- 
 ing for his chum in this new trouble. 
 
 "It would take me hours to get there, and the 
 
48 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 mischief would all be done long before then," de- 
 clared Steve. "Besides, what if I had turned the 
 water olf, say, p'r'aps there wouldn't be a mad feller 
 around Carson then. I must have done it; nobody 
 but a sUly fool would answer a phone bell and let 
 the water run in the bath tub. And, yet, sometimes 
 I have been just as silly, I admit. But there's no 
 use talking, boys, I ain't going to turn back now, 
 whether the Dowdy mansion floats away or not. 
 Our chum has got to be found, and I'm in the hunt 
 for keeps. You hear me warble." 
 
 In spite of his brave words, however, Steve was 
 fated to experience many a painful twinge in time 
 to come, as he tried to wrestle with that puzzle, and 
 remember whether he had or he had not turned the 
 water off before leaving the bathroom. 
 
 It would arise like a ghost to haunt him in his 
 wakeful moments in the night; and pursue him 
 even while the sun was shining brightly in the day- 
 time. Nor could there be any way of settling the 
 matter until their mission up here to the Great Dis- 
 mal Swamp had been completed, no matter how 
 it turned out, and their faces were once more turned 
 toward Carson and home. 
 
 By now they had reached the place where, as 
 Black Bob had indicated, the best fishing was to 
 be found. The tree he mentioned was plainly seen ; 
 but though they looked in every quarter not the 
 first glimpse of anything resembling a boat was 
 sighted. 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 49 
 
 " It's going to be rather a blind trail, I'm afraid," 
 Max remarked, as they once more started to move 
 ahead. 
 
 None of the others had any suggestion to make. 
 They depended considerably on the sagacity and 
 knowledge of woodcraft possessed by Max to assist 
 them along in the search. Toby was using the 
 push pole in one boat; while Steve, in the stern of 
 the other, kept urging the craft on to greater speed. 
 Steve did everything in the greatest hurry imagin- 
 able. Several times Max glanced up from the rude 
 map he was studying to see what the sudden spurt 
 meant; and even warned the boatman once that he 
 might get himself in trouble, with the pole sticking 
 fast in the soft mud, so that he could not with- 
 draw it. 
 
 They were following what would seem to be the 
 most natural channel anyone would be apt to take 
 when wandering into the swamp for the first time; 
 indeed, outside of this route it was impossible to 
 penetrate very far in any direction, so Old Black 
 Bob had declared when giving Max information 
 upon which to shape his chart. 
 
 This being the case, there seemed no danger that 
 they might go far astray in the beginning of the 
 hunt. A little later, when the numerous side 
 branches ran hither and thither from the main stem, 
 their troubles would begin. And it was at that time 
 Max wanted to know by heart the possibilities 
 
50 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 of every avenue he had marked so rudely on the 
 paper. 
 
 If it had all been only a boat trip, possibly the 
 aged and bent-over darky might have accompanied 
 them, in spite of his aches and pains; but he had 
 told them there might be a good chance that the 
 one they sought had lost his boat, and was wander- 
 ing around in the depths of the half -submerged 
 swamp, so that they would sooner or later find them- 
 selves compelled to do likewise. 
 
 Max, feeling somewhat hungry himself, was just 
 thinking that they might presently come to a stop, 
 and discuss ways and means in common, while they 
 ate some of the lunch the old lady had so gladly put 
 up for their immediate consumption. 
 
 Indeed, he had just turned, after laying his map 
 aside, and was about to say as much to Steve, when 
 a sudden tremendous lurch of the boat nearly threw 
 him off the narrow thwart he had been occupying 
 near the bow. 
 
 He was just in time to see Steve lose his footing 
 on the stern of the boat, made flat for punting pur- 
 poses, and be dragged over by the pole, which he 
 had thrust so deeply in the mud that all his energies 
 failed to remove it; and the boat moving swiftly 
 onward at the same time, the boy followed his 
 obstinate pole overboard. 
 
 When Max looked up, after recovering himself, 
 it was to see Steve dangliag there, very much after 
 
LOST IN THE GKEAT DISMAL SWAMP. 51 
 
 the style of one of those painted monkeys on a stick, 
 which have amused children for years and years; 
 for in his desperation Steve had clasped his agile 
 legs about the pole, and was trying to keep from 
 dropping into the water. 
 
 40 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PLUNGING INTO THE SWAMP. 
 
 "L-L-LooK at S-s-stevel" yelped Toby; and then 
 came very near following the example set by his 
 pole-mate; for he had to tug desperately before 
 he could succeed in wrenching his pusher free, so 
 sticky was the deep mud at that particular point. 
 
 It certainly looked as though Steve might be in 
 for a ducking, because he was wriggling there like 
 a " speared eel," Owen called it, getting very red in 
 the face with his exertions; and all the while the 
 pole was slowly but surely lowering him closer to 
 the water beneath. 
 
 Max hastened to snatch up one of the paddles 
 and try to stop the progress of the boat, which was 
 rapidly leaving the pole-handler in the lurch. 
 
 And Toby, recovering himself, also set to work 
 in the endeavor to change the set course of the sec- 
 ond craft, so as to run in close to the boy who dan- 
 gled there. 
 
 That was one picture which Steve would never 
 be called on to develop; though Owen did snatch 
 up the little kodak and snap off a couple of shots 
 at him. But he would have to guard them care- 
 
 S2 
 
LOST IN THE GEEAT DISMAL SWAMP. 53 
 
 fully, lest the hero of the adventure take chances 
 of destroying the film, so as to conceal the laugh- 
 able nature of his predicament. 
 
 Luckily the pole sunk in the mud seemed capable 
 of holding until the second of the boats came close 
 enough for Steve to be hauled aboard. Max never 
 was able to understand how it happened; but when 
 they were all later on forced to lend a hand in the 
 effort to dislodge the obstinate pole he realized how 
 deep down it had been driven. 
 
 Steve was so badly winded after his contortions 
 in midair that Max " relieved " him for a while, to 
 let him rest up a bit. It was not unpleasant work, 
 if one but took things easy; but whoever knew im- 
 patient Steve to do that? None of his companions, 
 for a certainty. 
 
 Max said not a single word of reproach, but Steve 
 evidently felt more or less ashamed of the mess he 
 had made of things. 
 
 " Don't know what's the matter with me to-day, 
 for sure," he remarked a little later, when applying 
 once more for his old job in the stem, with the pole 
 to wield ; " everything I do seems to go crooked. 
 Must be something in the air that rattles me. Gee ! 
 wouldn't I give something right now if I could only 
 remember whether I did turn that blessed old water 
 off!" 
 
 Max could give a pretty good guess, if he had 
 been asked, but as he was not he wisely kept still. 
 He knew only too well that it was Steve's way to 
 
54 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 do everything just as though the house were on 
 jBre. No doubt, when he hurried away from home, 
 just a couple of hours before, after getting that 
 imperative summons, he did not think of going down 
 into the cellar to see whether the door were se- 
 cured ; or look to ascertain if the scuttle in the roof 
 had been closed. And to think of his not even re- 
 membering to glance in the bathroom, where he had 
 been at work I Doubtless his prints were still there, 
 and would possibly be absolutely ruined before he 
 saw them again — if nothing worse happened. 
 
 But that was Steve Dowdy all over. Max al- 
 ways said he " flew off the handle " at the least 
 provocation. Whether that old saying applies to an 
 ax wielded by a stalwart woodsman in felling a tree, 
 or a human being, it spells danger nearly always. 
 
 As they moved along. Max was trying to arrange 
 a certain code of signals, so that should those in the 
 two boats be compelled to separate, as he supposed 
 would be the case before long, they might have a 
 means of communication in case the lost were dis- 
 covered, or anything turned up that seemed to merit 
 a coming together for an exchange of views. 
 
 This could always be done by means of the two 
 guns. A single shot followed by a brief silence, and 
 then a second shot would mean that a clew had been 
 discovered, and in such a case the other boat would 
 better try to find the one from which the signal had 
 been given. 
 
 Still a third shot, fired in the same way, would 
 
LOST IX THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 55 
 
 mean bad news, and that poor Bandy-legs liad been 
 found, but not alive. They all hoped when this was 
 explained to them that the three slow shots might 
 never be used. 
 
 On the other hand, three quick discharges would 
 tell the joyful news that the boy lost in the deep 
 mazes of the Dismal Swamp had been found, and 
 that he was at least in a fair state of health, even if 
 ravenous with hunger. 
 
 It would not be wise for the boats to get too far 
 away from each other. And in order to prevent 
 this Max arranged that they should from time to 
 time give a certain " hallo ! " that could be heard 
 a long way off in that still place. Such a cry, it 
 was intended, would stand for steadiness, and to 
 indicate that they were keeping each other within 
 touch. 
 
 " It's certainly getting to look pretty fierce ia 
 here," remarked Steve some ten minutes later, as 
 he glanced around at the trees by which they were 
 surrounded, most of which had creepers hanging 
 from their limbs, and were so matted above that 
 comparatively little of sunlight managed to force a 
 way underneath the queer green canopy. 
 
 There was the channel they had been following; 
 and besides water ia patches appeared to be scat- 
 tered all around, but there was dry land, too; and 
 in other places lay what appeared to be beds of 
 ooze, partly covered with moss or other vegetation, 
 and extremely deceptive. 
 
56 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAIIP. 
 
 These -w^re the particular places that made the 
 boys shudder when they saw them; for only too 
 well did they know that it was with reference to 
 just such sink holes old Black Bob had spoken, 
 when he mentioned the fact of his getting bogged 
 many a time, when, only for the knowledge he pos- 
 sessed, and the handy rope he always carried about 
 Ms waist, his life might have paid tlie forfeit for 
 his carelessness. 
 
 If an experienced swamp " mushquash " hunter 
 and trapper could be deceived so often by these de- 
 ceptive quagmires, what of a greenhorn like Bandy- 
 legs? So they thought a good many shivery things 
 as they glanced toward one of these mud holes, but 
 did not have the nerve to exchange opinions. Each 
 fellow was earnestly saying to himself it might not 
 be so, and that Bandy-legs would be too wise to trust 
 himself on such insecure footing, i 
 
 At the same time they were afraid. 
 
 They had divided up the lunch, and were munch- 
 ing it contentedly as they made constant progress. 
 Steve and Toby declined to rest, and managed to 
 take an occasional bite as they continued to wield 
 their push-poles. 
 
 " There's one of the side channels he spoke about," 
 said Ste^'B, pointing with his ])ole. 
 
 " Yes, Pve marked two other smaller ones we 
 passed," replied Max, quietly. " And I think it's 
 about time we separated. Pull in, and let's take a 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISIIAL SWAMP. 57 
 
 look to see whether he could have turned in here and 
 left a sign behind." 
 
 " Never by design, for Bandy-legs isn't built that 
 way ; you mean some mark he left without meaning 
 to do it 1 " declared Owen. 
 
 " W-w-well, I declare ! " exclaimed Toby, showing 
 the greatest astonishment. " D'ye h-h-hear that, 
 S-s-steve ; he can find a trail on w-w-water just like 
 on 1-1-land! Will w-w- wonders ever stop?" 
 
 " Oh, I didn't say I'd sure do it," remarked Mas, 
 shaking his head. " I only advanced the idea that 
 if he did turn in here he might have left some mark 
 to show it. Perhaps not every fellow would find it, 
 even if he did ; but an experienced woodsman would 
 look for it, anyhow. Let's see ; shove me in closer to 
 the turning point, Steve, where the side channel 
 breaks away." 
 
 He soon caught hold of the overhanging bushes, 
 and began to examine them foot by foot, as he 
 dragged himseK along by their help. The others 
 watched his actions in silence, as though eager to 
 ascertain the result of his labors. 
 
 Max quickly looked up. 
 
 " See here," he said, " there something scraped 
 against this little branch, and inside of twenty-four 
 hours, I do believe. It's nearly broken off, as if a 
 boat, turning in here, had caught it; but you can 
 see that the leaves are only wilted, not dead. Hon- 
 estly, fellows, it looks to me as if a boat had come 
 around this point, and started into this smaller 
 
58 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 channel. Perhaps it was Bandy-legs ; perhaps some 
 one else that we don't care about. Owen, I'll match 
 you to see which one takes up here, while the other 
 goes on." 
 
 "All right, here goes," answered his cousin, as 
 he took out a coin and gently tossed it up a foot 
 or so in the air. 
 
 " Tails ! " said Max, quickly. 
 
 "You lose, because it's heads; and that means 
 Toby and myself will make a try up this way," Owen 
 announced. ' 
 
 "But what would Bandy-legs ever go up here 
 for; and why do you reckon he ever entered the 
 swamp at all, after beiog warned agaiust it by his 
 aunt and Black Bob? " Steve propounded before the 
 boats separated. 
 
 " That's the mystery," replied Owen. 
 
 " Yes," Max went on; "but after we find him and 
 ask a few questions, it may seem mighty simple. Per- 
 haps he saw something that he thought he could cap- 
 ture. And perhaps he caught one of the big fish 
 they tell about up here that towed him off, and Ban- 
 dy-legs wouldn't know enough to cut the line." 
 
 " G-g-goodness g-g-gracious I but you d-d-don't 
 take much s-s-stock in that idea yourself, you k-k- 
 know you d-d-don't. Max? " objected Toby, vigor- 
 ously. 
 
 " Well, to be honest with you, Toby, I don't. I 
 just mentioned it to show how many things could hap- 
 pen to ooax even a timid fellow like our chum to 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 59 
 
 forget all the warnings in the wide world and rush 
 into danger. But we'll drop into the next side chan- 
 nel on this side we strike. You know, fellows, Bob 
 said they connected by a whole network of little 
 canals after a bit; so we can get from one to an- 
 other if we send out a signal. But be careful, Owen. 
 It's enough to have Bandy-legs lost without two 
 more in the same boat." 
 
 " W-w-well, if it should h-h-happen, we're b-b-bet- 
 ter off'n he was; 'cause you see, we've g-g-got a 
 h-h-heap of g-g-grub aboard, and two d-d-days'd be 
 like a bully old p-p-picnic to us." 
 
 After seeing the other boat vanish around the first 
 bend. Max began to use the paddle again. He also 
 set Steve to work with the second one; for with 
 deeper water they could really make better prog- 
 ress this way than by poUng. 
 
 Just as he expected, they soon reached another arm 
 of the chaimel that ran off in the same direction 
 as that one which the other boys had started up. 
 
 "We'll turn in here, Steve," remarked Max; and 
 as they passed around the point he looked sharply 
 to see if there were any recent signs manifest there ; 
 but with not the slightest success. 
 
 " This isn't such bad going," Steve remarked, 
 after they had been moving smooth along for some 
 Httle time." 
 
 "The old tub of a boat paddles better than I 
 thought it would," Max replied. " It was made to 
 be used with a push-pole or a paddle, and not to 
 
60 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 row. You see, there isn't a sign of rowlocks about 
 thQ sides." 
 
 "Well, now, you're about right there. Max," 
 agreed Steve. " And I reckon that if a fellow could 
 see back to all that this monitor has been through 
 he might get on the track of some lively times. 
 What're you going to do now? " 
 
 He asked this question because he saw his com- 
 panion place both hands up to his mouth, fashioned 
 to resemble a megaphone as much as possible. 
 
 " Give a toot, and see if the others are within 
 hearing distance," answered Max. 
 
 When he had shouted a couple of times, sending 
 the sound toward the proper direction, there came 
 back a plain halloo. 
 
 " Great ! " exclaimed Steve. " They ain't far away 
 after all ; and I suppose we're just keeping on a line 
 with each other all the while." 
 
 " That's the idea," was what Max said in reply. 
 " Old Black Bob told me we'd find it that way. 
 And after a little we can get together again ; for the 
 passages merge into one wide spread of water with 
 patches of land. 
 
 They worked for a short time in silence. Then 
 Steve, who had been thinking of various things, as 
 he tried to keep his mind from grappling with the 
 one puzzle that had him in its grip, broke out with : 
 
 " Sometimes things happen mighty queer ; now, 
 don't they?" 
 
 " Well, yes ; I guess I can say the same," replied 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 61 
 
 Max; " because I've had a lot of strange things come 
 to me at times. But what's bothering you now, 
 Steve?" 
 
 " Oh, nothing's bothering me ; but I just couldn't 
 help thinking what a queer old coincidence — reckon 
 that's the only word that would cover the bill — ^it 
 was that brought Amiel Toots up here at the same 
 time we were called in such a big hurry." 
 
 Max started up. 
 
 "What's that you're saying, Steve?" he demand- 
 ed. "Amiel Toots, one of Ted Shafter's cronies, 
 up here? How d'ye happen to know that?" 
 
 "Why, I saw him peekia' out from behind that 
 shed when we passed the crossroads tavern, about 
 half a mile from Miss Griffin's place. Eeckon Amiel 
 didn't want us to see him by the way he acted. 
 He knows we've got a crow to pick with him on ac- 
 count of somebody tryin' to bore holes in our ca- 
 noes. He ducked all right when he saw me. looking 
 straight at him. Why, I never thought to say any- 
 thing about it Fact is. Max, I thought you'd seen 
 him, too. Amiel's a little coward, you know, and 
 is always skulking around, spying out things for 
 Ted." 
 
 Steve rattled on in this style for a short time 
 longer. Then, noticing that his chum was making 
 no reply, he glanced up. Something he saw in the 
 face of the other rather startled him. 
 
 "What is it, Max? " he exclaimed, with rising in- 
 
62 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 terest. "Why do you smile that way, and look as 
 if you'd found another big pearl? Reckon now, you 
 must have struck a clew somewhere? " 
 
 " Perhaps I have I " replied the other, slowly and 
 impressively. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 A STABTLING THEORY. 
 
 " Then dollars to cents Ted Shafter's in it! " de- 
 clared Steve, as a great light gradually began to 
 break in upon Mm. 
 
 " Well, let's put tMngs together and see how they 
 stand," Max went on. "I was told that Ted had 
 an old uncle living up here, somewhere along the 
 Elder branch of our Evergreen Eiver about where 
 it comes out of the Dismal Swamp." 
 
 "And that's no lie, either; because I've heard 
 him talk about his Uncle Benners heaps of times," 
 Steve went on to say, so as to settle that ques- 
 tion. 
 
 "Then, if Amiel is up here, we can just about 
 make up our minds Ted Shaf ter is, too ; and where 
 those chaps are found you can always look for 
 Shack Beggs. Don't you see, Steve, that it begins 
 to look queer? " 
 
 " I should say, yes," burst out the other, with his 
 usual rapidity of forming opinions. " We thought 
 before it was just a calamity; now I declare if it 
 ain't begumia' to look like a regular old conspir- 
 acy ! " 
 
 63 
 
64 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 " Well," Max went on to remark, " we haven't a 
 shred of evidence to hang that on, yet; but we're 
 going to find it before long, if there's any truth in 
 the idea. It only came to me when you said Amiel 
 was up here, and that he tried to dodge out of sight 
 when he saw us coming. That looks a little sus- 
 picious, anyway." 
 
 " I should say it did," pursued Steve, with set 
 teeth and flashing eyes. " But see here. Max, d'ye 
 think these fellers'd have the nerve to kidnap our 
 chum, and keep him hid away for a spell, just to 
 bother us all? Why, his folks might get after 'em 
 with a hot stick, and have the whole bunch shut up 
 in jail." 
 
 " Make up your mind, Steve, that if Ted and his 
 crowd did try anything like that they'd be sure to 
 cover their tracks, so as to blind everybody to the 
 fact that they'd had a hand in the game. He's a 
 cunning snake in the grass, as we ought to know, if 
 anybody does. Just remember what he's tried to 
 do to us in the past; and generally in a sneaking, 
 underhanded way, Ted Shafter couldn't be open 
 and above board if he tried." 
 
 "Whew, but you've given me lots to think over. 
 Max ! " declared Steve. " But for the life of me I 
 can't just get it through my noggin how Ted and 
 his crowd could bother poor Bandy-legs without his 
 knowing it." 
 
 " And I can only give a guess," was the reply Max 
 made. " But plenty of chances to put him in a hole 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 65 
 
 might happen, when fellows like that are hangiag 
 around looking for 'em. Suppose, now, Bandy-legs 
 chased in here after a swimmiag deer, or anything 
 else that might have attracted his attention, and made 
 1iim forget all about being warned to keep out. If he 
 landed to look around, how easy for them to sneak 
 up and get away with his boat. He'd never know 
 but what it drifted off. And as Bandy-legs is such 
 a poor specimen of a scout, the chances are the more 
 he tried to get out of the swamp the deeper he'd go 
 into it." 
 
 " Whew ! " said Steve again ; " you do see through 
 these things to beat the band, Max. And after you 
 up and explain, it looks so clear to me, I'm wonder- 
 ing why I never thought of it myself. If that bad 
 lot is around here, ten to one they've had some sort 
 of a hand in getting our bully old chum lost in Dis- 
 mal Swamp ! " 
 
 " Well, here's where the passage widens, you see, 
 just as Black Bob said; and I think, Steve, it might 
 be a good thing for aU of us to get together again. 
 Four heads ought to be better than two. Perhaps 
 Owen or Toby might have a bright idea that would 
 put us on the right track." 
 
 He began to turn the moving boat to one side as 
 they continued paddling. Then, a few minutes later, 
 he sent out another shout. This was answered, and 
 from a point much closer than before, showing that 
 the supposition of Max must be founded on sound 
 principles. 
 
66 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 " Hello, Owen ! " shouted Max again. 
 
 "What is it?" came the distinct reply. 
 
 " Work over this way. Want to talk to you about 
 something ! " whooped Max. 
 
 " All right. Coming ! " was wafted back, as clearly 
 as though the speaker were only around back of the 
 little clump of trees that stood in the water a hun- 
 dred feet ahead, so plainly are sounds transmitted 
 across the water. 
 
 Shortly afterwards Steve declared he could hear 
 the other two talking, and then he announced that 
 he had had a glimpse of a moving object. A hail from 
 Max brought a speedy reply. Three minutes later 
 the two boats came together. 
 
 Owen and Toby looked eagerly at the others. 
 They were evidently laboring under some new ex- 
 citement. From the tone of the words Max had 
 used it was evident to them that he had some dis- 
 covery to communicate. 
 
 "Have you struck any trail?" asked Owen, eag- 
 erly. 
 
 " Nothing," replied Max, " since seeing that broken 
 branch; and, of conrse, it's only guesswork on our 
 part to figure out that Bandy-legs did that in mak- 
 ing a short turn, as he chased around the mouth 
 of that passage after something. But we've got an 
 idea we can see a little light." 
 
 " Then give us a look in, please ; because we're up 
 against a blank wall," Owen frankly admitted; while 
 Toby nodded, as though seconding the motion. 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 67 
 
 "Why, Steve here made a little discovery and 
 happened to mention it to me," Max went on to say. 
 " He didn't think it meant anything ; but as soon 
 as I heard about it I began to smell a rat. You 
 know Ted Shafter has got an uncle up in this re- 
 gion?" 
 
 " Sure we do," remarked Toby, clearly and dis- 
 tinctly, as though he had quite forgotten to stammer 
 for the moment, 
 
 " Well," said Max, ■" Steve saw Amiel Toots dodg- 
 ing behind a barn or woodshed at that crossroads 
 tavern we passed just before we drew up at Bandy- 
 legs' aunt's place ! " 
 
 " Amiel Toots ! " echoed Owen, a look of intelli- 
 gence flashing athwart his face. 
 
 " Yes, and he wouldn't be away up here unless Ted 
 was along; and where those two good-for-nothings 
 are found, you can always put your finger on Shack 
 Beggs. See now what I'm hinting at, don't you? " 
 and Max looked expectantly at the other couple. 
 
 " Honest, now, I believe you two have struck oil ! " 
 declared Owen, with emphasis. 
 
 " W-w- wouldn't p-p-put anything p-p-past 'em ! " 
 echoed Toby, falling back again into his old rut. 
 
 " It looks bad, I must say," Owen went on. " We 
 happen to know that Ted wouldn't hold back one 
 little minute if he thought he could give any of us 
 a knock. And if he is around this territory the 
 chances are ten to one he's had some sort of a hand 
 in the disappearance of our chum." 
 
 41 
 
68 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 " He ought to be locked up for keeps I " grumbled 
 Steve. 
 
 " Make your mind easy, he will be some fine day," 
 remarked Max. " Those fellows are bound to go 
 from bad to worse until they set fire to some farm- 
 er's bam and K«t caught in the act. Then all the 
 political influence of Ted's father won't save hiiri 
 from the Eeform School. But the trouble is this 
 happens to be only a guess on our part. So far we 
 haven't struck even a teenty little bit of evidence 
 going to prove it. And we don't know yet whether 
 our pard is wanderirif^ about in this swamp right 
 now or lying in the barn of Ted's uncle, kept a pris- 
 oner just for a lark." 
 
 " That's so," remarked Steve, moodily. 
 
 " B-b-but you just b-b-bet we will k-k-know, and 
 that r-r-right soon I " burst out Toby, angrily. 
 
 " We've got to comb this same old swamp from 
 end to end, no matter how long it takes," was the 
 ultimatum of Max. 
 
 " And if Bandy-hi^s is alive, and anywhere around, 
 we'll get an answer from liim soonia- or later," Owo n 
 pursued, in his quiet but eonvmciu^ way. 
 
 " Not many people ever (!ome in here, they aay? " 
 Steve ventured. 
 
 " Not that you could notice," Max admitted. " I 
 asked Bob, and he said that there were a few who 
 set traps for muskrats and mink and otter in tin; 
 season ; but save for an occasional hunter the swamp 
 was avoided. Too many people have been lost in 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 69 
 
 it, and come near dying, to make it a safe place for 
 boys to roam arouad as a general thing. But sev- 
 eral times now it has been known that tramps had 
 a shack somewhere back here. They must have been 
 the bank-robbing kind of hoboes known as yeggmen, 
 for they wanted to keep shy of the police, Bob said." 
 
 " Did he have any idea there were any of that kind 
 around here right now, because that might explain 
 some things that we don't see clear? " Steve asked. 
 
 " Bob didn't know,'^ was the answer Mai made ; 
 " but then he admitted that since his rheumatiz had 
 crippled him so he hadn't paid much attention to 
 anything connected with the swamp. Miss Griffin 
 has disposed of her cranberry marsh, you know, and 
 he doesn't have to come over here for anything any 
 more. There might be a bunch of those tough char- 
 acters hiding out here, and again there might not." 
 
 " Which way haxi w« better go from here? ** asked 
 Owen, 
 
 " "We ought to mak« along deeper into the swamp, 
 and clear up this end of the old quagmire before 
 we change aroTmd," Max answered. 
 
 Accordingly the two boats separated a little, and 
 the boys started to use poles or paddles, according 
 to how the depth of water lay. When it grew deep 
 they took to the latter, as progress was easier that 
 way; but when it shoaled again, there was nothing 
 equal to the long push-pole. 
 
 Steve, however, was more cautious now. Once 
 hanging out on that lone pole was apparently quite 
 
70 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 enough for him ; and he did not want to repeat the 
 experience, no matter what enjoyment his comrades 
 might secure from the spectacle. 
 
 They had been proceeding in this manner only a 
 short distance when Toby startled his companions 
 by a sudden exclamation, and giving them to under- 
 stand by his actions that he had discovered some- 
 thing. 
 
 "B-b-b-b — oh, hang it all, say it for me, some- 
 body! " he ejaculated. 
 
 "It's a boat, all right," added Max, "and the 
 honor of the first discovery belongs to Toby, even 
 if he couldn't tell us all he wanted. Let's head that 
 way, and perhaps we'll find out something of impor- 
 tance. But go slow, for how do we know but what 
 it may belong to some of those same hoboes Bob 
 was telling about, who'll be apt to give us a warmer 
 receptioii than we want ! " 
 
CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 WHAT THE TRACKS TOLD. 
 
 Wabked by these words from Max, the paddlers 
 approached carefully. So far as they could see 
 nothing appeared to be moving in the near vicinity 
 of where the strange boat was carelessly drawn up 
 on the shore. Still, this was not positive proof that 
 danger in some shape might not lurk around in that 
 section. 
 
 Steve managed to draw the gun that was in their 
 craft a little closer to him, as though he wanted 
 to make sure of being in a position to show his 
 teeth should several ugly and rough-looking tramps 
 suddenly make their appearance and demand a sur- 
 render on the part of the boys. 
 
 But nothing of the kind came to pass. When the 
 prows of the two boats grated upon the roots that 
 held the hard mud in place only a curious squirrel 
 frisked off into the brush near by. It may have 
 been investigating the stranded boat in the hope of 
 finding something in it worth while eating. 
 
 The four boys jumped ashore, but they made sure 
 to carry the guns; and as Max took possession of 
 his weapon, Steve, who had loaned his to the other 
 
 71 
 
72 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 couple, armed himself -with, the hatchet, which he 
 gripped in a determined manner. 
 
 " Seems to be peaceful like around here," he re- 
 marked, when fierce-looking hoboes failed to show 
 up to dispute their landing. 
 
 Max held up his hand to restrain the eagerness 
 of his chums. 
 
 " Wait up a bit, fellows," he said. " There may- 
 be tracks around here, you know, that would tell 
 us lots ; and we don't want to cover them up right in 
 the start." 
 
 " That's right, boys," remarked Steve. " Give our 
 trailer a chance to get his peepers on 'em, and then 
 we'll hear something drop. Say, there are tracks, 
 and heaps of 'em, Max. More'n one feller has been 
 here, I'm telling you." 
 
 "Yes, I've seen that already, Steve; and some- 
 thing more. Our chum was here ! " was the an- 
 nouncement Max made that thrilled the other three 
 boys. 
 
 "You know the mark of his shoes; don't you, 
 Max?" cried out Steve. "Sure, I've seen you ex- 
 amining mine, and laughed to think that if I ever 
 played a trick on you it'd be all day with me, be- 
 cause you'd just have to take one look at my spoor, 
 and know who did the job ; unless I was smart enough 
 to change shoes with somebody else. But Bandy- 
 legs has got on his broad-toed shoes, I can see from 
 here. He likes to call 'em his hunting boots, because 
 they come high and lace up halfway to his knees." 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP, 73 
 
 But Max was not idle while Steve vented his 
 opinion after this manner. Down on his hands and 
 knees he went, and began to examine the tracks he 
 found there. And fully confident in the ability of 
 their companion to decipher the secret that lay 
 back of those footprints, the other boys waited im- 
 patiently for his report. 
 
 In a few minutes Max had moved around and cov- 
 ered considerable ground. Then he arose, and his 
 chums clustered around hini immediately. 
 
 " Got it, have you, Max? " asked Steve. 
 
 " Bandy-legs has been here ! " said the other, posi-. 
 tively. 
 
 " Hurrah ! That's the first real proof we've run 
 across that he did come into the old swamp. And 
 I take it, then, that this must be his boat ! " Owen 
 remarked, exultantly. 
 
 " Oh, I knew that almost as soon as I could see 
 it at close quarters," announced Max, coolly. " I 
 had old Black Bob describe the boat he took away, so 
 I'd likely recognize it if ever we came across one 
 floating about in the swamp waters. You see it's 
 got a piece knocked out of the port side; I knew 
 about- that as well as some other things I find here, 
 all right" 
 
 " Huh ! " exclaimed Steve, " looks like an old heal- 
 ligator had got mad and chawed a bite right out of 
 the planks ; but, of course, they don't have such crit- 
 ters away up here, so it must have been in a smash- 
 
74, LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 np some time or other. Go on, Max ; sounds mighty 
 interestin', I'm telling you," 
 
 "There are the prints of three other pairs of 
 shoes here," continued Max. 
 
 " Three ! Whoop I and that stands for Ted, Shack, 
 and Amiel, as sure as you're bom ! " Steve burst out 
 with. 
 
 "I ought to know the style of track they leave 
 behind them," Max continued; "for I've made it a 
 point to notice such things. Never knew when it 
 might pay me to be able to tell who'd been doing 
 us a mean trick. Yes, the gang was here, and no 
 doubt about it." 
 
 " They had our chum held a prisoner, hang 'em 
 for a pack of cowards," grated the iadignant Steve. 
 " Three to one, and him a tenderfoot, too. If it 
 had been me, now, it mightn't have looked so bad; 
 because I'd fight at the drop of the hat, no matter 
 how it wound up. But Bandy-legs is a sorter peace- 
 ful chap, you know. He'd rather run than get in a 
 muss with that crowd." 
 
 " Well, that's just what I think he did," remarked 
 Max, quietly. 
 
 "Gee, whiz! how c'n you tell that?" demanded 
 Steve. 
 
 " There's one queer thing about all these tracks, 
 boys, that I want you to notice," Max went on to 
 say, pointing down at the ground. " Here and there 
 you can see the print of Bandy-legs' shoe aU by 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 75 
 
 itself. Lots of times you'll find one of tlie others 
 partly blotting Ms mark out. But you'U not find a 
 single case where Bandy-legs stepped on the print 
 of any of their shoes! Catch on?" 
 
 " That seems to say that he was here before they 
 landed," observed Owen, and as if to back his words 
 up Toby nodded his head violently. 
 
 " Oh, if that's so, Max," put ia Steve, apparently 
 disappointed, " why, they didn't have our chum a 
 prisoner at all, did they? " 
 
 "Not right here," came the reply. "Of course, 
 we don't know what happened afterwards. Ted 
 has been ia this swamp before, plenty of times, I 
 guess ; and might know how to go, so as to cut off 
 Bandy-legs' flight. You see, they didn't foUow him 
 far, because here they turned back agaia. Like as 
 not they just whooped after him, and scared the poor 
 fellow half to death with thinking he was pur- 
 sued." 
 
 " But, Max, they must have had a boat to come 
 here in? " remarked Owen. 
 
 " Well, I'd like to see anybody get very far around 
 in this swamp without that useful article," replied 
 Max. " Though from here on there may be more 
 or less land, and a smart native could pick his way. 
 They came in a boat, all right ; because, if you look 
 right here, you can see where it ran up on the shore, 
 and how they jumped out." 
 
 "Nothing could be plainer," announced Owen, 
 
76 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 after they had all taken a look at the marks which 
 the quick eyes of Max had discovered some time 
 before. 
 
 " Then, after they chased our chmn deeper in the 
 blooming old swamp, Ted and his crowd got in their 
 boat and paddled off again, did they? " asked Steve. 
 
 " That's what they did," answered Max ; " but 
 whether they just went home, or took a cut-off Ted 
 knew about, so as to head Bandy-legs in his way 
 through that toughrlooking place over there, we don't 
 know." 
 
 " B-b-but why wouldn't B-b-bandy come b-b-back 
 when they were g-g-gone ? " Toby up and asked. 
 
 " Just what was on my mind," added Owen. 
 
 " That's where we've got to make a guess of it 
 again," Max replied. " First, we all of us know what 
 a blunderer Bandy-legs is, as a rule. And if he 
 was really and truly frightened by what they called 
 out when they were paddling after him, so as to 
 just make him go ashore, he'd keep on running and 
 wading till he thought he'd put a whole lot of dis- 
 tance between himself and Ted's lot. And, boys, it 
 would take a far better woodsman than our poor 
 chum will ever be to find his way back to where he 
 left his boat, once he lost his bearings ! " 
 
 The others exchanged serious looks at this state- 
 ment, for they knew deep down in their hearts that 
 it must be true. 
 
 "Why, don't I know what a greenhorn always 
 does when he finds himself lost?" declared Steve, 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 77 
 
 with a gloomy shake of his head. " He thinks he 
 knows where he's heading for; but every time he 
 keeps bearing away to the left. "Why is that so, 
 Mas?" 
 
 " Well, lots of people have tried to figure it out, 
 and they seem to believe it comes from our right 
 side being stronger than the left, because we use it 
 more. But, then, when left-handed people are lost, it 
 strikes me they act in just the same way. So what 
 are you going to believe? I only know that it's so. 
 And if anybody realizes that they're lost on the 
 prairie or in a big woods, they must fight constantly 
 against that failing. Best way is to lay out a line 
 straight on, by using trees or something as guide 
 posts, and keep pushing it ahead as you go. But, 
 fellows. Bandy-legs didn't know enough to do that." 
 
 "That's what!" declared Steve. "He was a 
 greenhorn, all right. And for the longest time he's 
 been wondering what would happen to him if ever he 
 should be so unlucky as to get lost. He knows now ! " 
 
 "Don't you think, Mas," said Owen, "that Ted 
 knew he couldn't ever find his way back here 
 again? " 
 
 " I'm dead sure of it," answered the one addressed, 
 " and I'll tell you why I think so. They would never 
 have left his boat ashore here if they dreamed he 
 could get back again. It would be so easy to give 
 it a push, and let the wind blow it away into soma 
 comer, where nobody would find it again." 
 
78 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 " Just my idea, and that's why I asked you," Owen 
 continued. 
 
 "P'r'aps they woke up to the fact that they'd 
 sent the poor chap to his death, and it scared 'em 
 somewhat," Steve suggested. 
 
 "Well, it would take a whole lot to wake that 
 bully up to anything, I think," was what Owen re- 
 marked. " It seems queer that wherever we go we 
 have to take him into consideration, and figure about 
 meeting his attacks, some way or other. There's 
 going to be a big reckoning some day, though. Per- 
 haps it may be closer than any of us know right 
 now." 
 
 " If so be they've made our poor chum lose him- 
 self in Dismal Swamp, and he comes to any harm, 
 they're going to pay the fiddler, believe me," and 
 Steve clenched his fist when saying this, as though 
 fully aroused. 
 
 Max was evidently trying to figure out what their 
 next move should be. An error in judgment at this 
 point might cost them dear later on; so that what- 
 ever they did, they must be sure they were right 
 before acting. 
 
 To go back was impossible. The boats must be 
 abandoned at this poiat, since they apparently could 
 be of no further use to the trackers. Bandy-legs 
 had gone into the dense swamp right there, and, so 
 far as indications went to prove, he had not come 
 out of it again. Hence their duty lay in that direc- 
 tion. 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 79 
 
 Again were the other three depending on the judg- 
 ment of Max Hastings to lead them aright. Strange 
 how much dependence they seemed to place in him ; 
 and it was not because Max was any older than his 
 chums ; but he happened to possess a bold, resolute 
 nature, that could not be easily daunted, and was 
 ready coolly to grasp the horns of any difficulty. 
 
 Then, besides, the previous practical experience 
 which the boy had had along these very lines was of 
 great value to him now. He knew how to do many 
 things that were as sealed books to his companions. 
 And once in the wilds, Max understood many things 
 connected with the secrets of Nature; as, for in- 
 stance, the ways of the fur-bearing little animals to 
 be met there; how to follow a trail; the signs of 
 storms that might be brewing; how to progress in 
 a straight line in pitch darkness; and dozens of 
 other points invaluable to one who expects to be in 
 the woods any length of time. 
 
 Steve anticipated what was bound to happen, even 
 if he could not boast of much woods lore. He went 
 over to the boat, and began to pass out the lantern 
 and some of the food that had been made up in 
 small packages, so that it could be better stowed 
 away without getting under their feet as they moved 
 about while pushing or punting the craft. 
 
 And Toby, understanding what was about to take 
 place, hastened to follow his example by relieving 
 the second boat of its cargo, which he piled up on 
 the shore. 
 
80 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 " That's rigM, fellows," commented Max. " We've 
 got to try to follow Bandy-legs the best way we can, 
 though I'm afraid it's going to knock my little 
 knowledge of trail finding to flinders. I never tried 
 to chase after anybody throngh a swamp before this 
 occasion, and I can see what trouble it's botmd to 
 give US. But, then, we can give a whoop every little 
 while, and if he's in a condition to answer, why, 
 we'll get track of him sooner or later." 
 
 Somehow there was that in what Max said to 
 make the others feel xmeasy. Usually he was so 
 confident that his manner buoyed up their drooping 
 spirits wonderfully; but to hear Max talk in this 
 way looked bad. Of course it was the old swamp 
 that influenced him more than anything else. It was 
 gloomy enough to discourage anybody, Owen be- 
 lieved, as he looked around, and thought of poor 
 Bandy-legs adrift in such a place, trying to find a 
 path that was above water, and every little while 
 slipping down some treacherous bank, to only pull 
 himself out again with the greatest difficulty. 
 
 And it had been more than twenty-four hours now 
 since he left that boat ; a terribly long time for any- 
 one to be wandering around in that dangerous zone 
 of mud and water, snakes and wildcats, with muck 
 beds waiting to engulf him at every turn. 
 
 In almost absolute silence, and looking exceeding- 
 ly grave, the four boys divided the various packages 
 among them, and prepared to start out upon the traU 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 81 
 
 left by Bandy-legs when he fled before the derisive 
 shouts and threats of reckless Ted Shafter and his 
 two equally cruel companions the day before. 
 
 Steve took occasion to mark the time. 
 
 It was just four o'clock ! 
 
CHAPTEE Vn. 
 
 THE PEEILS THAT LAY IN WAIT. 
 
 " Abe we ready to go now? " asked Owen. 
 
 " Just wait a minute more," answered Max; " and 
 I'll have my bearings pretty well fixed ; so that if we 
 want to come back here to the boats, I reckon I can 
 show the way." 
 
 "Well, what a lot of ninnies the rest of us are, 
 to be sure," declared Steve, " to think that we were 
 all ready to light out of this, and never know how 
 we'd ever get back again." 
 
 " I was j-j-just noticin' that t-t-tree over there," 
 declared Toby, pointing to a queer-shaped growth 
 that, once seen, could never be forgotten. "And 
 s-s-sayln' to myself that the b-b-boats were o-o-close 
 by it." 
 
 " Yes, that'd be all good enough if we happened to 
 prowl around this quarter some time or other; but 
 it wouldn't lead us back," affirmed Steve. " Now, 
 Max, he's getting the points of the compass straight 
 in his head; and ten to one he's made the cutest little 
 map in his mind, marking just where this spot is. 
 And if we want to come back he'll take us here 
 straight as the crow flies, believe me." 
 
 82 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 83 
 
 " Oh, hardly that," said the person in question. 
 " But I do believe I could find it again later on. 
 Ready now, fellows; let's be going." 
 
 With Max in the lead, Steve and Toby following 
 next in line, loaded with the various packages, and 
 Owen bringing up the rear, carrying a gun and two 
 lanterns, the little party of rescuers started along 
 the plain trail left by the fleeing Bandy-legs. 
 
 For a brief time even those entirely unused to 
 such work could plainly see the footprints left by the 
 broad-toed shoes of the lost chum. Once or twice 
 they lost the trail; but Max did not seem to have 
 any difficulty keeping straight on. 
 
 " Eight here," he remarked presently, " Bandy- 
 legs came to his first stop, and listened to see if he 
 was still pursued. Then, thinking that they might 
 be coming, even if he couldn't notice the fact, or 
 scared by some sound of a moving animal near by, 
 he once more started off." 
 
 " On the run again? " asked Owen. 
 
 " On the run," was the ready response. " You 
 can see from the way the toe of his shoe pushes hard 
 into the ground that he was running. That's easy, 
 dead easy. But I reckon that the next time he stops 
 he'll go off on a walk." 
 
 "But in following the firm ground he's already 
 mixed himself up, and got twisted all around, though 
 perhaps he didn't thiok so right here," suggested 
 Owen. 
 
 42 
 
84 LOST IN TPIE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 "All Bandy -legs was thinking about was to get 
 beyond the reach of those three old enemies who had 
 shouted out all sorts of nasty threats as to what 
 they meant to do to him, now that they had caught 
 him alone. We happen to know that, generally 
 speaking, only one idea at a time could push through 
 Bandy-legs' brain. Later on, when he found that he 
 wasn't being chased, he'd rest a while ; and then try 
 to go back to where he'd left his boat. But by then 
 he wouldn't know any more than a four-year-old 
 which way to head, and chances are he'd go in just 
 the exact wrong direction." 
 
 Once more they started off, and for a little while 
 followed the trail. Then Max announced that the 
 weary Bandy-legs had dropped into a walk, as the 
 signs proved. Five minutes afterwards, he said the 
 fugitive had again halted. 
 
 " Hearing no signs of pursuit," Max explained, 
 "he stood here a little to get his breath. Then he 
 walked over and sat down on that old log. See, 
 here's the mark of his feet alongside to prove it. 
 Now, of course, I don't know just how long Bandy- 
 legs stayed here. Getting rested after a bit, he con- 
 cluded that he could work back by another track. 
 Perhaps he feared those fellows might be laying for 
 him, and that if he tried to follow his own trail, as 
 he should have done, of course, they'd just jump 
 out on him, and pummel him dreadfully." 
 
 Max showed them where the fugitive had walked 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 85 
 
 off, and it was at right angles to the course over 
 which he had come to that spot. That was where 
 he made his first big blunder. Once he became in 
 the slightest degree mixed up over the points of the 
 compass, and in that terrible place, Bandy-legs would 
 be as helpless as a babe. 
 
 Half-past four Steve had noted as the time, and 
 he was surprised to find how great a change seemed 
 to be coming over the scene. 
 
 Under such a dense canopy of leaves and branches 
 even at noon there was apt to be something of a 
 dimness about things; and as the afternoon wore 
 along this uncertain light became more and more 
 pronounced. 
 
 " Say, 'twont be long now before it gets dark," 
 Steve announced, as they walked along in single 
 file, like a party of Indians on a trail. 
 
 " Poor Bandy-legs ! " muttered Owen, showing 
 where his thoughts were straying ; " and to think 
 this will be his second night here alone in such an 
 awful place." 
 
 " And with not a single bite to eat," added Steve ; 
 " that's the worst punishment you could put on 
 Bandy-legs, believe me, fellows. Of course, all of 
 us like to eat; but he's a little more bent that way 
 than the rest. Twenty-four hours and hungry all 
 the time ! It's too terrible to mention, that's what." 
 
 " If it keeps on getting darker all the while we'll 
 have to light one of these lanterns soon," Owen 
 stated. 
 
86 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 " Not yet," Max observed, quickly. " Save all the 
 oil you can. We may need every drop of it before 
 we're out of this scrape. I can see all right, and 
 will for some time yet. The trail is plain, because, 
 you see, Bandy-legs never once thought anybody 
 would be trying to track him. And even if he had, 
 he wouldn't know how to hide things." 
 
 " Jupiter, look here what I found ! " 
 
 Steve, while saying this, made a sudden dive into 
 the side bushes, and reappeared holding up some- 
 thing with his disengaged hand; as he had tied the 
 packages of food to his back for the most part with 
 the cord that bound them. 
 
 " A o-c-cap I " cried Toby. 
 
 " It's his, all right," remarked Max, smiUug. " Let 
 me look at it, Steve." 
 
 " But what's this dark mark on it, I say? " ex- 
 claimed Steve, and immediately adding in a horri- 
 fied tone : " Oh, I believe it must be a Blood spot, 
 boys! Something's happened to our poor ehimi. 
 P'r'aps he met up with one of those wildcats that 
 Black Bob says he's heard yowling in the swamp 
 lately." 
 
 "No, I don't believe that happened," returned 
 Max, sturdily. "Anyhow, the trail doesn't say so. 
 It runs on smoothly, and if there'd been a sort of 
 rumpus you may be sure we'd see the signs of a lot 
 of kicking arouad." 
 
 " But how would he lose his cap, then? " asked 
 Owen. 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 87 
 
 " Oh, that might happen easily enough," replied 
 the other. "He might have passed under some 
 creepers like these right here, and, not stooping far 
 enough, they just picked his cap off as neat as you 
 please. And Bandy-legs, I reckon, never knew it 
 till later on when he put his hand to his head." 
 
 " Guess you're about right there," observed Steve. 
 " I've had my cap taken off my coco, and never knew 
 it at the time. But that don't explain about this 
 nasty stain. Max. Do you think it is dried blood 
 for a fact?" 
 
 " Yes, I do ; but the chances are Bandy-legs must 
 have scratched his hand on some thorn, and it bled 
 a little. Let's hope that accounts for the stain, any- 
 how. From this point on he seems to be walking 
 fairly strong; though now and then he wabbles a 
 little, like he might be getting tired." 
 
 " How'd it do to give a yell about now? " suggested 
 Steve. 
 
 " All right ; let her go, then," Max replied. 
 
 Accordingly Steve shouted several times, and they 
 listened carefully in the hope of catching some sort 
 of response, however faint. But after waiting a full 
 minute all were compelled to confess that they heard 
 nothing but the murmur of the dying breeze up 
 among the tall tree tops, or the caw of a passing 
 crow. 
 
 " No use," admitted the discouraged Steve. " He 
 ain't within half a mile of us right now; or if he 
 
88 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 should be, poor old Bandy-legs ain't in a condition 
 even to call out. And he'd sure know my yell all 
 right, if he heard it." 
 
 " I was just thinking," ventured Owen, " about 
 that stain on the cap. Perhaps the rest of you will 
 remember that often Bandy-legs used to get the 
 nosebleed when in school." 
 
 "Why," said Steve, quickly, "I've known him 
 to get excused by the teacher as many as eight or 
 ten times to go out to the pump and use the cold 
 water. It got to be a regular trick with him when 
 he got tired sittin' there." 
 
 "The excitement and his warm run may have 
 brought on an attack like he used to have a year or 
 two ago," continued Owen. 
 
 " I believe you're about right," Max declared, ap- 
 provingly ; " and, as I said, there was nothing hap- 
 pened to him, anyhow, for he walked away from that 
 spot just as spry as anything. You can see for 
 yourself that, outside of a limp with his left leg, he 
 seems to be getting on first rate up to now." 
 
 " What's that, a limp with his left leg? " burst out 
 the incredulous Steve. " Say, are you just giving 
 us a little taffy, there. Max, or can you sure tell that 
 from the tracks ? " 
 
 " I wish I didn't need to expect anything harder 
 ahead of us," answered the other, calmly. " Per- 
 haps you can understand it if I show you. It's only 
 a simple little thing in trailing, after all. Look here, 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 89 
 
 and you can see that the marks of his two feet are 
 different. See how the left one bends more than the 
 right. That shows he was trying to ease the strain 
 on his left foot; either meaning to do it or just 
 naturally limping because walking came easier that 
 way. He must have strained his left foot or leg 
 when he ran so hard, and tumbled several times, as 
 we saw from the marks." 
 
 " That sounds good to me ! " muttered Steve ; al- 
 though he looked qneerly at Max and shook his head, 
 as though hardly able to understand how any boy 
 could figure out such a difficult problem. 
 
 But, then, to the tyro in the woods all signs are 
 bewildering, just as the printed page of a book must 
 ever be to the ignorant and uneducated mind. 
 
 " Well, it isn't so bad as you might think," Max 
 went on ; " for if he's lame, Bandy-legs is the more 
 apt to hold up soon, and spend his first night in a 
 swamp; in a tree, I rather guess." 
 
 " Why a tree I " questioned Owen. 
 
 "Well, that always seems to be the safest place 
 in the mind of a tenderfoot, if ever he finds himself 
 compelled to sleep alone in the woods. Somehow, I 
 reckon he just thinks nothing can get at him up there. 
 But it makes a mighty hard seat; and, as for me, 
 I'd prefer my rest on the ground." 
 
 "It's g-g-getting mighty dark, I tell you," com- 
 plained Toby. " Think she's g-g-going to s-s-storm, 
 Max?" 
 
90 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 " Oh, I hope not, for that would be the limit," was 
 the reply. " As we can't see the sky any to speak of, 
 we've got to guess about it. But I think the sun is 
 shining up yonder still, though we don't see it. When 
 you put on dark glasses everything looks brown, and 
 you think it must be going to rain; but take them 
 off, and it's all bright agaua. Well, that's the way 
 it seems when you're in a swamp. But we've just 
 got to go on, rain or no rain." 
 
 " I'm keeping that cap," remarked Steve ; " and I 
 only hope to see it stuck on the bushy head of hair 
 belonging to our chum again." 
 
 They continued along for some little time in si- 
 lence. All of them could readily see that there had 
 grown to be a decided change in the aspect of their 
 surroimdings. 
 
 " This is what I call fierce going," mumbled Steve, 
 as he came very near slipping into one of the slimy 
 pools that seemed to lie all around them ; and indeed 
 would have fallen in only for the grip Owen gave 
 him from behind. 
 
 " And you have to duck your head to keep from 
 getting choked by the vines and creepers that hang 
 from the trees," remarked Owen from the rear. 
 " Twice now I've seen Toby get his neck in a twister 
 that hung down just like a rope." 
 
 The party mentioned turned to grin at Owen. 
 
 " Huh," he remarked, " shows I ain't g-g-goin' to 
 be ever h-h-hung, anyway ! " 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 91 
 
 " I don't know about that," ventured Steve, " if I 
 was asked my opinion I'd likely say you knew you 
 were for a dead certainty, and was tryin' to see what 
 it felt like " ; and, having taken the gun from Owen 
 for a brief period, he moved up more closely to Max, 
 as if afraid that Toby would pummel him on the 
 back for saying such things about anyone connected 
 with the Jucklin family. 
 
 Even this small circumstance was fated to have 
 an important bearing on events yet to follow, show- 
 ing that trifles sometimes occupy a place of their 
 own. 
 
 The move on the part of Steve brought h\m along- 
 side the leader, and for a few minutes he thought 
 he might as well keep Max company. Perhaps some 
 new feature connected with the trail might arise; 
 and Steve's interest in the work being done was 
 growing warmer the farther they advanced. 
 
 " Now we're coming to the worst of the who!? 
 trip," announced Steve, as he noticed the dense 
 brush ahead, through which they would in all proba- 
 bility find themselves compelled to pass. 
 
 It was actually getting dark now. Steve even 
 found that he had to lean over in order to see the 
 marks left by the lost chum. 
 
 He was in this half -bent attitude, and paying little 
 heed to what might lie ahead of them when all of the 
 boys were electrified by hearing one of the most 
 vicious snarls that could be imagined. And Steve, 
 
92 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 looking up hurriedly, saw something that gave him 
 quite a shock. 
 
 " Wow ! " he exclaimed, almost in an awed whisper, 
 " a wildcat, and mad as thunder in the bargain ! 
 Watch me riddle him, will you ! " 
 
CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 FROM BAD TO WOBSE. 
 
 " Hold on, Steve ! " said Max, quickly. 
 
 " But look at the critter crouching there, Max ; 
 sure he means to jump at us like a house a-fire ! " 
 protested the other, who was trying to get his gun 
 in position; a task that was not so easy as it seemed, 
 because of the many packages which hung from the 
 boy's baok, and which interfered with the free use 
 of his arms. 
 
 " No, not y^t a while," Max continued, in a low 
 tone. " I ought to know something about the habits 
 of the animals. You see he's been making his sup- 
 per on something there in the bushes, and objects to 
 being disturbed by a lot of boys." 
 
 " Oh, Bandy-legs ! " gasped Steve, turning white. 
 
 " Not a bit of it," Max hastened to declare, know- 
 ing that be had unconsciously given the other a shock. 
 " A rabbit, or some small animal that he's been able 
 to pull down. But that cat's a fighter from away 
 back, and he don't mean to sneak away, not if he 
 knows it" 
 
 " But, Max, we oughtn't to try and go around, 
 had we?" pleaded Steve, aggressively. "Just be- 
 
 93 
 
94 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 cause a measly old bobcat chooses to block the trail, 
 do we have to eat humble pie, and crawl? Let me 
 show you how I can nail him. Why, at such a short 
 distance my load of shot will be just the same as a 
 big bullet." 
 
 "I know; but that's a dangerous beast, and we 
 can't afford to take any chances with him, Steve. 
 Let a wounded cat get in among us, and he'd do 
 some tall gouging and scratching before we could 
 knock him on the head. They're hard to kill, too, 
 that way." 
 
 " But what are you going to say about it. Max? " 
 asked the other, as if almost tempted to take the 
 reins in his own hands for once and let drive. 
 
 " We'll both fire at once, and make sure of him. 
 And you do the counting, Steve, one, two, three, and 
 let go at three. Then everybody jump aside because 
 he might leap even if he has a fatal wound. You 
 know that a cat is said to have nine lives. Now, 
 start in, Steve." 
 
 Slowly the two boys had raised their shotguns 
 until they covered the crouching form of the savage 
 beast. The wildcat certainly did look to be a dan- 
 gerous customer right then and there. With his 
 ears laid back, and the long hair on his neck stand- 
 ing up, while his yellow eyes were blazing with con- 
 centrated venom, he seemed to dare the boys to chase 
 him away from his meal. 
 
 " One ! " said Steve, as he laid his cheek close to 
 the stock of his gim. 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 95 
 
 " Two ! " he went on, caressing one of the triggers 
 with his trembling forefinger. 
 
 " Three ! " 
 
 " Bang ! " 
 
 It seemed like one shot, so nearly together did 
 the two guns go off. And remembering the wise 
 advice Max had given, every one of the four boys 
 instantly threw himself aside in some sort of fash- 
 ion. 
 
 Max had a faint glimpse of some of the contor- 
 tions through which his chums passed in carrying 
 out this part of the programme ; and afterwards de- 
 clared that he would give a great deal to have been 
 able to catch a photograph of the bunch with their 
 heels in the air, arms flying, and packages strewing 
 the ground. 
 
 Nothing happened either, that is, nothing that was 
 calculated to cause them any concern. Something 
 was evidently wrong with the wildcat, if one could 
 judge from the scratching and snarling and bounc- 
 ing that was going on in the quarter where he had 
 just been seen, crouching so ferociously. 
 
 Steve, after taking a couple of rolls, managed to 
 scramble up on one knee. Here he brought his gun 
 forward, for he had clung tenaciously to the double- 
 barrel through it all, and drew back the hammer. 
 
 " Hold your fire, Steve," came from behmd him. 
 " He's as good as done for, no need of wasting any 
 more good powder and shot on that beggar," and, 
 looking back, Steve saw that Max was on his feet. 
 
96 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 ready to shoot the second barrel if he had deemed 
 it necessary. 
 
 Even Owen and Toby came to time about then. 
 
 "Is it all over!" asked the former, poking his 
 head out of the bnsh into which he had scrambled so 
 hastily. 
 
 " All bnt the shoutin'," replied Steve, pleased to 
 think that he had been concerned in the disposal 
 of so savage a beast as the one that had disjjuted 
 their right to any forward progress. 
 
 The wildcat now gave a last kick. Evidently he 
 had gone hence, and would never again attempt to 
 bar the way of the hxmian race. 
 
 " iShucks, we had all them gymnaBtics for noth- 
 in' ! " grunted Steve, as he tenderly caressed a bump 
 on the back of his head, where it had evidently tried 
 conclusions with an exposed root of a treei, and with 
 painful results, not to the root, though. 
 
 "All the same, it was a wise thing to do," re- 
 marked Owen, making his appearance a^gain, and 
 commencing to collect his scattered packages. " I've 
 heard a lot about what terrors these cats are, once 
 wounded. Why, if that fellow had ever got in our 
 midst, he'd have clawed us into ribbons. Oh, yes, 
 I'll remember to do that side-stepping business again, 
 if the time ever comes when I run foul of another 
 cat." 
 
 " If a feller could only pick out a soft pla>ce to 
 fall on, it wouldn't be so bad," complained Steve. 
 
 Toby had apparently been lucky in choosing his 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 97 
 
 tumblitig ground, for he was grinning at Steve, and 
 not showing any signs of wear and tear. 
 
 He calmly took out a long-bladed hunting knife, 
 with which he had provided himself before starting 
 on the expedition. 
 
 "What you goin' to do with that?" demanded 
 Steve, suspiciously. 
 
 " D-d-don't you w-w-want to k-k-keep the c-c- 
 claws?" asked Toby, bending over the dead cat. 
 
 " Why, yes, I'd like to, just to show that our story 
 is true, if you c'n saw 'em off for m6, Toby," re- 
 plied Steve, mildly now. 
 
 " Sure," replied Toby, anxious to make some use 
 of his new knife; and having been wise enough to 
 give it a fine edge when he first bought it, there was 
 not the least trouble in cutting off the whole four 
 feet of the cat, with their terribly sharp claws, the 
 very feel of which made Toby shrug his shoulders, 
 as though he felt thankful he had not been raked by 
 those poisonous claws. 
 
 " I'd liked to have skinned the critter," mused 
 Steve, as he looked down at the victim of their 
 double fire; "but it'd take more time than we can 
 afford to spend right now. And, then, besides," he 
 added, " it got pretty well cut up with the two loads 
 we sent into the head. These'll have to do to re- 
 member it by. Do we go on again now. Max ? " 
 
 " Well, I don't see anything else to halt us," re- 
 plied the other, casting a quick look around him. 
 " Sometimes these animals hunt in pairs, and per- 
 
98 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 haps we'd best keep together a little. If the second 
 one came up, and found out what had happened, she 
 might chase after us for a little revenge. They're 
 fearless customers, some of 'em are, and especially 
 when mated ; or a mother with her cubs." 
 
 "I'm glad, then, that this wasn't a mother," re- 
 marked Steve, who really had a warm heart, as most 
 headstrong people have. " Because I'd hate to leave 
 any baby animal, even a wildcat, to starve to death." 
 
 Both boys had renewed the exploded shell in the 
 one used chamber of their guns. And neither of 
 them felt sorry that prudence bad dictated that they 
 fetch these handy weapons along with them. There 
 may be few occasions for using a gun in the middle 
 of summer; but when a time does suddenly arise, 
 the need of it is very urgent. 
 
 Now they were moving in as much of a little clump 
 as possible, with those who carried guns keeping 
 watch and ward, in order to make sure that nothing 
 in the way of a hostile animal approach without be- 
 ing discovered. 
 
 Since Max was having more difficulty in keeping 
 on the track of the fugitive, he handed over his 
 weapon to Owen. 
 
 In some places the walking was very bad indeed, 
 and they could plainly see where the boy whom they 
 were tracking had slipped into a few of the little 
 traps that lay in wait for unwary feet. 
 
 Still, he seemed to have been able to get along, 
 somehow ; and after Steve himself had gone in half- 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 99 
 
 way to his knees, where he thought he could find 
 firm footing, he was unable to longer keep back a 
 certaiQ fact that had been impressing itself on his 
 mind of late. 
 
 " Bully for Bandy-legs, that's what I'm saying, 
 fellows ! " he exclaimed, as he stopped to scrape 
 some of the oozy mud off his shoes with a stick; 
 " he's doing nobly for a greenhorn. Say, I feel like 
 taking off my cap to him. But I bet you he was 
 beginning to get scared about this time." 
 
 "Yes, for he knew now that he was lost," said 
 Max. 
 
 " How do you make that out? " asked Owen. 
 
 " He stopped every twenty feet and looked around 
 him," was the calm reply. " That was a sure give- 
 away sign of a lost boy. North and south and east 
 and west looked all alike to Bandy-legs just then. 
 Little he knew which way he was headed. And yet 
 what was the difference, when he didn't have the 
 slightest idea whether he could get out of the swamp 
 by keeping on in any direction ? So you notice, when- 
 ever he started up again, he took the easiest way. 
 That's why he changed his course six times in the 
 last hundred yards. That sort of work would keep 
 him going round and round in a circle till he dropped 
 from getting hungry and tired. 
 
 " What sort of sound is that I hear ? " asked Owen ; 
 " seems to me it's like running water. D'ye suppose 
 that's possible. Max? " 
 
 " Oh, it might be," replied the other. " All this 
 
100 LOST IN THE GEBAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 water must come from somewhere; and perhaps 
 we're near a little stream that flows down from a 
 small elevation to join the stagnant stuff around 
 us." 
 
 " Running water," groaned Steve, with a comical 
 shrug of his shoulders and a grimace; "blest if I 
 can hear anything else right along, except it might 
 be the falling walls of a house that the Dowdy fam- 
 ily used to live in. By now that water must be 
 through all the ceilings in the lower floor, and I bet 
 you they're smashing down like fim. Eunning wa- 
 ter ! Wow ! I'll never hear a brook go purling along 
 again without being haunted with these awful fan- 
 cies." 
 
 " "Well," said Max, trying to keep from smiling at 
 the manner of his chum, which was rather comical, 
 although Steve certainly did not mean it to be so; 
 " I wouldn't bother my head too much about that 
 business, Steve. Chances are you did turn the faucet 
 off ; and all this time things are as quiet and natural 
 around your place as they were when you left." 
 
 "It's nice of you to talk that way, Max, and I 
 appreciate it, too," declared the worried boy; "but 
 if I only knew. Why, honest now, I'd willingly give 
 every dollar that belongs to me in that nest egg we've 
 got in the bank from the sale of our pearls, if I could 
 be dead sure I turned that water off in the bathroom 
 before shooting out of the door. That's right; and 
 call myself lucky, too," 
 
 No one could say anything more to soothe Steve, 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 101 
 
 and so they had to remain silent, leaving him to 
 nurse his own grievances and reproach himself for 
 being so headstrong. But Ma^; knew very well that 
 it takes more than one swallow to make a spring; 
 and while Steve might make lots of promises, when 
 the ghost had been laid he would soon drift back 
 again to his old ways of rush and hurry and neglect. 
 " What's bred in the bone is hard to beat out of the 
 flesh " ; and Steve's father had always been just such 
 a quick-moving man as Steve was a boy. 
 
 Three times now one of them had sent out a loud 
 shout that should have been heard far away, and 
 brought an answer, if so be the lost boy understood 
 what it meant. It was Toby who suggested that 
 Bandy-legs might, upon hearing them yeUing, imag- 
 ine that Ted and his cronies still hunted for him; 
 and afraid to let them come up, he would keep on 
 plunging deeper iuto the depths of the swamp. 
 
 " I hardly believe Bandy-legs would be quite so 
 silly as that, Toby," Max had declared, after think- 
 ing it over. " In fact, the one great fear I have is 
 that something may have happened to the poor fel- 
 low last night; because, you remember, we haven't 
 come to where he stopped and roosted, waiting for 
 morning to come. Once he did hold up a spell, and 
 lay down on the ground at a place where it was dry. 
 Then, again, I showed you where he spent a little 
 time beside those blueberry bushes, picking a few 
 handfuls. That showed he was hungry, even then. 
 I reckon it was about three in the afternoon when 
 
102 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 lie did that. But he went limping and sliding on, 
 like his grit still held good." 
 
 Owen took something out of his pocket and held 
 it up. 
 
 " It's one of those two-barreled bicycle whistles, 
 and makes a tremendous sound," he observed. " Per- 
 haps, now, it might be heard even farther than a 
 human voice. Shall I try it, Max? " 
 
 " Couldn't do any harm, Owen," answered the 
 other indifferently; and so the owner of the double- 
 barreled whistle, that had a hoarse, rasping soimd, 
 blew as hard as he was able. 
 
 " Hurrah ! " cried Steve, suddenly showing signs 
 of new excitement ; " what's the matter with you fel- 
 lows ? Sure I heard an answer, faint like, and away 
 off; but if it wasn't poor old Bandy-legs tryin' to 
 let us know he heard, I'll — ^why, I'U eat my hat, that's 
 what." 
 
CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 Steve's swamp camp steb. 
 
 Natiteally enough, Steve's excitement communi- 
 cated itself in some measure to the other three 
 boys. 
 
 " Where did you hear it ? " asked Max, quickly. 
 
 " What did it sound like? " came from Owen. 
 
 " I t-t-think I heard s-s-something, too, that was 
 like a f-f -far-away c-c-call ! " declared Toby, eagerly. 
 
 " Wait till I shoot off the whistle again," Owen 
 continued, raising the little affair to his lips ; " and 
 then everybody listen for all you're worth." 
 
 No doubt each lad fairly held his breath as he 
 strained his hearing to the utmost in the endeavor 
 to catch the faintest reply. 
 
 "There! didn't you get it?" cried Steve. 
 
 " Sure ! " ejaculated Toby, not even bothering to 
 make a mouthful of the word, as he might usually 
 have done. 
 
 They turned to look at Max. Even Owen had a 
 hopeful expression on his face, for he, too, had 
 caught the faint sound. To their dismay, Max shook 
 his head sorrowfully. 
 
 " Only one of those miserable little swamp owls, 
 
 103 
 
104 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 • 
 fellows," lie said. " I've heard 'em too many tmies 
 
 to be fooled now. And you can see for yourselves 
 
 that it came from away off in that quarter, where 
 
 Bandy-legs wasn't heading at all." 
 
 " Too bad ! " muttered Owen, putting the bicycle 
 whistle back in his pocket again as useless. 
 
 " Seems like everything's going wrong when I get 
 in touch with it," grumbled poor Steve. " That 
 bathroom faucet was sure my hoodoo to-day. If I 
 only could remember just one little thing so I c'd 
 feel pretty safe about that, it'd make me feel a whole 
 heap better, I tell you." 
 
 " Now, what? " asked Owen. 
 
 " Juf t go on as we were doing," replied Max. 
 " Remember he's got a whole day to the good of 
 us, and that our only chance is to get close enough 
 upon him to make him hear." 
 
 " Say, perhaps he got out of the blooming old 
 swamp after all, and something else has happened 
 to our good chum. Bandy-legs? " suggested Steve, 
 suddenly. 
 
 " You're thinking now of what they told us about 
 hoboes sometimes making their headquarters in the 
 border of the Great Dismal Swamp, where they can 
 hide when the farmers get to looking around to see 
 what becomes of the chickens and hams they miss — 
 is that it, Steve?" 
 
 " Just what I had in my mind, Max," replied the 
 other. 
 
 " Could there be anything in that, do you think, 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 105 
 
 Max?" asked Owen, looking startled; for he had 
 heard a number of stories about these traveling 
 yeggmen, who were reaUy burglars in the disguise 
 of tramps, looking for banks in the country that 
 might be easily broken into and robbed. 
 
 " Why, it's always possible, of course," answered 
 Max ; " but we've no reason for believing that such 
 a thing happened to our chum. A greenhorn like 
 Bandy-legs might wander around in this place for 
 a week, and never know that lots of times he was 
 close to the edge of it. When he'd come to a cran- 
 berry bog he'd turn back. That's just what he 
 shouldn't do, for they lie all along the outer edge; 
 and if only he pushed through he'd be all right." 
 
 Once more they started along the trail which Max 
 managed to pick up. Dozens of times the other boys 
 would have been at a loss to decide just where the 
 footprints of the wanderer might be found, since 
 they seemed to disappear. At such moments it was 
 amusing to see how every one of them turned to 
 Max with the utmost confidence. They believed that 
 it would have to be a pretty difficult knot that the 
 other could not untie. 
 
 So night began to wrap the swamp in its black 
 mantle. 
 
 Soon Max found it so hard to see that he had to 
 call upon Owen to light one of the lanterns. And 
 with tiiis held close to the ground the little party 
 continued to creep along. 
 
 Progress was pretty slow under these circum- 
 
106 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 stances ; but the fact that they were able to make any 
 advance at all pleased the boys who followed Max. 
 
 Toby and Steve cast numerous glances around 
 them. They were really having their first real expe- 
 rience in a genuine swamp ; and there was something 
 so " spooky," as Steve called it, about the gloomy 
 surroundings that they could not but be influenced 
 more or less. Still, Steve, who was as bold as a lion, 
 would never give up the quest for the missing lad 
 because things happened to look so weird and " un- 
 canny." 
 
 All of them were more or less tired, and when, 
 after an hour of this slow work. Max announced 
 that the trail had become so faint that he was really 
 unable to follow it any longer by the poor light of 
 the lantern, they knew that a stop was inevitable. 
 
 Besides, they were hungry; and when a boy finds 
 himself in that condition, his first natural thought 
 lies in the direction of satisfying the inner man. 
 
 " Move we have a bully old fire I " announced 
 Steve, as soon as this decision on the part of the 
 trailer was made. 
 
 " S-s-second the m-m-motion ! " exclaimed Toby 
 Jucklin, promptly. 
 
 " Sure thing! " echoed Owen, dropping his bundles 
 to the ground with a sigh of relief ; though had there 
 been any real chance of coming up with Bandy-legs 
 he was ready to continue the tramping right along. 
 
 "And the sooner the better," was what Max de- 
 clared ; which settled the matter. 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 107 
 
 Steve and Toby scrambled around and gathered 
 some small wood, to which the first named applied 
 a match. Then, as it caught fire, they began to add 
 larger pieces, of which there was any quantity close 
 at hand, until presently there roared a splendid 
 camp-fire, that looked cheery indeed. 
 
 It had an apparent effect upon the spirits of all 
 the boys. Steve even forgot to grumble about that 
 dreadful mistake he had made earlier in the day, 
 when he bounced out of the Dowdy home without 
 bothertug his head to see whether he had turned off 
 the faucet in the bathroom or not. Perhaps, though, 
 the fact that they were about to break their fast had 
 something to do with the changed spirits of the 
 lads. 
 
 Fortunately there was water close by which they 
 could drink. The presence of a little gurgling stream 
 may have had something to do with the readiness 
 with which Max fell in with the proposition of his 
 comrades for a stop over, when the trail tempo- 
 rarily vanished. 
 
 Twice now they had come across either this same 
 stream, or another like it. Max admitted that it was 
 a swamp totally unlike any other in which he had 
 ever wandered. There were little elevated sections 
 of firmer ground along which a small creek would 
 come; and were an experienced hunter lost in this 
 maze of muck beds and big timber, he would know 
 that when he came across a running stream like this, 
 all he had to do would be to follow its upward course, 
 
108 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 and it would lead him to higher ground. But, then, 
 it was not to be expected that Bandy-legs ever 
 dreamed of doing such a thing. All he could do 
 when in a panic was to push on, just as the whim 
 seized him, trusting to luck to extricate him. 
 
 Soon the boys were seated around the blazing fire, 
 and engaged in the always delightful task of dimin- 
 ishing the food supply. 
 
 " Anyhow, we won't have quite such a load to carry 
 to-morrow," Steve announced, ae he reached for his 
 fourth sandwiclu 
 
 " She sure m-m-makes prime goods I " said Toby, 
 following suit; for, being a rather cautious fellow, 
 he had been waiting for bold Steve to lead off. 
 
 " All we have to think of is the fact that our chum 
 will be mighty hungry, when we do come upon him ; 
 and we must keep some stuff in reserve for Bandy- 
 legs," remarked Owen, looking longingly at the gin- 
 gerbread. 
 
 " I've got a package done up that isn't going to 
 be touched," said Max. " It's half a chicken, some 
 sandwiches, crullers, and a wedge of that gingercake, 
 enough to keep even a savage eater like our chum 
 alive untU we get out to where there are plenty of 
 eggs and things of that kind. But we must go slow 
 to-morrow, that's sure:" 
 
 " Yes, to-morrow, that's right," said Owen, with a 
 sigh of relief, as he landed a comfortable piece of 
 the brown spiced cake, and began mimching it with 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 109 
 
 a look of contentment on Ms face; for if there was 
 one thing Owen liked above aU others it was this. 
 
 After they had come to the end of their feast Steve 
 piled on more fueL 
 
 " Pr'aps he might see the reflection in the sky, 
 somehow," he said, while doing so, as if to excuse 
 the action; " and it'd give the poor fellow heart to 
 know his chums were lookin' for htm." 
 
 " Yes, of course, a greenhorn like Bandy-legs could 
 tell just by the glow above that Steve Dowdy built 
 that fire," chuckled Owen. 
 
 " Well," added the other, " maybe he'll remember 
 that Steve does like to have a bully old blaze when 
 he can ; amd that might give him some speck of com- 
 fort. Anyhow, it makes it look better around here. 
 You c'n see now that them hangiri', twisting things 
 ain't snakes, but just old vines and creepers. And 
 if any wildcat happens to want to pay us a visit, to 
 have revenge on us because we killed her mate, 
 why, we c'd see to take aim." 
 
 As there was no lack of fuel, and no possible 
 harm could come in letting Steve have his way in 
 this particular, Max only laughed. 
 
 " Say, w-w-what kind of trees are they r-r-round 
 here? " asked Toby, presently. 
 
 Max had noticed that he was staring hard in a 
 certain direction, and had just been about to ask the 
 meaning of his action when Toby put his ques- 
 tion. 
 
 " Oh, quite a few kinds," he replied. " The big 
 
110 LOST IN THE GREAT DISilAL SWAMP. 
 
 majority of those you see in the swamp are water 
 maples and oaks. Up on the little rises you can 
 find a bunch of beeches every little while, because 
 beech trees always grow in groups, and you seldom 
 run across a single one. Then I've noticed a few 
 walnuts, and even butternuts iu the lot; though it 
 isn't often you find that kind in a northern swamp. 
 There are other kinds, too. If it was away down 
 South, the majority would be cypress. But why do 
 you ask, Tobyf " 
 
 " I was wondering if any of 'em grew that queer 
 kind of fruit," and as Toby said this without a break, 
 he pointed off to the left. 
 
 " "Where! " asked Max, trying to follow the direc- 
 tion of the extended finger; and then all at once he 
 laughed. 
 
 " WeU, I declare ! " he exclaimed. 
 
 ' I see it, too," called out Steve ; " and it sure does 
 look Kke the funniest fruit I ever saw growing on a 
 tree. Say, Max, you know what it is ; so give us the 
 tip, won't you?" 
 
 "Pick up a torch and come closer," was aU the 
 other would say. 
 
 " Well, I'll declare, if it ain't some kind of animal 
 hangin' up there to that Umb by its rat taU ! " ex- 
 claimed Steve, when they had gathered about the 
 spot. 
 
 " 'Tain't a b-b-bat, because I've seen that k-k-kind 
 b-b-bef ore ! " said Toby, positively. 
 
 "Must be a 'possxun, fellows; though to tell the 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. Ill 
 
 honest truth I've never seen one hanging by its tail 
 like that," Owen remarked just then. 
 
 "That's right, it's a slick old 'possum!" cried 
 Steve, laughing heartily. " Look at the tricky critter 
 play dead, would you? Even when I poke him with 
 this stick he just keeps on hangin' there. I've heard 
 a darky say baked 'possum and sweet taters made 
 the finest dish going, and beat any suckling pig ever 
 known. What'U we do with this one, Max? " 
 
 " Well, by the way we feel right now, we certain- 
 ly can't eat him ; and in the morning there won't be 
 time to go to any bother ; so we'd best let him alone," 
 was the sensible reply of Max, who, under no condi- 
 tions, would be guilty of destroying game that could 
 not be used. 
 
 " What would he do if we took him down and put 
 him by the fire? " asked Steve. 
 
 "From what I've read about the animal,'' re- 
 marked Owen, " he'd lie there as quietly as if dead 
 until he thought no one was looking and then sneak 
 off. That's why we always say a fellow is playing 
 'possum when he's up to slick tricks." 
 
 " I've seen 'em do it more than once," Max put 
 in. 
 
 After playing with the hanging animal a little, 
 and failing to get it to show any signs of life, the 
 boys returned to the fire. Happening to glance up 
 that way not more than five minutes later. Max 
 laughed and called out : 
 
 " Look at your dead 'possum now, Steve! " 
 
112 LOST IN THE GEEAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 " Why, he's gone I " ejaculated the other, aston- 
 ished. 
 
 " That's right 1 " added Owen ; " he must have made 
 up his mind that we meant to have him baked later 
 on, and, as he didn't like the idea, he just watched 
 his chance and skipped out without even saying 
 good-by." 
 
 " M-m-my, ain't he the o-o-cute one, though 1 " 
 grinned Toby. 
 
 " Makes me thinlr of some fellers I know," re- 
 marked Steva 
 
 "That's r-r-right," Toby instantly cut in with; 
 "Amiel, Pr instance," 
 
 " He's the very one I had in mind," admitted the 
 other, with a nod. ''When Amiel Toots flings a 
 paper wad across the room at school he's reading 
 his book before the wad lands, and looks as inno- 
 cent as an angel. Talk about playin' 'powum, he's 
 got 'em all beat a mile." 
 
 " Now, I always thought Ted Shafter was a pretty 
 good hand at making out to be dead to the world 
 when things were being investigated after he'd 
 played hob all around," Owen observed. 
 
 "Wonder just where poor old Bandy-legs c'n be 
 right now, and if he had enough sense to carry 
 matches along with him when he went out fishin'^ " 
 Steve remarked some time later, after he had yawned 
 as though sleepy. 
 
 " He told me once that he was never again going 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 113 
 
 to be without a supply of matches when away from 
 home," Owen declared. 
 
 " Well, if he had any along with him, they must 
 have been soaked and made useless when he slipped 
 into the water, as we know he did lots of times," Max 
 suggested. 
 
 " You say that because we haven't seen any sign 
 of fire around; isn't that so, Max? " demanded Steve. 
 
 "Well, I've looked the best way I could, seeing 
 how we're surroxmded by trees, and I couldn't find 
 the least sign of any fire anywhere," was the reply 
 Max made. " Still, we have to remember that Ban- 
 dy-legs mightn't think to pile on the wood like you 
 do, Steve. He isn't such a fire worshiper either. 
 And that might account for our not getting a glimpse 
 of his blaze." 
 
 " Well," went on warm-hearted Steve, " I only 
 hope the poor old feller is in a condition to enjoy a 
 blaze as much as I am. But, look here, Max, how do 
 we expect to sleep to-night ? We haven't got our tents 
 and blankets along; and it's going to be roughing 
 it for sure this time." 
 
 " I was just going to say we'd better get our beds 
 ready," replied the other. "We've got a hatchet, 
 and with that it won't take long to cut some of this 
 nice hemlock, which makes the best bed you ever 
 saw. If we keep the fire going a little all night we 
 won't feel the cold any to speak of, I reckon." 
 
 "Yum, yum, a hemlock snooze for me," said 
 Steve, reaching over for the hatchet, so as to get 
 
114 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 busy without further waste of time. " I always did 
 like the smell of the stuff more'n I could say. If it 
 wasn't for a few things now I'd be as happy as a 
 clam; this job of findin' our chum is one, and then 
 you know there's that measly faucet business on my 
 nerves for another." 
 
 Max just at this moment felt a nervous little tug 
 at his sleeve; and, turning his head, found that it 
 was Toby, who in this way tried to draw his atten- 
 tion — Toby, who with sudden alarm in his face and 
 eyes, whispered : 
 
 " M-m-max, 1-1-listen I " 
 
 " What's wrong, Toby? " asked the other, in a low 
 tone. 
 
 " I d-d-don't k-k-know," replied the stuttering and 
 trembling boy, as he bent his head still closer to that 
 of his chum; "b-b-but there's s-s-somebody b-b-be- 
 hind that b-b-big clump of b-b-bushes over there 
 a-w-w-watchin' us I" 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE WATCHEE BEHIND THE BUSHES. 
 
 " Don't point that way 1 " hissed Max, as he 
 thought he saw Toby about to raise his hand with a 
 finger extended. " And try to look natural, just like 
 nothing was the matter." 
 
 "B-b-but what c-c-can we do, Max?" asked the 
 other, in sore dismay. 
 
 " No hurry," replied Max. " First we want to let 
 Owen and Steve know about it. Perhaps after all it 
 might turn out to be another 'possum or a 'coon peek- 
 ing in at us." 
 
 " N-n-not on your life, it wasn't ! " Toby sent back. 
 " I s-s-saw him lookin' out, and it was s-s-sure a 
 h-h-human face, Max." 
 
 "See here, did you recognize it; was it our old 
 friend, Ted Shafter, or either of his shadows? " de- 
 manded the other. 
 
 " Huh ! I c-c-couldn't s-s-say for sure. Max. You 
 s-s-see, there's a s-s-shadow over there. But it was 
 a f-f -feller's f-f-face, all right." 
 
 " Steve ! " said Max, in an ordinary tone. 
 
 " Hello ! " came back from the one addressed, who 
 was industriously lopping off the lower branches of 
 
 44 115 
 
116 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 a thick hemlock tree that chanced to grow close by 
 the camp. 
 
 " Come here, and bring your hatchet ; I want to 
 ask you something; you, too, Owen," continued Max. 
 
 So, a few seconds later, the four heads were close 
 together. 
 
 " Now, be careful both of you, and don't give the 
 thing away," cautioned Max, in his low voice ; " but 
 Toby, here, has made a startling discovery. Fact 
 is, we're being watched by somebody ! " 
 
 " Wow, like as not one of them hoboes that live in 
 the swamp ! " muttered Steve, as usual quick to jimip 
 at conclusions. 
 
 "Perhaps not," observed Owen, calmly; "if any- 
 body's having a look-in on us right now, I'd think it 
 might be Ted Shaf ter." 
 
 " Where is he at; up in a tree like our 'possum? " 
 Steve went on. 
 
 " Oh, no, but lying behind that big clump of bushes 
 back of you, Steve," Max went on to remark. " Now, 
 be careful, and don't give it away that we know he's 
 there." 
 
 " But I must lay hands on my gun, don't you see? " 
 expostulated Steve, as he willingly transferred the 
 hatchet into the keeping of Owen. 
 
 " Well, just saunter that way, and when I give the 
 word pounce on it," Max remarked ; " but, Steve, no 
 snap action now. We can't afford to wound anybody 
 without mighty good reason for it, understand? " 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 117 
 
 " Oh, I'm on all right, Max," said the other, in a 
 grumbling way. 
 
 He walked aside and bent down, as though inter- 
 ested in something ; as indeed was the case, for his 
 own shotgun lay there within reach of his eager 
 hand. 
 
 " Owen," continued Max, " when I give the word 
 you make a bolt around to the other side of the bush 
 clump, and threaten the fellow with your hatchet if 
 so be he tries to skedaddle. Toby, keep close to Owen, 
 and be primed to make a football tackle if you see 
 him starting to grab the watcher. All ready, now ! " 
 
 " L-l-let her go, Gallagher ! " exclaimed Toby. 
 
 " Come on, boys, surround the place I " 
 
 With these suggestive words Max suddenly leaped 
 to his feet, and darted off so as to get on one side 
 of the bushes; while Steve, having snatched up his 
 gun, hastened to occupy a position on the other side. 
 
 Since both Toby and Owen blocked escape in a 
 third particular place, it seemed as though they 
 must have something within the net. 
 
 " Surrender ! " exclaimed Max, leveling his gun at 
 what he took to be a moving object, that looked 
 darker than the surrounding shadows back of the 
 bushes. 
 
 " If you run we'U fill you full of birdshot ! " called 
 out Steve, who had also covered the suggestive spot. 
 
 " Please don't do that ! " came in a wonderfully 
 meek voice ; and then the shadows gave up a moving 
 figure that advanced toward Max. 
 
118 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 It seemed to be a little man, who held both hands 
 high above his head, as though he wanted his captors 
 to see that he did not have the slightest idea in the 
 world of either provoking them by an attack or an 
 attempted escape. 
 
 Max realized immediately that somehow neither of 
 the two theories they had formed seemed to be the 
 right thing. This was certainly not Ted Shafter; 
 and so far as a desperate hobo was concerned, no 
 one could imagine a greater contrast than this hum- 
 ble, frightened little man presented to that lawless 
 class of wanderers. 
 
 In fact. Max found himself ready to burst out into 
 a laugh. This was almost as funny as that strange 
 fruit Toby had discovered growing on a tree, and 
 which turned out to be a cunning opossum. 
 
 He had a hunted look in his eyes, however, did the 
 party whom they had now captured. And Owen, 
 seeing this, made up his mind that no doubt the little 
 man must have committed some crime, such as rob- 
 bing his own till ; and then, overcome with fear of the 
 result, had fled to the swamp. 
 
 Steve and Toby had been rather taken aback when, 
 instead of the desperate enemy they had expected to 
 appear from behind the bushes, this inoffensive look- 
 ing little man stalked into view. 
 
 He stood there with folded arms, and his attitude 
 told of utter despair. 
 
 " I want you to know, gentlemen," said the other, 
 with a gulp, " that I surrender to superior force. 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 119 
 
 It will not be at all necessary for you to threaten me 
 with your firearms. I yield myself a prisoner, and 
 will go back with you peaceably, although most re- 
 luctantly, I confess. Circumstances have been too 
 much for me, and this time the game didn't work. 
 But how was I to know she'd hire armed forces to 
 hunt forme? " 
 
 He deliberately sat down, and began to open a 
 wallet he carried slung across his shoulders. Out of 
 this he took some bread and ham, which he began to 
 munch with evident relish. 
 
 The boys looked at each other. None of them 
 could understand it in. the least as yet. Who this 
 queer little runt of a man was, and what crime he 
 had committed that compelled him to fly to the shel- 
 ter of the Great Dismal Swamp, were things utterly 
 beyond their grasp as yet 
 
 But as he did not seem to possess anything in the 
 shape of weapons, as far as they could see, and 
 seemed so utterly in their power, both Steve and Max 
 quickly allowed their guns to point toward the 
 ground. Even Owen opened his fingers and let the 
 hatchet drop, 
 
 " You're very much mistaken if you think we've 
 been hired by anybody to look for you," remarked 
 Max, bent on drawing the other out. 
 
 At that the little man looked up eagerly, his eyes 
 snapping with delight. 
 
 "Do you mean to tell me that for a fact?" he 
 asked, leaning forward, and addressing Max in par- 
 
120 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 ticular, as though, something told him he was the 
 leader of the quartet around him. 
 
 *' We are looking for our chum," Max went on to 
 say; "a boy who has been lost ia this swamp for 
 two days now. When one of our party discovered 
 you watchiug us we thought you might be a tramp. 
 That's why we carried on like we did." 
 
 "And she didn't send you out to look for me?" 
 contiaued the other, as though the biggest part of 
 his load might be slipping off his narrow shoulders. 
 
 " We don't know who you mean I " declared Steve. 
 
 To the surprise of his chums, Toby just at this 
 moment seemed to be seized with a convulsion of 
 laughter. Partly controlling his feelings the stut- 
 tering boy stepped forward and tried to address the 
 little man, though in his excitement he made rather 
 a sorry mess of it. 
 
 " S-s-say, ain't your n-n-name J-j-jones?" he 
 asked. 
 
 The little man nodded his head rather dejectedly, 
 as though, truth to tell, he were not incUned to be 
 very proud of the fact just then. 
 
 "J-j-julius C-c-caesar J-j-jones?" went on Toby. 
 
 " Alas ! that is a fact," the other admitted, sadly ; 
 " I was christened that by my adoring mother when 
 a squalling infant. I rather think it weighed too 
 heavily on me, for all my life I have lacked spirit 
 and fire and valor. Under almost any other name I 
 might have held up my end of the log ; but that was 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 121 
 
 too strong. People expected too much of me ; and I 
 failed 'em, I failed in nearly everything." 
 
 " What does it all mean, Toby? " demanded Steve, 
 impatiently ; for he never had the patience to solve 
 any riddle, and always wanted to look in the back of 
 the book for the answer. 
 
 Toby raised his hand almost as far as he could 
 above his head. 
 
 " Huh ! M-m-mister J-j-jones, he's g-g-got a w-w- 
 wif e, and she's that h-h-high ! " he observed, at which 
 the little man nodded his head approvingly. 
 
 " And wide in proportion, don't forget to state 
 that fact, son," he remarked, as he drew in a big 
 breath, and somehow cast a quick look around him, 
 as though fearful lest the lady in question suddenly 
 make her appearance on the scene to take him by the 
 ear and lead him home again. 
 
 " And, s-s-say," Toby went on, exultantly, " she 
 s-s-stutters worse'n I d-d-do ! " 
 
 " Only with her tongue, my boy, only with her 
 tongue," declared Mr. Jones between bites. " She 
 never hesitates a second with her hands. Fact is, 
 she's too handy," and he rubbed the side of his head 
 as he said this in a way the boys could understand. 
 
 Max had before now grasped the true inwardness 
 of the thing. He remembered having heard about a 
 small farmer named Julius Caesar Jones who had a 
 strapping big Amazon of a wife, and who was about 
 the worst henpecked man in the county. They used 
 to tell a good many funny stories about things that 
 
122 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 happened at his farm ; and he could remember hear- 
 ing his father laugh as he related several to his 
 mother. 
 
 Evidently, then, Mr. Jones and his wife must have 
 been having another little falling out; and being 
 afraid of punishment, the little man had taken to the 
 woods in order to hide until her anger had had a 
 chance to cool off, when he might find it safe to go 
 home again. 
 
 From what he had said. Max rather believed that 
 this was not the first time such a separation had oc- 
 curred. He seemed to have laid in a supply of pro- 
 visions, as if he meant to stay out for some little 
 time. Possibly he had some secret means of learn- 
 ing when his wife, being repentant, was longing to 
 see him again ; and perhaps for a time peace would 
 settle over the Jones home untU the next outbreak. 
 
OHAPTEE XI. 
 
 TED SHAPTEE'S WAY OF GETTING EVEN. 
 
 " This isn't the first time you've cut stick and run 
 away, Mr. Jones, is it? " asked impulsive Steve, who, 
 it seemed, had reached the same conclusion which 
 came to Max. 
 
 " Why, to be candid with you," replied the little 
 man, with about as near approach to a grin as his 
 Napoleon-like face was capable of showing, " it is 
 the third effort on my part to keep peace in the 
 Jones family. Both other times I remained away for 
 several days, until Hannah had gotten over her little 
 unpleasant feeling, and sent word through a mutual 
 friend that the storm had cleared the air. And for 
 a short time it was quite peaceful-like under our 
 roof — a short time." And he sighed, as he started 
 iu on a second wedge of ham and bread, some of 
 Hannah's bread, no doubt, which looked good and 
 white and firm to Max. 
 
 "How long have you been hiding out now?" 
 asked Owen, feeling considerable interest in the 
 queer little man who, despite his size, bore such a 
 wonderful name. 
 
 " This is the fourth day, my young friends, four 
 
 123 
 
124 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 long and weary days. And what nights, with the 
 mosquitoes bitiag, and the wild beasts creeping all 
 around me in this terrible swamp ! Still, one has to 
 do all sorts of things to keep peace; and it seems 
 to be my duty to camp out every little while." 
 
 " Well, if you're going to make a business of it," 
 suggested Steve, humorously, " why not build you a 
 nice little shack somewhere in the heart of this 
 swamp ; a sort of cyclone cellar, to which you could 
 retire whenever it stormed too lively? " 
 
 Max was afraid that the little man might become 
 annoyed, and show some signs of anger upon being 
 spoken to so familiarly as this; but to his surprise 
 the other seemed to take Steve's suggestion in quite 
 another mood. 
 
 " "Well, now, that is a clever idea, my friend," he 
 remarked ; " and I thank you for suggesting it to 
 me. Like as not this will become a regular habit 
 in 'time ; and if I must spend a good part of my days 
 in voluntary exile from my own roof, why, I might 
 just as well have a cozy retreat to which I could, 
 as you say, retire when the storm signals, are set. 
 But I fear Hannah would in the course of time track 
 me there, and my last condition would be far worse 
 than my first." 
 
 Every time he mentioned that name he had a way 
 of throwing a quick look over his shoulder. Max 
 knew from this that he lived in daily fear of the hot- 
 tempered Amazon who shared his home. 
 
LOST IN THE GEEAT DISMAL SWAMP. 125 
 
 Of course, now that they had received an addition 
 to their number, that should not really make any 
 especial difference in their plans. They could make 
 up their rude beds out of hemlock browse, and in the 
 morning say good-by to Mr. Jones, leaving him to 
 continue to play his hide-out game as long as his 
 food supply lasted, or until he had word that his 
 wife was in a softened mood, ready to welcome him 
 back home with open arms. 
 
 " Possibly, now, you might not object to doing me 
 a personal favor, when you find your friend, and go 
 out of this beastly swamp," the little man remarked, 
 as he fastened up his food wallet again, and mourn- 
 fully noted the fact that it was by now in rather 
 a flattened condition. 
 
 " If we can be of any assistance to you, Mr. Jones," 
 said Steve, " just let us know how. We're willing to 
 oblige, ain't we, fellows?" 
 
 " T-t-that's w-w-what," said Toby; " and specially 
 in the c-c-case of M-m-mister J-j-jones, 'cause his 
 wife, she s-s-stutters." 
 
 " Yes," added Steve, " and it must make him a bit 
 homesick, just to listen to you pound your words that 
 way, Toby. But go on, Mr. Jones, and tell us what 
 you'd like to have us do for you." 
 
 "Why, you might happen to see my wife, you 
 know, after you leave here," remarked the other, 
 calmly ; " and when she learned that you'd been in 
 the swamp, she'd want to know if you'd seen anything 
 
126 LOST IN THE GEEAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 of a little runt that hardly knew enough to get in out 
 of the wet when it rained. Of course you hadn't, I 
 expect that you'll let her understand that much, my 
 young friends; but suppose, when speaking, you 
 thought to enlarge upon the terrible things likely to 
 overtake a poor fellow, once he became lost in this 
 swamp ; it would touch her heart, and make her wish 
 her Julius were back home again." 
 
 " If we happen to see her we will be sure to enlarge 
 upon that subject, give you my solemn affidavy on it, 
 sir," Steve declared. 
 
 Max had conceived an idea that he thought it 
 would at least do no harm to follow out a little fur- 
 ther. If, as they understood, Jones had been dodging 
 about in the morass and among the cranberry bogs 
 for several days, was it not just possible that at some 
 time he might have had a fleeting glimpse of Bandy- 
 legs ? True, with his distrust of everybody he saw, 
 the man in hiding might not have thought it policy to 
 approach the boy and enter into conversation with 
 him ; but even if he had seen the other it would give 
 them new confidence. 
 
 Max determined to ask him without any more de- 
 lay. Jones had by this time come to look on them in 
 the light of friends, and not enemies, so that no doubt 
 he would be quite willing to tell anything he hap- 
 pened to Itnow along that line. 
 
 And so, having made up his mind with regard to 
 this, Max waited until Steve had stopped talking. 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 127 
 
 Then he turned to their strange and uninvited 
 guest. 
 
 " I was just thinking that perhaps you might be 
 able to do us a little good turn, Mr. Jones," he said, 
 at which the little man looked up briskly. 
 
 " I would be glad of the chance, son," he remarked. 
 " Once let me get back as the acknowledged head of 
 my family, even for a brief time, and I will be in a 
 condition to reward you as seems fit." 
 
 " Oh, rats, he don't mean anything like that, Mr. 
 Jones ! " burst out Steve, with a fine show of scorn. 
 
 " No, we would not accept any reward for simply 
 doing our duty to a fellow human being in distress," 
 Max went on, grandly. " But I was thinking that 
 since you've been knockiug about in this swamp sev- 
 eral days, sir " 
 
 " Six of 'em, my boy, six of the longest days I ever 
 knew; and, as to the nights, I dassent mention them," 
 interrupted the other, dejectedly. 
 
 " Well," continued Max, " do you happen to re- 
 member seeing any boy during the last day or so, 
 a fellow about my size, except that he's got very short 
 legs." 
 
 " And they're kind of bent a little, too," asserted 
 Steve, eagerly; not that he meant to make fun of 
 the absent chum, but wished to have Mr. Jones com- 
 prehend better the description Max had started to 
 give. 
 
 Hope instantly flashed into life within the breast 
 
128 LOST IX THE GREAT DISiL\L SWAMP. 
 
 of Max as lie saw the little man look up eagerly. In 
 that moment he almost expected they were going to 
 pick up certain information that in the end might 
 lead them to Bandy-legs. Then, as quickly the flame 
 died out again. Mr. Jones had shaken his head slow- 
 ly in the negative. 
 
 " I don't believe I can say I've seen a living soul 
 all the six days I've been suffering torments away 
 from the buzzom of my family," he started to say; 
 " but p'r'aps now I might have heard the boy you 
 speak about." 
 
 " Heard him yell, do you mean? " demanded Steve. 
 " Shucks ! bet you, now, that was us keeping up a 
 whoopin' and using Owen's old double-barreled bicy- 
 cle whistle." 
 
 Then the little man went on to say: 
 
 " Xo, I do not refer to that noise, which I heard 
 myseK during the afternoon just past, and feared 
 was made by a posse Hannah had hired to hunt for 
 me. This was something different, son." 
 
 " In what way? " asked Max. 
 
 " First of all it happened last night," replied Mr. 
 Jones. 
 
 " TVeU, that would come inside the boundary lines," 
 Steve remarked ; " because our poor chum was wan- 
 derin' around here somewhere then. He got lost 
 about noon ; and we've been f oUerin' his trail up to 
 dark." 
 
 " Please tell us what happened last night," asked 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 129 
 
 Max, hoping for the best, and yet on his guard not 
 to deceive himself with false assumptions. 
 
 Mr. Jones drew out a little old black pipe which 
 he proceeded to fill with tobacco from a pouch he also 
 produced. 
 
 " This has been the cause of most of my troubles," 
 he remarked, holding the pipe up and surveying it 
 ruefully. " Hannah, she don't like the smell of burn- 
 ing tobacco ; and as for me, I just revel in it. I have 
 to do most of my smoking outdoors. She won't even 
 let me enjoy myself in the bam, for fear of setting 
 it a-fire." 
 
 " But tell us what you heard last night," Max went 
 on, seeing that Mr. Jones was so full of his own 
 troubles that he must be led along the way if they 
 expected to learn anything from him at all. 
 
 " Why, you see, I had been sleeping under a dense 
 bush, when, chancing to awaken, I heard low voices 
 approaching, and saw the reflection of a moving light. 
 Quite naturally then I hugged the ground, fearing 
 that I could catch her voice among the number, and 
 that my worst hour had arrived. But as they started 
 to pass by my retreat I understood from the tenor 
 of their conversation tha+ they were boys, and also 
 that they did not have me in mind at all when they 
 exchanged remarks." 
 
 " Boys ! " repeated Max. " Could you give a guess, 
 Mr. Jones, as to how many of them there may have 
 been in all ; two, do you think? " 
 
130 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 " Why, that many, sure ; and I think there must 
 have been a girl along, or else a small chap ; for once 
 or twice I thought I caught a soft voice in between 
 the other two harsher ones." 
 
 " That was sure Amiel," remarked Steve, 
 quickly, 
 
 " And the others like as not Ted Shafter and Shack 
 Beggs," said Owen. 
 
 " I fancy now that you are on the track of the 
 truth, boys," declared Mr. Jones ; " because once I 
 heard Ted mentioned- Eemember it, because it was 
 the name my father wanted to give me, but mother 
 refused to allow it. Yes, there was certainly a Ted 
 among the three boys." 
 
 " They passed close enough to where you were hid- 
 ing for you to catch something of what they were 
 saying, perhaps, sir?" questioned Max. 
 
 " That is true, they did," came the answer. 
 
 " And could you remember any scrap of their con- 
 versation you picked up ? " continued Max ; while the 
 other boys, as if suddenly grasping the meaning of 
 his question, held their very breath in suspense, while 
 waiting to hear what ^je little fugitive from his 
 wife's wrath might reply 
 
 " Why, yes. Let me think now," Mr. Jones went 
 on to say, slowly. " The first thing I heard rather 
 startled me, for the one called Ted by his compan- 
 ion remarked that somebody ought to be thankful 
 if they didn't leave him there to starve." 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 131 
 
 " What's that? " ejaculated Steve, lialf starting up 
 from his seat. 
 
 "Why, you see," the other went on, "I just 
 thought they meant me at first, and as I had my bag 
 of grub along I didn't see how I was going to get 
 hungry, not for a few more days, at least. Then 
 the other boy said something, and I began to under- 
 stand that after all it wasn't about me they were 
 talking." 
 
 " That was Shack Beggs ; what did he have to re- 
 mark? " asked Steve, taking the words almost off the 
 lips of Max. 
 
 "Why," Mr. Jones replied, "as I remember it 
 now, he seemed to be chuckling when he said that, 
 anyhow, nobody could hold them in any way respon- 
 sible, because they'd never put a finger on him; and 
 that if he stayed there a whole week he could be 
 mighty thankful if they took the trouble to come 
 along every day and drop in a little grub. Course 
 it was all like so much Greek to me, boys; but 
 perhaps you may be able to catch on to the mean- 
 ing." 
 
 " It sure's got a mighty suspicious odor to me, and 
 that's a fact," asserted the boy who had long been 
 known under the name of " Touch-and-Go Steve, be- 
 cause of his impulsive ways. 
 
 " Oh, d-d-do you think they were referring to our 
 poor B-b-bandy-legs ? " asked Toby. 
 
 " Looks that way," asserted Owen. 
 
 45 
 
132 LOST IX THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 " I honestly believe it must be a fact ! " remarked 
 Max. 
 
 " Wouldn't I just like a chance to let 'em know 
 what I thought of such low-down meanness," grum- 
 bled Steve, making a hard fist, and smiting the palm 
 of his left hand with it, as thought in imagina- 
 tion he had Ted Shafter down on his back, and were 
 giving him what he deserved, with interest to 
 spare. 
 
 " Then I remember," continued Mr. Jones, making 
 an effort to cudgel his brains still more, when he saw 
 that what he had already told had excited the boys 
 tremendously, " that the one called Ted, who had a 
 very disagreeable voice, went on to say he guessed 
 some of those old scores in the past would be evened 
 up this time." 
 
 "That settles it, even if the rest didn't!" de- 
 clared Max, between his set teeth; "listen to me, 
 boys, and see if you agree with my idea. In some 
 way or manner poor Bandy-legs managed to get 
 caught fast in a trap of some sort, we don't know 
 how, or what it was Uke. But these fellows, coming 
 along through the swamp, managed to discover his 
 plight. Instead of helping him out they just stood 
 around and made all manner of fun of our chum. 
 Then they deliberately left him, saying that they 
 hadn't put him there, and couldn't be held respon- 
 sible for his fix. They don't mean to let him actually 
 starve; but expect to keep him there in that trap 
 
LOST liN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 13S 
 
 ever so long; and come every day just to laugh at 
 him, and feed him with bits like they would a starv- 
 ing dog. Now, what do you thiak of it, boys ; have 
 I hit the nail on the head, and what ought we to 
 do about it? Let's have every fellow's opinion." 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ox THE TEACK. 
 
 " YoiT sure have struck oil, Max ! " declared Steve, 
 being generally the first to answer; but the other 
 pair were not far behind him, and quite as expres- 
 sive. 
 
 " That's what I say," Owen remarked, emphat- 
 ically. 
 
 "B-b-but, Max, what k-k-kind of a t-t-trap?" 
 asked Toby. 
 
 " Well, that's more than I can say, right now," con- 
 tinued the other ; " but we're going to find out, by 
 hook or crook; ain't we, boys? " 
 
 " And when we do, I pity Ted Shaf ter and Shack 
 Beggs," grated Steve, furiously. 
 
 " And Amiel T-t-toots," added the equally indig- 
 nant Toby. 
 
 " Huh ! think they c'n get out of it by saying they 
 won't be held responsible for what's happened to our 
 chum, just because they didn't put him there," Steve 
 went on. " Little they know what the law says. If 
 a feller is goin' along by the river, and sees a baby 
 drowning, and don't lift a hand to even try to save 
 
 134 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 135 
 
 it, you just bet the law holds him partly responsible, 
 because he let it drown! I've heard my dad explain 
 that heaps of times, and that everyone is morally 
 supposed to help save another that's in trouble, or 
 stand the consequences as an accessory to the 
 fact ! " 
 
 Steve was very fond of quoting law from time to 
 time, and even said he meant to follow it as a life 
 pursuit. But if so, he would have to tone down that 
 impetuous spirit of his considerably. Max always 
 declared ; or else he would make a very poor lawyer. 
 
 Max turned again toward Mr. Jones, who was 
 smoking contentedly away, while listening to the 
 boys. 
 
 " If I should tell you, Mr. Jones," he remarked, im- 
 pressively, " that Hannah was behind that tree yon- 
 der, it would cause you to feel considerable uneasi- 
 ness." 
 
 Mr. Jones allowed his pipe to fall from between 
 his teeth, as he stared at the tree Max pointed out, 
 and actually shuddered. 
 
 "Well, you did give me a shock, son," he said, 
 presently, with a queer, nervous little laugh that had 
 nothing of merriment in it. " But you had some good 
 object in saying that, I am sure." 
 
 " I wanted you to understand something of the 
 feeling we boys have about the loss of our chum," 
 continued Mas, satisfied that he had again fully 
 awakened the other, and set his brain to working 
 
136 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP, 
 
 overtime. "Now, what you just told us seems to 
 give a pretty fair clew as to what has happened to 
 Bandy-legs. And if you can only put us in a way 
 to follow up the trail those fellows made when they 
 passed your hiding place it would end in our finding 
 the lost boy, I really believe." 
 
 "Hear, hear!" cried Owen, enthusiastically fol- 
 lowing up the idea Max had in his mind ; whUe Steve 
 clapped his hands and remarked grimly : 
 
 " That's the stuff, now. When Chum Max gets his 
 batteries all trained there's going to be something 
 doing every time. Get the idea through your head, 
 Mr. Jones?" 
 
 " I think I do, son," replied the little man, who 
 seemed to have taken rather a fancy for Steve, de- 
 spite the other's evident familiarity, which some 
 other men might have resented from a half -grown 
 cub of a boy. 
 
 " And do you think you could take us back to the 
 place where you spent last night? " Max asked, eag- 
 erly ; for he believed a great deal was going to hinge 
 on that very thing. 
 
 Mr. Jones hesitated before replying. He realized 
 that these boys were in deadly earnest, and that it 
 would not do for him to deceive them by any false 
 hopes. 
 
 " Yes," he presently went on to say, " I honestly 
 believe I could find my way back there, because it 
 isn't so very far, you see. But I'd have to have day- 
 light to do it in." 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 137 
 
 " We've got lanterns along, Mr. Jones," remarked 
 Owen. 
 
 "But while they noight show us the path, they 
 wouldn't help Mr. Jones get his bearings by certain 
 trees he will remember," said Max, who did not wish 
 to make a bungle of the job if it could be helped; 
 and once they started, led by the fugitive husband, 
 he desired success to follow their efforts. 
 
 " That's just it," declared the little man, nerv- 
 ously. " I think I hadn't ought to stir out of here 
 before morning. Don't think I ain't wanting to help 
 you all I can, because I am; and it ain't that I'm 
 afraid of meetin' up with Hannah, because I ain't; 
 but, you see, I've got my bearings in my h^ad, and 
 once I got away from the track, it'd be a question if 
 I could ever find my way back again." 
 
 " Well, nothing can be done until another morn- 
 ing, then," Steve declared, in a dejected tone ; " and 
 poor old Bandy-legs'U just have to stick it out where 
 he is. This is sure a tough deal on him, all right; 
 and he ain't a-goin' to forget it in a big hurry, you 
 mark me. Wonder if he'll be so scared that he won't 
 want to go off with us when we visit Old Trapper 
 Jim, away up in the North Woods later on? " 
 
 "Wait and see," remarked Max. "Now, d'ye 
 know, I've got an idea that in the end this is going 
 to prove a good experience for Bandy-legs. Nothing 
 like going through the mill yourself to learn things 
 so you'll never forget 'em; eh, Mr. Jones?" 
 
138 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 " Well, I dunno, son," remarked the other, sober- 
 ly; "you'd think one experience had ought toVe 
 been enough for me ; but seems like a body forgets 
 when the sky is blue and smilin' that it can cloud up 
 and thunder and lightnin'." 
 
 Steve picked up the hatchet again, and resumed 
 operations on the hemlock boughs where he had 
 dropped off at the time Toby made his astonish- 
 ing discovery to the effect that they were being 
 watched. 
 
 Of course all of them felt disappointed to know 
 that after Max had evolved such a promising theory 
 connected with the meaning of the words let fall by 
 Ted and his cronies as they passed Mr. Jones on their 
 way out of the swamp, they must waste so much 
 time waiting for a chance to put it into practice. 
 But being reasonable boys, and besides, having com- 
 plete faith in the ability of their leader, they began 
 to show that they could make the best of a bad bar- 
 gain. 
 
 After Steve had cut a lot of branches Toby took 
 a turn; and by degrees each of them, not even ex- 
 cepting Mr. Jones, whom they now looked upon as 
 their guest, had a soft and fragrant bed of hemlock 
 twigs upon which to pass the remainder of the night. 
 
 It would doubtless be a night long remembered 
 by Max and his three chums; for every time they 
 woke up to listen to the various sounds that floated 
 to their ears, and which were connected with the 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 139 
 
 swamp itself, they had to get thinking of the jolly 
 comrade who was absent from their midst. 
 
 And as for Bandy-legs, Max feared he would count 
 every minute an hour, as the darkness hung over 
 the gloomy place, wherever he might be. 
 
 All sorts of speculations had been indulged m as 
 to the nature of the trap in which poor Bandy-legs 
 was caught. He had evidently fallen into it through 
 some of his own clumsiness, since those three mean 
 fellows had been loud in their protestations that 
 they had had no hand in ,the affair. 
 
 Steve suggested that it might be some sort of pit 
 He had heard of such things happening, where a 
 shaft had been sunk for some purpose, either by 
 some visionary dreamer after wealth, who thought 
 he could find coal or silver or some precious deposit 
 iu the earth; or through the work of unscrupulous 
 rivals, who dug the pit and covered it over with thin 
 sticks, concealed by earth and leaves, in order to 
 have the unlucky blunderer step into it. 
 
 Max, however, riddled this idea very shortly after 
 Steve had enlarged upon it as a possible explanation 
 of the fix Bandy-legs found himself in. 
 
 " I'd like to see you, or any other person, dig a 
 hole five feet deep around here, unless you drained 
 the whole Great Dismal Swamp first," he remarked. 
 " Why, there would be water oozing into it before 
 you got down three feet, I don't care where you 
 started digging. So forget all about a pit, Steve." 
 
140 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 " Then what is it? " demanded the other, discour- 
 aged when all his castles in the air came tumbling 
 down under this kind of common-sense talk. 
 
 " Well, I can tell what it isn't, but when you ask 
 me to explain, and map out the real thing, I'm off my 
 base," replied Max, with a shake of his head. " So 
 you'll have to think up something, everyone for him- 
 self, and when we get there we'll find out who was 
 nearest the truth. I'm going to try to get a little 
 sleep, boys, and I'd advise you all to turn in." 
 
 " That's so," observed Steve, as he threw himself 
 down on his rude pallet ; " last one up douse the glim, 
 remember." 
 
 "D-d-does he m-m-mean put out the f-f-fire?" 
 asked Toby, who, being slower, was still arranging 
 his hemlock branches, so they would not get under 
 his ribs and feel hard during the night. 
 
 " Not on your life," answered Steve. " Say, didn't 
 you see Max fix that so it'd be all right for several 
 hours'? I don't want to try to sleep in this wildcat 
 swamp without a fire, understand that. And who- 
 ever wakes up, make sure to toss on a few more 
 pieces of wood. Plenty in that pile we made yon- 
 der." 
 
 " Only if it needs looking after," remarked Max. 
 " I say that, because it would be foolish for every 
 fellow to get up and keep piling on wood. A fine 
 old blaze we'd have of it, eh? " 
 
 Steve chuckled as Max said that. 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 141 
 
 " Makes me think of an old chestnut, boys," he 
 said. " Eemember once, when a feller happened to 
 say, when all the women folks of his family were 
 around, that he did wish somebody'd cut about three 
 inches off his duck trousers. First his old mother 
 happened to think of it ; and she goes and all by her- 
 self does the job. Then comes his wife, and thinkin' 
 nobody ever cared for poor Herby but her, she does 
 a little snippin', and sews the legs up again. After 
 her the sister and the old maid cousin each tried 
 their hand; and when Herby started to put his 
 breeches on the day he was ag'in to play tennis they 
 was only knee pants. Good-night, everybody. Me 
 for the Land of Nod by the quickest line." 
 
 Mr. Jones before retiring had seemed to cautiously 
 examine the groimd just back of where he had fixed 
 his hemlock bed. Max smiled while watching him, 
 because he could give a pretty good guess what was 
 in the little man's mind. 
 
 " Hannah I " said Max to himself, as he watched ; 
 " he never can get the thought of her off his chest. 
 And, right now, though there isn't one chance in ten 
 thousand that the big woman could drop in on us, 
 Mr. Jones, warned by other experiences, wants to 
 make sure of a way of escape. And they say Mc- 
 Clellan was a little man, too. Wonder if all small 
 men are that cautious. If they can't be fighters, they 
 may prove to be great organizers and retreaters." 
 
 Finally even Max lay down, and silence brooded 
 
142 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 over the strange camp in the Great Dismal Swamp, 
 where the four chums and their guest, the henpecked 
 husband of Hannah Jones, sought to forget their 
 troubles in sweet slumber. 
 
 After all, it turned out that some of the boys were 
 mistaken when they imagined they would be tor- 
 mented all night long by thoughts of poor Bandy- 
 legs. Almost before Max believed it possible, he 
 knew from the deep breathing of Owen and Toby 
 that they had passed over the border; nor were 
 either of them heard from again during the whole 
 blessed night. 
 
 Steve was not so easy a customer. When Max 
 crawled over, some hours later, to toss a few pieces 
 of wood upon the dying fire, making hardly enough 
 noise, he thought, to disturb a weasel, which is said 
 never to be found asleep, he heard a movement, and 
 saw Steve up on one elbow watching him. 
 
 "Just a-goin' to do that myself," remarked the 
 other, softly; and then dropped back again on his 
 comfortable as well as fragrant couch, which he 
 sniffed with a great deal of pleasure ; because he had 
 always read that hunters made their beds from hem- 
 lock browse. 
 
 The night passed away; and with the Gomm<2; of 
 day the boys were awake. Only for the cheery glo'.v 
 f'f ihe fire, which Steve had resurrectof], being tho 
 first up, it would have seemed very gloomy and cold 
 under that leaky canopy, and with so much water and 
 hanging creepers around. 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 143 
 
 " By the time we get our bite of breakfast," Max 
 remarked, " I'm hoping that the sun will be up, and 
 then Mr. Jones will be able to find out his bearings, 
 so he can lead the way to where he spent the other 
 night." 
 
 " Bite of breakfast ! " muttered Steve, disconso- 
 lately ; " say, there's plenty of grub left yet. Max ; 
 and as we expect to find Bandy-legs this morning, 
 why, let's eat all we want. Lunch can look out for 
 itself, I say. What's the use always thinking of 
 bridges you may never have to cross? Once we get 
 out of this measly swamp, and any farmer's wife 
 will fix us up a feed if we can pay for it. Even Han- 
 nah Jones'd do the same, I reckon, if so be we hap- 
 pened on her house the first thing." 
 
 Mr. Jones looked steadily at Steve, and then 
 winked his eye as he said : 
 
 " You gave me your solemn promise, son, to say 
 nothing that would betray me, in case you met up 
 with my Hannah. Oh, what was that called out right 
 then ! " 
 
 " I think it was only one of those big green-backed 
 frogs, sir," said Max, smiling at the look of sudden 
 fright that came over the other's face. " But let's get 
 busy with breakfast, now, such as it is. Nothing 
 like we're used to having when out in the woods, is 
 it, boys ? But this was a hurry call ; and there Was 
 no time to lug all our traps, frying pans and coffee 
 pots and tents with us." 
 
144 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 " Please don't say that word ' coffee ' again, Max," 
 said Steve. " It gives me a sure enough pain, be- 
 cause I miss it so. But here we are, fellows, and 
 pitch in. I'm hungry enough to make a meal out of 
 anything but a bobcat — I draw the line there ! " 
 
CHAPTER Xin, 
 
 STUMBLING INTO NEW DANGER. 
 
 " Well, we're on our way at last ! " remarked im- 
 patient Steve, as they left the makeshift camp where 
 they had passed the night, and plunged into the 
 swamp. 
 
 It always pleased Steve to be on the move. He was 
 one of those fellows who never will believe they are 
 accomplishing anything worth while unless they 
 make a big noise, and there is considerable bustle 
 going on around them. 
 
 The little henpecked Mr. Jones was in the van, 
 with Max close at his elbow to ask questions if at 
 any time doubts arose in his mind as to the ability 
 of the other to make good. 
 
 But Mr. Jones at least displayed considerable con- 
 fidence in the way he started out; and Max was rest- 
 ing easy under the belief that the small man knew 
 his bearings fully. Well, he had had considerable 
 experience around this same swamp. This was the 
 third actual " hide-out " that he acknowledged ; and 
 there may have been many more of the same sort, 
 for all they knew. Yes, Mr. Jones had good cause 
 
 145 
 
146 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 to be acquainted witli the dismal place that had ac- 
 corded him a safe refuge, when the storm clouds 
 gathered too thickly under the home-roof tree. 
 
 For some time all went well. Steve was for cut- 
 ting off little corners when he could ; and seeing this, 
 Max warned him to be careful. But then Steve had 
 great confidence in his own powers of observation, 
 and believed that he could see a miry trap as quick 
 as the best swamp dweller. 
 
 As had often happened in the past, this hurry 
 scheme was fated to get Steve into trouble. Max 
 was content that it should be so, for he believed, 
 deep down in his heart, that the boy with the quick- 
 action temperament must be made to suffer on ac- 
 count of his disposition many more times before he 
 would begin to take warning. 
 
 They were moving along a particularly bad sec- 
 tion, where Mr. Jones himself did not seem to be a.ny 
 too sure of his path, when there arose in the rear a 
 series of splashes and sounds not unlike that made 
 by a cow when drawing her hoofs out of the 
 mud. 
 
 " Wow, this ain't as nice as it might be I " they 
 heard Steve say, as if addressing himself. 
 
 Turning around, Max saw a sight that was alto- 
 gether too comical for his risibles, and for the life of 
 him he could not help laughing outright. Nor was 
 he alone in this, for Owen burst into a loud series of 
 sounds that must have been particularly irritating 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 147 
 
 to the object of the merriment ; and even Toby gave 
 a shout. 
 
 " Gosh, look at Steve tryin' to go down to China, 
 would you ! " cried Toby ; and as he did not stop to 
 think about his failing he never skipped a single 
 word. 
 
 Steve was a sight. In his eagerness to save time 
 and cut comers, he had made a mistake and stepped 
 right into a sink-hole of the worst sort. The decep- 
 tive surface gave way under his weight, and before 
 Steve could spring aside he was sinking in the sticky 
 slime. 
 
 Like everybody else who has ever found him- 
 self trapped by swamp muck, or the quicksand of 
 a stream, Steve at first tried standing on one leg 
 while he started to draw the other out. This threw 
 all his weight on the remaining foot, which immedi- 
 ately sank lower, and when he reversed the order 
 of things he found himself deeper than ever in the 
 mire. 
 
 The only sensible thing to do under such circum- 
 stances, if the unfortimate happens to be alone, is to 
 try to throw himself forward, and roll or scramble 
 on hands- and knees to a place of security. Some- 
 times this can be done; but no one ever escaped 
 from the tenacious grip of a muck-bed by lifting one 
 foot and throwing all his weight on the other, even 
 for ten seconds. 
 
 Steve realized that he was making a horrible mess 
 
 46 
 
148 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 of it. He had the good sense to stop operations and 
 look up at his chums, with a half grin on his face. 
 Steve, at least, could be good-natured under some 
 trials ; and he knew that his comrades would not let, 
 him suffer. 
 
 Had he been alone there would have been an en- 
 tirely different story to tell, and that was where the 
 boy might congratulate himself. 
 
 " Laugh, everybody," he said, jeeringly ; " I reckon 
 I do look just what I feel like, a blooming fool. The 
 water's fine, Toby, come on in! Plenty of room at 
 the top ! " 
 
 " Huh, 1-1-looks to me 1-1-like they was at the b-b- 
 bottom, too ! " cried Toby, who showed no signs of 
 being beguiled into joining the trapped one. 
 
 " He's playing the trick of the fox that fell into the 
 pit," laughed Owen. " Don't you remember, boys, 
 when the goat came along, and asked him what he 
 was doing there, the cunning fox said he had made 
 a great discovery, and invited his friend the goat 
 to jump in and share it with him? When the silly 
 goat did this, the fox just climbed on his back, and 
 could then spring out of the pit. Toby knows too 
 much to fall to your trap, Steve. He's had his eye- 
 teeth cut this long time ; ain't you, Toby ? " 
 
 " A-a-anyhow, I k-k-know S-s-steve ! " declared the 
 other ; at which they all had to laugh again. 
 
 " Say, what you goin' to do about this thing? " 
 demanded the boy, who was now far above his knees 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 149 
 
 in the muck, which clung so tightly that had he tried 
 he would have found it next to impossible to extri- 
 cate either of his legs now. " I don't mind stayin' 
 here so much, but suppose I did, whoever's goin.' to 
 turn that water off in the Dowdy house, hey, tell me 
 that?" 
 
 " Oh, I suppose we'll have to bother getting you 
 out, Steve," remarked Owen. 
 
 " Don't go to too much trouble, boys," continued 
 the imprisoned boy, with a comical shrug of his 
 shoulders ; " this ain't so very bad, and perhaps I 
 might manage to hold on till you get back. If you 
 don't find me here, just take my love to all the folks 
 at home, and tell dad it was me that left that faucet 
 running. When he builds his new house he'd better 
 have one of the kind that has to be held open, and 
 shuts automatically whenever you let go. I've been 
 thinking it all over, you see. Good-by, boys. Re- 
 member me to Bandy-legs, and say I'd like to have 
 seen him the worst kind." 
 
 Of course Steve was only saying this for fun. He 
 saw that Max was already unwinding the slender but 
 stout rope which Old Black Bob had urged him to 
 carry into the swamp with him. Max had woimd this 
 about his waist, as the best way of carrying it ; an- 
 other pointer the old swamp muskrat trapper had 
 given him. 
 
 There was a noose at the end, and Steve could 
 not help joking still further as he saw Max getting 
 
150 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 ready to cast this over the limb of a tree that, fortu- 
 nately, grew almost directly above his muck-bed 
 prison. 
 
 " That's what they call adding insult to injury, fel- 
 lows," he called out. " You're giving me a choice to 
 be smothered in this mud or to hang myself. Say, 
 that's kind in you, sure it is. But I think I'll fool 
 you all by slipping the noose under my arms instead 
 of around my neck. Pretty near a go that time, 
 Max ; put some more speed into the second cast, and 
 over she goes ! " 
 
 Max had tested the distance the first time, and 
 when he made his next throw the noosed end of the 
 rope passed over the limb and dangled there, swing- 
 ing to and fro. 
 
 Steve was on the alert and made a quick grab. 
 
 " Yah ! Thought you'd get away from me, didn't 
 you? " he crowed, as he caught the swinging noose. 
 " Have to get up pretty early in the morning if you 
 expect to beat out Steve Dowdy." Then, as if real- 
 izing that it was foolish to boast while in his present 
 predicament, he added in the same breath : " Though 
 sometimes he does make a fool of himself, I admit, 
 and gets too greedy. But give him time, and the 
 poor chmnp'U learn. He's young yet, and mighty 
 quick on the trigger. Now, pull tight, Max. That 
 feels good to have something holdin' me up, when the 
 other end is bein' pulled down right along. Get a 
 grip, everybody ; the circus is ready to begin ! " 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 151 
 
 It surely was a circus, too. Owen, Toby, and even 
 the little Mr. Jones had hold of the rope ; and when 
 Max gave the word they started to pull. The rope 
 tightened across the limb, and Steve was heard to 
 grunt, as he found his chest being compressed rather 
 uncomfortably. But as the noose tightened so did 
 his spirits rise to meet the emergency. 
 
 " Go it, you tigers ! " he exclaimed, although not 
 possessed of any too much breath at the moment, on 
 account of the tightening rope ; " hit her up again on 
 the other alley! One good pull deserves another, 
 they say. Give her Jesse, I tell you. Huh, moved 
 a little that time, boys ! Once more, and all together ! 
 Wow!" 
 
 This last was a mixture between triumph and pain, 
 for no doubt it hurt considerably to have those four 
 tugging at the end of the rope, the strain on his body 
 being severe, so sticky and stubborn was the mud 
 that had gathered around both his legs. 
 
 But soon Steve was lifted to the limb of the friend- 
 ly tree. He hastened to embrace this and scramble 
 up, so that he presently sat there undoing the rope. 
 
 " Thanks, awfully ! " he said, mockingly, as he 
 tossed the rope toward the others. " I've always 
 heard it was a mighty good thing to have a pull wh^n 
 you got in trouble. There's Ted Shafte^:, ^ho's got 
 a dad high up in Carson politics ; and every tame Ted 
 deserves being shut up in the cooler his dad's pull 
 gets him off." 
 
152 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 " C-c-come d-d-down, Steve ! " said Toby, impa- 
 tiently. 
 
 " Yes, we've wasted enough +ime as it is, and ought 
 to be moving along," Owen added; whereat Steve, 
 while hastening to obey, was heard to remark: 
 
 "Wasted! Well, I like that, now. I sure must 
 be a pretty poor stick when one of my pards says 
 that of me." 
 
 But he knew very well Owen cherished a warm af- 
 fection for him, and that this was only boy talk. 
 
 When Steve had been scraped fairly clean with 
 several sticks, and pronounced himself in a condition 
 to walk, they started on again. Fortunately at the 
 time Owen had been carrying Steve's gun, or that 
 might have had a chance to siak in the mud along 
 with its unlucky owner. 
 
 For half an hour and more they kept on. Max asked 
 questions from time to time, and seemed satisfied 
 that their guide knew where he was going. Mr. 
 Jones looked confident and competent to lead them 
 to where he had spent the night when he heard the 
 other boys passing and caught fragments of their 
 talk. 
 
 They had been pushing along in this manner in 
 silence for some five minutes, when they met with a 
 sudden and overwhelming surprise. Even their lit- 
 tle guide apparently had had no suspicion as to what 
 sort of nest he was leading his new friends to, if Max 
 could judge froip the exclamation of surprise that 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 153 
 
 broke from his lips when, as they suddenly issued 
 from a dense thicket, they found themselves right 
 on the border of a camp of hoboes. 
 
 The wind happened to be blowing away from them, 
 and this had prevented anyone from smelling the 
 smoke of the smoldering fire. 
 
 Max was as much startled as his companions, 
 though he quickly realized that it could be no fault 
 of their guide that they had run upon this hobo camp, 
 since no doubt the fellows had come here after he 
 passed on the preceding day. 
 
 There were three tramps in sight, all of them dirty 
 footpads of the railroad type, with faces that would 
 hardly be a recommendation to keep them out of jail, 
 should they ever have the misfortune to be brought 
 up before a wise judge who could read hobo char- 
 acter. 
 
 They had been lying around the fire, evidently 
 dozing, when the sudden bursting out of the thicket 
 on the part of the newcomers aroused them; for as 
 Max sighted the trio they were just starting to their 
 feet. 
 
 The two parties stared at each other a full minute 
 without a word being spoken. No doubt they were 
 sizing each other up in that space of time. And when 
 the burly hoboes saw that they had only a squad of 
 half -grown lads to deal with, no doubt mistaking the 
 little Mr. Jones with his smooth face for another 
 of the same type, they began to grin as though 
 tickled. 
 
154 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 Things seemed to be coming their way, they evi- 
 dently thought Ordinarily they had to do more or 
 less walking before they could come into possession 
 of articles of value; and here the best sort of pick- 
 ings had actually stepped into their camp, as if the 
 boys were asking to be relieved of their valuables. 
 
 When Max Hastings saw that ugly looking trio of 
 grizzled tramps start toward himseK and his com- 
 panions he knew that there was going to be some- 
 thing of a racket unless he took the situation well in 
 hand right in the start. 
 
 It was folly to think of appealing to the better 
 nature of such rascals as these, for they had buried 
 all that long ago. With them might made right, and 
 if they could secure anything worth taking from 
 these boys they meant to let no scruples stand in the 
 way. 
 
 " Steve ! " he exclaimed, without turning his head. 
 
 " Here, right alongside of you. Max ! " came the 
 cheery and steady voice of the other. 
 
 "Got your gun?" asked Max, quickly. 
 
 " Sure, and with both hammers pulled back. Just 
 say the word and let me blaze away ! " Steve replied, 
 eagerly. 
 
 " Cover at that biggest fellow, and if he keeps on 
 coming aim at his legs, and let him have one barrel 
 only ! " Then raising his voice, and speaking with 
 an authority one would hardly expect to find iu a 
 mere boy, Max called out : 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 155 
 
 " Stand where you are or we'll shoot I We're not 
 here to bother with you; but make up your minds 
 that we don't mean to let you get the better of us. 
 Keep back, now, or take the consequences ! Steve, 
 make ready to shoot ! " 
 
CHAPTEE XIV. 
 
 AT THE END OF THE TRAIL. 
 
 " Put up them guns ! " growled the biggest of the 
 three tramps, as he made a threatening gesture with 
 his big fist ; but Max noticed with secret satisfaction 
 that the fellow was sensible enough to hold his 
 ground, when he found that Steve was engaged in 
 keeping his legs covered with the twin barrels of his 
 shotgun. 
 
 " Not much we will," said Steve, quickly. " I'm 
 just itching to give you a dose of shot that'll keep 
 you laid up for a month or so. Just take only one 
 more step this way, and I'm going to press this trig- 
 ger a little harder. She goes on the hair, too, some- 
 times, old chap. I never gave a man a dose of bird- 
 shot, and I'm wondering how many different kinds 
 of holler you'd put up, if I let her fly ! " 
 
 This kind of talk alarmed the hobo, who must have 
 been something of a coward at heart, as so many 
 of his stripe are. 
 
 " Hey, don't yuh go to f oolin' too much with that 
 ere trigger, younker! " he called out, hastily; and in- 
 stead of coming on. Max saw that he was really re- 
 treating a step. " We thort as how yuh might be a 
 
 166 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 157 
 
 sheriff's posse, a-huntin' for weuns. If so be yah 
 ain't after us, we don't wanter have any trouble, do 
 we, fellers?" 
 
 " Sho, reckons not ! " exclaimed another of the 
 three. 
 
 But Max noticed that while they no longer ad- 
 vanced, the men seemed just as anxious to move back 
 toward another bit of brush close by. Possibly they 
 meant to cut and run for it as soon as they had a 
 good chance. On the other hand, he feared lest they 
 intended to turn upon the boys as soon as they could 
 find shelter behind convenient trees. 
 
 He knew very well that such men generally go 
 armed, and, given half a chance, no doubt they would 
 produce a variety of revolvers of the bulldog pat- 
 tern. This was just what wise Max did not want to 
 have happen. 
 
 " See here, men ! " he called out. " We want to 
 pass on, and not bother with you. If you know 
 what's good for you let us alone, and we'll forget 
 we ever saw you here. But if you so much as fire a 
 single shot after us we're bound to give you back as 
 good as you send. And, besides, we'll gei word to 
 the sheriff that you're hiding here in the Great Dis- 
 mal Swamp. Is it a bargain, men? " 
 
 The hoboes looked at each other. Under ordinary 
 conditions they would no doubt have disliked letting 
 such fine pickings get away from them. But there 
 was something in the bearing of this lad who faced 
 them so resolutely, and told them what would surely 
 
158 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 happen if lie and his comrades were interfered with, 
 that made them very reluctant to go up against the 
 five. And, besides, they did not like the way that 
 other impatient boy kept handling his gim. He 
 acted as though it would be a real pleasure for him 
 to have the chance to fire it off once or twice. 
 
 " It's a go, younker," growled the one who seemed 
 to be in authority among the tramps. " Skip out o' 
 here, then, in a hurry; an' reckon yerselves lucky in 
 gettia' off as easy as yuh does." 
 
 " Huh! " grunted the disappointed Steve; " seems 
 to me you're the lucky one. There goes the only 
 chance I ever had to see if I could hit two legs at 
 once. I only wish you fellers had had a little more 
 real pluck, that's what I do." 
 
 The big hobo had to actually grin at this exhibi- 
 tion of disappointment; at the same time he rubbed 
 one of his legs, as though congratulating himself that 
 he had had the good sense not to tempt that fire- 
 brand to pull the triggers his fingers were fon- 
 dling. 
 
 So the boys, together with the alarmed Mr. Jones, 
 pulled out, and continued on their way. Both Max 
 and Steve kept watch of the rear, determined to 
 shoot if they saw anything that would indicate pur- 
 stiit on the part of the tramps. 
 
 But evidently the three hoboes realized that if they 
 tried to follow those boys who carried guns, it would 
 be as bad as " monkeying with a buzz saw," as Steve 
 put it. At any rate, they failed to show up; and 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 159 
 
 after a little the boys felt easy again while pushing 
 along. 
 
 Steve "was grumbling to himself every little while. 
 The others knew, however, that his bark was worse 
 than his bite ; and that the chances were he only did 
 this for their benefit. But he did make out to be 
 dreadfully chagrined because he had been cheated 
 out of a chance to test his nerve. 
 
 " That's always the way things go with me," he 
 went on. " I'm sure the unluckiest feller ever was. 
 Here I had the best chance that'll ever come my way 
 to see how many shot I could plant in a pair of 
 shanks that need looking after the worst kiad; and 
 they showed the white ftather. Then there's that 
 blamed water business — ^thlnk how it's wasting me 
 to skin and bones worrying over that. Any other 
 boy'd know just whether he did, or he didn't, turn 
 that faucet off ; but with me I ain't able to make up 
 my mind. Sometimes I c'd just vow I remembered 
 doin' it ; and again I can't for the life of me say for 
 sure. Then fancy me gettin' in that nasty mud back 
 there. Well, somebody's got to pick the drumsticks, 
 dad says, whenever we got a turkey ; and many a one 
 I've cleaned off, believe me." 
 
 The others only smiled to hear him complain in 
 this way, knowing it was pretty much all on the sur- 
 face. Steve liked to hear himself talk ; indeed, there 
 had been times when this weakness had gotten him 
 into trouble, in school and out. But even so he was 
 never cured. 
 
160 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 " Are we nearly there, Mr. Jones? " asked Owen, 
 after another spell had passed by, during which time 
 they had made good progress. 
 
 " If you look ahead you'll see the very thicket in 
 which I lay," came the reply that gave them consid- 
 erable pleasure. 
 
 Two minutes later, and the little man who had run 
 away from his wife was pointing out the exact spot 
 where he had crouched, listening, while the three 
 boys from Carson trailed past. 
 
 Max immediately took hold of the affair. 
 
 "Now, please try and tell us which way they 
 seemed to be from your hiding place, Mr. Jones," he 
 requested. 
 
 When the other readily pointed off to the left, 
 Max asked the others to remain just where they 
 were while he looked for tracks. Inside of a minute 
 he called to them to join him. 
 
 "Got 'em?" asked Steve, joyfully, as he came 
 up. 
 
 "Yes, here's the trail, as plain as anything, a 
 whole lot of tracks, going and coming," Max replied. 
 " From that I judge they followed their own trail 
 when they came and went yesterday, visiting the 
 prisoner. They knew when they had a good thing, 
 and how easy it is to get lost in the swamp, or step 
 off the firm ground into a sink." 
 
 " That's meant for me, I suppose. Max," chuckled 
 Steve ; " but p'r'aps I deserve a dig, now and then. 
 Do we start right away, or must we rest?" 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 161 
 
 " Well, that's something the rest of you must de- 
 cide," came the reply. " As far as I'm concerned, I'd 
 be willing to put out along this trail at once." 
 
 " Count me in on that," said Owen. 
 
 " Oh, I'm not tired, very much ; and whatever you 
 boys decide on, I'm ready to do," Mr. Jones declared, 
 bravely ; for he had come to fancy the new compan- 
 ions fortune had sent him so strangely ; and, besides, 
 it was pretty lonely work camping out there amidst 
 such dismal surroundings. 
 
 "I'm boiling over with wanting to find poor old 
 Bandy-legs, and see how he'll get away with all this 
 fine grub we've toted so long," Steve declared. 
 
 Toby nodded his head violently when they glanced 
 at him; for that was much easier than stumbling 
 over what he would like to say. 
 
 Accordingly, Max waited no longer, but started to 
 pick up the trail. He never had an easier job, for 
 the three boys, not dreaming they would be tracked, 
 and least of all by Max and his chums, made no 
 effort to hide their footprints. And the soft ground 
 left the plainest of trails. 
 
 Steve seemed to have learned his lesson, for the 
 time being. He kept between Toby and Owen ; and 
 wherever the others ahead stepped he consented to 
 follow suit. Striking out on one's own hook might 
 be all very well under some conditions, but it was 
 risky business in the Great Dismal Swamp. Steve 
 could testify to this ; for every time he looked down 
 at his still muddy legs he had positive evidence. 
 
162 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 By degrees thejr seemed to be coming to a section 
 where there were more large trees than any place 
 they had as yet struck. And the grotind in spots 
 was fairly elevated. Indeed, one might think they 
 were coming out of the swamp; but Mr. Jones as- 
 sured Max, when the latter asked this question, that 
 it was all a hollow delusion and a snare— that this 
 was only a sort of oasis in the midst of the ooze, and 
 half a mile at least of muck surrounded it on all 
 sides. 
 
 Believing that they must even now be somewhere 
 close to where their chum was being detained in 
 some mysterious prison, which was known to Ted 
 and his two cronies, the boys were on the alert for 
 any signs of a lonely cabiu. That seemed to be the 
 only solution any of them could think of; though 
 Mr. Jones admitted that he had never run across 
 anything of the sort in his many wanderings through 
 the swamp. 
 
 Steve wanted to yell at the top of his voice, ia the 
 hope that he might get an answer; but Max re- 
 strained him. 
 
 " "Wait a little longer, Steve," he said to the im- 
 patient one, " and then you can let go for all you're 
 worth. Let's try and see if these tracks won't bring 
 us up to where Bandy-legs is. I seem to feel it in my 
 bones we must be mighty dose by now. We've 
 stood it so long we ought to be able to hold out a 
 little bit more." 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 163 
 
 And so for a few minutes Steve choked down Ms 
 inclination to give tongue and let off some of tlie 
 repressed nervousness that was urging liim on to do 
 something. 
 
 " Huh, nary a cabin in sight, and I c'n see a whole 
 acre around here, because the woods they're open 
 like ! " he exclaimed, presently. 
 
 "All right," observed Max. "Now give a hail; 
 and we'll all listen to see if you get any reply." 
 
 Gladly, then, did Steve let out a whoop after his 
 original style, meaning that the missing companion 
 should recognize who it was, if by good luck he 
 heard. 
 
 Once, twice, three times did he send out this yell. 
 Then, as the echoes died away, all of them listened, 
 with their hearts seeming to stand still with anx- 
 iety ; so much depended on the result of the experi- 
 ment. 
 
 "Oh, Steve, Steve!" 
 
 They were fairly electrified when they one and all 
 faintly caught this cry. It was too weak to be recog- 
 nized as the voice of their chum, Bandy-legs ; but at 
 any rate, Max could not say at this time that it was 
 a miserable old owl that mocked their efforts to get 
 ia communication with Bandy-legs. 
 
 Steve jumped up and down in his evident delight. 
 
 "Say, did you hear that?" he cried. "He called 
 my naire, sure as shootiii', he did ! Whoever but our 
 chum would know it was me a-shoutin' like that? 
 We've found him, fellers, we've found him ! " 
 
 47 
 
164 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 " T-t-then, s-s-show him to us, S-s-steve ! " demand- 
 ed Toby Jucklin. 
 
 Steve looked around again. He liad just been re- 
 marking that not a sign of any cabin or shack was in 
 sight. The woods were so open on this knoll that 
 they could see for some little distance in every quar- 
 ter. 
 
 " Now where in the dickens d'ye suppose that boy 
 c'n be hidin' ? " he muttered, as if perplexed beyond 
 all reason by the tantalizing mystery attached to the 
 affair. "There ain't a sign of any cabin; and his 
 voice don't seem to come from up in the top of one 
 of these here big trees. I wonder, now, if there 
 mightn't be a cave of some kind around here. Let's 
 try again. Hey, Bandy-legs, old sport ! " 
 
 " Steve ! Oh, Steve ! I'm so glad you've come at 
 last!" 
 
 They stared at each other. Plainly every word 
 could be heard, but the voice seemed muffled, as 
 though the speaker might be shut up in some hole 
 that did not allow his loudest shout to sound any- 
 thing like he intended it to be. 
 
 " Well, if he ain't got me guessiu' good and hard," 
 muttered the amazed Steve, as he continued to stare 
 all around him, instead of locating the point from 
 whence the indistinct hail proceeded. 
 
 These were the tactics adopted by Max; and al- 
 ready a faint smile began to creep over hie face, as 
 though what appeared to be the truth was dawning 
 upon his mind. 
 
LOST IN THE GEBAT DISMAL SWAMP. 165 
 
 Toby was the one who discovered this, and he lost 
 no time in demanding that Max give them the benefit 
 of his superior knowledge. 
 
 " He k-k-knows, boys ! " cried the stammering one, 
 seizing hold of the sleeve of their leader. " M-m- 
 make him g-g-give it up. It ain't f-f-fair to k-k-keep 
 us in the d-d-dark this way, is it?" 
 
 When Owen and Steve also turned upon him, Max 
 found that he was in a fair way to be mobbed if he 
 failed to communicate this information in a hurry. 
 
 " Yes, I've guessed where our chum is held in a 
 trap, boys," he admitted ; " but for the life of me I 
 can't understand how he ever got there by himself. 
 Now, just turn your eyes that way. Notice that tre- 
 mendous old stump of a tree that stands up like a 
 giant. Must have been the greatest ever in this sec- 
 tion of big trees, when it was in its prime. That's 
 where Bandy-legs is, right now ! " 
 
 "B-b-but, I d-d-don't s-s-see him!" cried Toby, 
 looking harder than ever. 
 
 "Course you don't," answered the other; "and 
 for the simple reason that the old stump's hollow, 
 and Bandy-legs, he's inside the same! " 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 WHAT WAS COMISTG TO TED SHATTEB. 
 
 When Max made this astoiuiding assertion the 
 boys stared at each other as though hardly able to 
 believe their ears. 
 
 Then Steve, impulsive Steve, made a forward dash. 
 Straight toward the big stump he went on the run, 
 as though bound to find out whether Max were tell- 
 ing them the truth, or saying what he had just for 
 fun. 
 
 " Hello, Bandy-legs, where are you? " he bawled, 
 as he came up close. 
 
 "Inside the stump, Steve! Oh, ain't I glad 
 though, you've come to get me out! Are the rest 
 of 'em there?" came from the other side of the 
 wooden wall ; and Steve knew now that it was true. 
 
 "Yes, we're all up here, and been huntin' you 
 since noon yesterday. But, however in the wide 
 world did you get inside there? Did Ted Shafter 
 and his crowd have anything to do with it? " asked 
 Steve, as the others came up. 
 
 " No, not in my gettin' here ; that was my own sil- 
 liness, I guess," answered the unseen boy ruefully; 
 " but they did keep me here when they might 'a' had 
 
 166 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 167 
 
 me out. And they're a-goin' to come back again this 
 very momin' to give me another half loaf of old 
 bread and a bottle of water. But, say, tell Max I 
 want to get out the worst kind. The ants keep a-nib- 
 blin' me all the time, and I feel bad." 
 
 " Shucks, he's all right ! " Steve was heard to say. 
 
 " Mebbe you think so," called out Bandy-legs, who 
 evidently heard the remark; "but you just try it 
 once, that's all. How'd you like to sleep standin' 
 up. And think of me a-livin' on a musty half loaf of 
 dry bread, just like I was a prisoner in a dungeon. 
 Hurry up and do somethin', fellers, please ! " 
 
 The others, as usual, looked toward Max to pro- 
 pose a plan. 
 
 " It would take too long to cut a hole through with 
 our hatchet," observed the one who was in the habit 
 of taking the lead in all these affairs that required 
 more or less ability in the line of invention. 
 
 " The old stump would bum fine ! " remarked 
 Steve, with a chuckle. 
 
 " Hey, don't listen to him, fellers," called out the 
 prisoner, instantly. " It's bad enough to have to stay 
 in this measly old hole so long, without being cooked 
 in the bargain. Sure the stump would bum; but 
 think of me ! Pm no 'possima to be baked with sweet 
 taters, like Old Bob likes 'em. Max, think up some 
 other way, won't yon? Don't let Steve get out a 
 Jiatch. He'd set the whole world a-fire if he had 
 his way, that'? what." 
 
 Max began to unwind the helpful rope again. 
 
168 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 " This thing pulled Steve out of a peck of trouble, 
 and it's good for another siege, I guess," he re- 
 marked, loud enough for Bandy-legs to hear. 
 
 " What's that, Max; have you got a rope along? " 
 he cried, delightedly, " Them fellers kept a-sayin' 
 they meant to bring one, but clean forgot ; but they'd 
 try and remember the next time they came this way. 
 Oh, how they did rub it into me, though! I'd give 
 anything for a chance to get back at that Ted Shat 
 ter." 
 
 " Well, chuck up ! " said Steve ; " and perhaps you 
 may." 
 
 It was decided that Owen and Max should manage 
 to climb up the big stump. This was no hard task, 
 and they could plainly see where others had pre- 
 ceded them ; for there were many scratches and other 
 marks to show the passage of heeled shoes. 
 
 " Like as not one of them climbed up here to lower 
 the bread and water to him," was what Max said, 
 angrily; for it was humiliating to think that their 
 chmn had been treated just like he might be a bear 
 in a cage, baited and taunted by those three scape- 
 graces of Carson. 
 
 Once they reached the top of the big stump they 
 found a large opening, where Bandy-legs must have 
 slipped down in the beginning. And lowering the 
 noosed end of the rope they directed him how to 
 place the same under his arms. This being done, 
 both set to work; and, having first made sure of their 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 169 
 
 footing, they succeeded in drawing the prisoner up 
 to the top. 
 
 Bandy-legs was very stiff and weak from his long 
 confinement. He blinked, too, as he came in contact 
 with the bright sunlight, for he had been in almost 
 absolute darkness many hours. 
 
 He was lowered to the ground in much the same 
 way he had come up out of the stump's interior. 
 Then the two boys scrambled down after him. 
 
 Steve had made ready, and by the time Max and 
 Owen arrived on the scene Bandy-legs was bolting 
 food at an enormous rate. Indeed, cautious Max had 
 to warn him against stufi&ng himself too quickly; 
 but it tasted so good to the poor fellow, after his 
 long fast, that none of them had the heart to deny 
 him anything. 
 
 Meanwhile, between bites, he answered their many 
 questions, the food putting him in something like a 
 good humor again. 
 
 " We know that you came out fishing, Bandy -legs," 
 said Max ; " but tell us how you clean forgot you'd 
 been warned not to go into the swamp. We reckoned 
 there must have been some pretty strong attraction 
 that made you pull up anchor and paddle like hot 
 cakes into the place." 
 
 " Was — deer ! " replied the other, as he bit into an- 
 other sandwich, taking about half of it at one effort. 
 
 " Swimming in the water? " asked Max. 
 
 " Yep. Thought I c'd ketch her, more fool I was," 
 replied the other. 
 
170 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 " Then, when finally she got away from you, and 
 you thought to turn around so's to paddle out of the 
 swamp again, you saw a boat coming after you, and 
 recognized the three fellows in it as Ted and his 
 crowd; was that it, Bandy-legs?" and Max, who 
 knew that they could only get snatches of the story 
 from the half -starved boy for the present, put this 
 in a way that really required only a nod for a reply. 
 
 "Yep, that's how it was," Bandy-legs affirmed, 
 thickly, for his mouth was crammed full at the time, 
 so that he was in danger of choking. 
 
 " They made all manner of threats about what 
 they'd do to you when they overtook you, didn't 
 they? " Max went on, and received an affirmative nod 
 in reply. 
 
 " That was partly done to frighten you," he re- 
 marked, grimly. " They wanted you to get lost in 
 the swamp and have a tough time of it." 
 
 " Just what they did," Bandy-legs declared, indig- 
 nantly; "because, after I'd run as far as I wanted, 
 when I'd jumped ashore, why, somehow, I didn't 
 seem able to make my way back to my boat; and then 
 I got lost for keeps." 
 
 " We have followed your trail a long ways, Bandy- 
 legs, and it's been a mystery to us just how you man- 
 aged to keep from getting mired for keeps," Steve 
 declared, as he glanced down ruefully at his own 
 muddy legs. 
 
 " Now tell us about this tree stump, and how you 
 ever managed to get inside it," asked Owen, wise- 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 171 
 
 ly wrapping up the balance of the food, though Ban- 
 dy-legs cast wistful glances at it disappearing. 
 
 " Why, it was near nighttime, and I was gettin' 
 rattled bad," he admitted. " Just then I saw this old 
 stump, and got a notion in my head that p'r'aps I 
 might be able to see further away, if only I c'd climb 
 to the top. Besides, it might be wide enough to let 
 me sleep there. You see, I didn't like to stay on the 
 ground, not havin' a gun along." 
 
 " Well, you climbed up, all right, of course. What 
 happened then? " asked Max. 
 
 " The blamed old thing just fooled me, that's 
 what. I was standing there, lookin' round, when 
 kerflump, I went through the dead wood and rattled 
 down inside that old stump like two-forty. Whoo, 
 but it scared me, fellers ! I'll never get over it, nev- 
 er ! And all night, I reckoned, I'd have to stay there 
 alone." 
 
 " Of course you shouted? ** suggested Max. 
 
 " Till I was as hoarse as a crow," replied the other, 
 sadly shaking his head ; but as his eyes were follow- 
 ing Owen, who was stowing the balance of the food 
 away in one package, doubtless it was that which 
 made him feel bad, rather than the troubles of the 
 past 
 
 " And finally some one answered you, wasn't that 
 it?" went on Max. 
 
 "Yep, that's right," Bandy-legs declared. "It 
 was Ted and his crowd, with a blazing torch, mak- 
 ing their way out of the swamp. They stood around, 
 
172 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 and kept a-pokin' fun at me for a long time. SHack 
 Beggs pretended to be settin' the stump a-fire; an' 
 worked me up to screamin' pitch, he gave me such 
 a scare. Then they went off, sayin' they might wan- 
 der 'round again next day." 
 
 " The onery skunks ! " growled Steve, hotly, as he 
 clenched his fist, and made imaginary stabs at space, 
 where he doubtless wished Ted might happen to be 
 at the time. 
 
 " They did come back, yesterday it must 'a' 
 been, and stayed around a long time, havia' fun 
 with me, I s'pose they called it. They*lowered the 
 old bread and a bottle of water by a string, and 
 when they got tired went away, sayin' they'd come 
 back with a rope, if they c'd get one, which Ted, he 
 said, was doubtful." 
 
 " Then they're coming again this morning," re- 
 marked Max, with a dark look on his face. 
 
 " Ted, he said as how it might be ten o'clock before 
 they c'd get here, it was so long a walk. He told 
 me I ought to be thankful they didn't just go about 
 their business, and leave me there to starve. Oh, 
 ata't I glad you fellers came ! Now they won't find 
 me here when they show up ! " and Bandy-legs sighed 
 with infinite satisfaction at the prospect. 
 
 "Yes, they will find you here," said Max, "and 
 four chums along with you. Boys, what d'ye say? 
 Oughtn't we just hang around and give those cow- 
 ards a lesson they've been needing a long time? " 
 
 " Oh, joy, count me in. Max ! " purred Steve, glanc- 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 173 
 
 ing around him; and then pouncing on what he 
 thought was a nice stiff club that could be counted 
 on to do considerable execution in the right kind of 
 hands. 
 
 The others, seeing what Steve had done, hastened 
 to copy his example. Even Mr. Jones did likewise. 
 He did not happen to have a personal acquaintance 
 with the boys in question; but he understood their 
 stripe. And Mr. Jones dislBked tyrants of all de- 
 scriptions, whether they wore skirts or trousers. 
 
 " First of all, we want to make it look like nobody 
 had been here since they went away yesterday," 
 Max remarked, starting to clean up. 
 
 When this had been done he found hiding places 
 for each one. These were close at hand ; and an ar- 
 rangement was made that would prevent the enemy 
 from running off, and escaping the punishment they 
 merited so much. 
 
 Then they settled down to waiting. 
 
 An hour passed before they heard any sounds to 
 indicate that Ted and the other two were coming. 
 Just as Max had suspected would be the case, they 
 followed the general line of the course taken by him- 
 self and companions in reaching the place. But those 
 three boys must have been very poor woodsmen, see- 
 ing that none of them seemed to note the fact of 
 others having been over the path since they traveled 
 it last. To them a footprint was only the mark of 
 a shoe ; and one looked like another. So, without the 
 least suspicion that things had taken on a new front, 
 
174 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 they came trooping along and surrounded the tree 
 trunk in which they supposed poor Bandy-legs still 
 stood. 
 
 For a short time they called out in all sorts of 
 ways, trying to induce the prisoner to cry to them 
 beseechingly. But when only a dead silence fol- 
 lowed, the three boys began to get a little uneasy, 
 and looked at each other. 
 
 " Say, what's gone wrong with him, d'ye think, 
 Ted?" asked Anaiel, turning white with a sudden 
 fear that he might in some way be held accountable 
 for the death of the poor prisoner of the stump. 
 
 " Aw, nawthin's the matter of him," replied Ted, 
 in his coarsest manner, as though he might be trying 
 to bolster up his own courage by showing uncon- 
 cern. "Here, you. Shack, shin up that tree with 
 the rope we fetched along, and tell the chump we 
 reckon to h'ist him outen there. Git, now, and don't 
 you dare answer baxik ! " 
 
 He gave Shack a vigorous kick while speaking, as 
 though in that way he expected to hurry him. The 
 other inunediately started to climb the tall stump. 
 Once at the top, he put his head down and called 
 several times into the hole that looked so dark and 
 forbidding. 
 
 " He ain't sayin' a word, Ted ! " Shack called 
 down, with a voice that showed signs of shaking, 
 more or less. 
 
 " Aw, rats, it's on'y his way of playin' 'possum 1 " 
 called back Ted. " Say, you'll have to tie the bloom- 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 175 
 
 in' rope somehow, and drop down there to find out 
 what's doin'." 
 
 "Why don't you send Amiel; he's the smallest," 
 whined Shack, who evidently did not like the job cut 
 out for him very much. 
 
 " Never mind about that, but just get busy. And 
 say, Shack, if so be the poor little fool's gone and 
 fainted, tie the rope under his arms, and then climb 
 up. Like's not we'll have to yank him out of there 
 now. The fun's busted, and the fat's all in the 
 fire!" 
 
 " You bet it is ! " shouted a voice just then, and 
 as Ted Shafter started to whirl around in astonish- 
 ment something came against his back with such tre- 
 mendous force that it sent him headlong to the 
 ground. 
 
 And then he saw that it was Steve who had wielded 
 his cudgel with such telling efiFect; while Max Hast- 
 ings, his cousin Owen, Toby Jucklin, yes, and the 
 resurrected Bandy-legs Griffin, together with an- 
 other party utterly unknown to him, rushed from 
 cover and made a complete surround of himself, 
 Amiel Toots, and the big stump, on the top of which 
 Shack Beggs stood, shivering with a new dread as 
 he looked down at the appearance of things. 
 
CHAPTEE XVL 
 
 STEVE FINDS otTT — Conclusion. 
 
 " Let 'em have it, fellers ; remember what they did 
 to me ! " shrieked Bandy-legs, as he bowled A mi el 
 Toots over with a sturdy whack that brought out 
 a bellow from the frightened recipient. 
 
 Max and several others were giving the milucky 
 Ted the best pounding he had ever had in all his life. 
 For the moment, in their intense indignation, they 
 forgot that they were many against one; and even 
 the timid Mr. Jones managed to get in a single tap 
 that appeared to afford him considerable satisfac- 
 tion, as though possibly at the time he were thinking 
 of Hannah, the other tyrant. 
 
 Finally, after they had buffeted Ted around until 
 he was actually begging for mercy, they told him to 
 get out; and, as he started to run off, Steve landed 
 a splendid kick where it did the most good, and which 
 would always be remembered by both the sender and 
 the receiver. 
 
 Amiel had been allowed to skulk away, and now 
 they turned their attention to Shack Beggs. He re- 
 fused to come down at first, until Max threatened 
 to climb up and push him into that black hole. Of 
 
 176 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 177 
 
 course he received as much punishment as they felt 
 like meting out. He was about as mean a boy as 
 Ted, and had long merited this sort of payment from 
 the five chums, on account of the many practical jokes 
 which he and the others had played on them. 
 
 Then, the coast being clear, Max and the others 
 took up their line of march, so as to get back to 
 where they had left the boats. Mr. Jones proved 
 himself a valuable friend in leading them there ; and 
 Max faithfully promised the little man that he would 
 try to smooth matters over with the partner of his 
 joys and griefs — ^mostly griefs, Julius Caesar Jones 
 solemnly affirmed, with upraised hand. 
 
 It was late in the afternoon when they approached 
 the house of Aunt Matilda. That lady saw them com- 
 ing ia the boats, and was at the dock to greet the 
 long lost swamp wanderer. She wanted to hear the 
 whole story, and so the boys had to promise to come 
 up again on the next day to spend it with her. 
 
 There was no holding Steve back now. He was 
 getting fairly wild to hasten to Carson and find out 
 just what he had to face. And the more he talked 
 about it the darker his feelings seemed to grow. He 
 was almost sure now that he had never thought to 
 turn that water off, and doubtless long before now 
 his father's house had actually been ruined. 
 
 " If somebody'd only kick me real good and hard, 
 so it'd hurt, I'd feel better," he said, more than once ; 
 but he looked so miserable that even fun-loving Toby 
 did not have the heart to take him at his word. 
 
178 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 They heard from Miss GriflBn that there was an 
 automobile only a short distance away that she be- 
 lieved might be hired, and gladly did she promise to 
 foot the bill, as well as what they would have to pay 
 Mr. Billikin, the livery stable keeper of Carson, for 
 fetching them up to the cranberry farm. 
 
 Again was Old Black Bob brought into the game, 
 and a wagon took tlie boys over to the well-to-do 
 farmer who owned the machine, "When he had read 
 Miss Griffin's urgent plea, and heard a little of the 
 wonderful things that had happened to the five 
 chums, this man, who could admire pluck in boys, 
 promptly agreed to take them over the road to Car- 
 son ; in fact, he was ready to do it for nothing, be- 
 cause he wanted to hear the balance of the stirring 
 story on the way. 
 
 It is not easy talking when yon are flying along 
 over the road at the rate of thirty or forty miles an 
 hour; but between them the boys managed to de- 
 scribe pretty much all that had happened from the 
 time Max received that startling wire from the 
 troubled aunt of Bandy-legs and rushed up to find 
 the lost one. 
 
 And now, in the gloaming, they were rapidly ap- 
 proaching the outskirts of the old town of Carson. 
 Familiar objects began to be seen on every hand. 
 Bandy-legs acted as though he had been away for a 
 year ; and perhaps the poor fellow had really suffered 
 so much during his imprisonment in the hollow tree 
 that it seemed that way to him. 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 179 
 
 Steve had fallen very still ; and Max, who sat next 
 to him, could feel his usually nervous chum trembling 
 violently with suspense. He craned his neck, too, 
 as they entered the town, and kept watching a certain 
 point, as though all his hopes and fears were cen- 
 tered there. 
 
 " Don't seem to be any kind of excitement around 
 here," Steve was muttering to himself, as he saw 
 several persons strolling leisurely along, for the 
 evening was rather warm. 
 
 A little farther, and he craned his neck again. 
 
 " Say, Max, tell me," he said, feebly, " is that a 
 really true chimbly I see there above the old ma- 
 ples? " 
 
 " That's just what it is, Steve," replied Max, feel- 
 ingly. 
 
 "Anyhow, everything couldn't a-f alien down, 
 then," Steve went on, weakly. " But I'll soon know 
 the worst now, becaQse we'll turn here, and " 
 
 He gasped for breath just then. The car had 
 whirled aroimd a comer, and there in full sight lay 
 the Dowdy house. So far as anyone could see, it 
 looked just as it usually did. Shutters were in some 
 cases closed, and in others opened, just as Steve 
 in his rush had left them ; but it certainly did not look 
 like the ruin the wretched boy had mentally pictured 
 so often within the last two days. 
 
 " Wait for me here a minute, fellers ! " cried the 
 excited Steve, as he went flying out of the machine, 
 
 48 
 
180 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 and up to the front door, which, he could hardly open 
 with his key, so trembling did his hands seem. 
 
 As the owner of the car was backing, so as to turn 
 around, they heard Steve going up the steps three 
 at a time. Then a window was raised, and his head 
 came in view; while he made extravagant gestures 
 with both arms. 
 
 " Congratulations, Steve ! " called Max from the 
 carriage drive. 
 
 "How is it?" shouted Owen and Bandy-legs in 
 chorus; while Toby went through all the motions, 
 even if he could not trust himself to speak. 
 
 " Bully ! " answered the delighted boy from the 
 window. " Everything is lovely, and the goose 
 hangs high ! " 
 
 " I see he does, as high as that bathroom window," 
 laughed Max. 
 
 " Tell me I'm a dummy, will you? " continued 
 Steve, as they started away ; " I closed that faucet, 
 sure I did; and I ain't half the fool some people 
 think." 
 
 " Hurray ! " yelled Toby, all of a sudden recover- 
 ing his voice and standing up to wave his cap back 
 toward Steve ; but as the car made a jump just then, 
 he suddenly vanished, being almost smothered 
 among the cushions of the tonneau. 
 
 Well, that completed the adventure of the Great 
 Dismal Swamp. Bandy-legs would never feel anx- 
 ious to see that gloomy place in a hurry again. He 
 had suffered all sorts of mental and bodily tortures 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 181 
 
 during the long hours of his imprisonment there, 
 and it must always be associated with such unpleas- 
 ant things in his mind. 
 
 But the boys had promised his aunt that they 
 would all come up again on the following day, in 
 order that she might give them a fine dinner, and 
 listen to a recital of the strange things that had 
 accompanied her nephew's incautious act in ven- 
 turing to chase a swimming doe that he had seen 
 crossing a neck of water bordering the swamp 
 proper. 
 
 And Max, too, had not forgotten that he had also 
 given his word to little Julius Caesar Jones to look 
 up his wife, and manage to soothe her temper, so 
 that she would long for him to come back home, and 
 all would be forgiven, the fatted calf killed, and 
 the Joneses make merry. 
 
 "When Aunt Matilda had heard that part of the 
 story she laughed herself almost sick over it, and 
 readily promised that she would assist Max in his 
 self-assigned task of bearding the tigress in her lair, 
 otherwise calling at the Jones home, and ascertain- 
 ing whether things looked favorable for a show- 
 ing-up of the prodigal husband. 
 
 When Max really met Mrs. Jones he did not won- 
 der that the little man stood in mortal fear of his 
 big wife. She was enough to give any ordinary 
 sized man a fit of shivering, did he happen to 
 cross her sweet will. 
 
 But, after all, she seemed to have something of 
 
182 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 a heart, and was really in her way quite fond of 
 Julius Caesar. Aunt Matilda began operations 
 by relating a number of stories she had heard from 
 time to time about the awful things that had hap- 
 pened to those unfortunate enough to lose them- 
 selves in the Great Dismal Swamp. 
 
 And having thus warmed up things she went on 
 to say that it was understood Mr. Jones had not 
 been seen around for nearly a week now; and she 
 really hoped he might not be sick. 
 
 That broke down the lonely wife's barricade, and 
 she began to actually cry, saying she had been 
 cruel to Jonesy, and that she was dreadfully afraid 
 something terrible had happened to him, because 
 he had never stayed away like this before. 
 
 When Max heard her declare that if she could 
 only see her darlkig husband again all would be 
 forgiven, he went right out and fastened a Ted 
 bandana handkerchief to the top of the pigsty; that 
 having been the signal arranged between him and 
 the swamp fugitive. 
 
 And as he and Aunt Matilda drove away a little 
 later, he begged her to just glance off toward the 
 woods, where a lone figure was seen approaching 
 the house. It was Mr. Jones, feeling so sure of a 
 warm welcome that he had thrust out his chest 
 much after the style of a pouter pigeon. He waved 
 a hand toward them ; and that was the last they saw 
 of him at that time. 
 
 Max and his four chums were very likely to look 
 
LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 183 
 
 back to many of the queer things that had happened 
 during their swamp experience; but they would 
 always remember little Mr. Jones with uncommon 
 interest, and hope that if he ever again found a 
 necessity for fleeing to his place of refuge, where 
 he knew Haimah could not easily follow, he might 
 run across companions as good and true as came 
 his way on this occasion. 
 
 Although the vacation season was now well along, 
 Max and his four chums were looking forward to 
 a chance to at least get together once more before 
 school took up again. 
 
 Ted Shafter vowed revenge for the whipping 
 which had been meted out to him up there in the 
 swamp; but if he ever did attempt to secure this 
 satisfaction they knew it would be through some 
 miserable trick; for he was not brave enough to 
 face any one of them alone and attempt to take 
 retaliation. 
 
 Acting on the advice of Max, they kept him under 
 surveillance as well as possible, not wanting to have 
 him catch them unawares. 
 
 Ted was too shrewd to tell the truth about the 
 black eye that followed his affair with Max and his 
 chums ; for he had rim into a tree in his mad haste 
 to get away after Steve kicked him. He merely 
 declared that he had gotten it by running into some 
 object on the country road at night. But by de- 
 grees the story leaked out, possibly Steve being un- 
 able to keep the secret ; and many a sly side glance 
 
184 LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 
 
 did the boys and girls of Carson take at Ted and 
 his dark-rimmed optic when they happened to pass 
 him on the road. 
 
 Whether Ted Shafter would ever secure his re- 
 venge or not, only the future could tell; but the 
 good people of Carson were becoming very weary 
 of his antics ; and it was understood in certain cir- 
 cles that with his very next exploit he must be se- 
 verely punished. If his father could not hold him 
 in check, then he must be sent away to a military 
 school, where the strict discipline might break him 
 of his bad habits. Either that or the reform school 
 was to be the fate of Ted, imless he held himself in 
 check. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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 Endurance Te«t; or, How Clear Grit Won the Day 
 
 Few stories "get" us more than illustrations of pluck in the face of apparent 
 failure. Our heroes show the stuff they are made of and surprise their most ardent 
 admirers. One of the best stories Captain Douglas has written. 
 
 Under CanTas; or, The Hunt for the Cartaret Ghost 
 
 It was hard to disbelieve the evidence of their eyes but the boys by the 
 exercise of common -sense solved a mystery which had long puzzled older heads. 
 
 Storm-bound; or, a Vacation Amcmg the Soow Drifts 
 
 The boys start out on the wrong track, but their scout training comes to the 
 rescue and their experience proves beneficial to all concerned. 
 
 Boy Scout Natar* Lore to be Found in The Hickory Ridge Boy 
 Scout Series, all illustrated: — 
 
 Wild Animals of the United States — Tracking — Trees and Wild Flowers of the 
 United States — Reptiles of the United States — Fishes of the United States — 
 Insects of the United States and Birds of the United States. 
 
 Cloth Binding Covmr illustrations in Four Colors 40c. Per Vb/H/ne 
 
 THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY 
 
 201 EAST 12t!i STRF.F.T NEW YORK 
 
THE BOY GLOBE TROTTERS 
 
 By ELBERT FISHER 
 
 I2mo, Cloth. Many Illastrations. 60c. per Volame 
 
 This is a series of four books relating the adventures of two boys, who 
 make a trip around the world, working their way as they go. They 
 meet with various peoples having strange habits and customs, and their 
 adventures form a medium for the introduction of much instructive 
 matter relative to the character and industries of the cities and countries 
 through which they pass. A description is given of the narive sports 
 of boys in each of the foreign countries through which they travel. The 
 books are illustrated by decorative head and end pieces for each chapter, 
 there being 36 original drawings in each book, all by the author, and four 
 striking halftones. 
 
 1. From N«w Y«rk to the Golden Gate, takes in many of the prin- 
 cipal points between New York and California, and contains a highly 
 entertaining narrative of the boys' experiences overland and not a little 
 useful information. 
 
 2. From San Ftmncisco to Japan, relates the experiences of the two 
 boys at the Panama Exposition, and subsequently their journeyings to 
 Hawaii, Samoa and Japan. The greater portion of their time is spent 
 at sea, and a large amount of interesting information appears throughout 
 the text. 
 
 3. From Toldo to Bombay. This book covers their interesting 
 experiences in Japan, followed by sea voyages to the Philippines, Hong- 
 kong and finally to India. Their experiences with the natives cover a 
 field seldom touched upon in juvenile publications, as it relates to the 
 great Hyderabad region of South India. 
 
 4. From India to the War Zone, describes their trip toward the 
 Persian Gulf. They go by way of the River Euphrates and pass the 
 supposed site of the Garden of Eden, and manage to connect themselves 
 with a caravan through the Great Sjnian Desert. After traversing 
 the Holy Laud, where they visit the Dead Sea, they arrive at the Med- 
 iterranean port of Joppa, and their experiences thereafter within the war 
 zone are fully described. 
 
 THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY 
 
 201 EAST 12th STREET NEW YORK 
 
THE "HOW-TO-DO-IT" BOOKS 
 By J. S. ZERBE 
 
 Carpentry for Boys 
 
 A book which treats, in a most practical and fascinating manner 
 all subjects pertaining to the " King of Trades " ; showing the care 
 and use of tools; drawing; designing, and the laying out of work; 
 the principles involved in the building of various kinds of struc- 
 tures, and the rudiments of architecture. It contains over two 
 hundred and fifty illustrations made especially for this work, and 
 includes also a complete glossary of the technical terms used in the 
 art. The most comprehensive volume on this subject ever pub- 
 lished for boys. 
 
 Electricity for Boys 
 
 The author has adopted the unique plan of setting forth the fimda- 
 mental principles in each phase of the science, and practically 
 applying the work in the successive stages. It shows how the 
 knowledge has been developed, and the reasons for the various 
 phenomena, without using technical words so as to bring it within 
 the compass of every boy. It has a complete glossary of terms, and 
 is illustrated with two hundred original drawings. 
 
 Practical Mechanics for Boys 
 
 This book takes the beginner through a comprehensive series of 
 practical shop work, in which the uses of tools, and the structure 
 and handling of shop machinery are set forth; how they are utilized 
 to perform the work, and the manner in which all dimensional work 
 is carried out. Every subject is illustrated, and model building 
 explained. It contains a glossary which comprises a new system of 
 cross references, a feature that will prove a welcMne departure in 
 explaining subjects. Fully illustrated. 
 
 12m,o, cloth. Price 60 cents per volume 
 
 THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY 
 
 201 East 12th Street New Yokk 
 
The Wonder Island Boys 
 
 Br ROGER T. FINLAY 
 
 A new series of books, each complete in itself, relating 
 the remarkable experiences of two boys and a man, 
 who are cast upon an island in the South Seas with 
 absolutely nothing but the clothing they wore. By the 
 exercise of their ingenuity they succeed in fashioning 
 clothing, tools and weapons and not only do they train 
 nature's forces to work for them but they subdue and 
 finally civilize neighboring savage tribes. The books 
 contain two thousand items of interest that every boy 
 ought to know. 
 
 THE WONDER ISLAND BOYS 
 The Castaways 
 
 THE WONDER ISLAND BOYS 
 Exploring the Island 
 
 THE WONDER ISLAND BOYS 
 The Mysteries of the Caverns 
 
 THE WONDER ISLAND BOYS 
 The Tribesmen 
 
 THE WONDER ISLAND BOYS 
 The Capture and Pursuit 
 
 THE WONDER ISLAND BOYS 
 The Conquest of the Savages 
 
 THE WONDER ISLAND BOYS 
 Adventures on Strange Islands 
 
 THE WONDER ISLAND BOYS 
 Treasures of the Islands 
 
 Large 12mo, cloth. Many illustrations. 
 60 cerats •per vol., postpaid. 
 
 PTJBLISHED BY 
 
 THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY 
 
 201 East 12th Street New York 
 
The Ethel Morton Books 
 
 By MABELL S. C. SMITH 
 
 This series strikes a new note in the publication of books 
 for girls. Fascinating descriptions of the travels and amus- 
 ing experiences of our young friends are combined with a 
 fund of information relating their accomplishment of things 
 every girl wishes to know. 
 
 In reading the books a girl becomes acquainted with 
 many of the entertaining features of handcraft, elements 
 of cooking, also of swimming, boating and similar pas- 
 times. This information is so imparted as to hold the in- 
 terest throughout. Many of the subjects treated are illus- 
 trated by halftones and line engravings throughout the 
 text 
 
 LIST OF TITLES 
 
 Ethel Morton at Chautauqua 
 
 Ethel Morton and the Christmas Ship 
 
 Ethel Morton's Holidays 
 
 Ethel Morton at Rose House 
 
 Ethel Morton's Enterprise 
 
 Ethel Morton at Sweet Brier Lodge 
 
 Price 60 cents per volume; postpaid 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 The New York Book Company 
 
 201 East 12th Street New York, N. Y. 
 
fNlY 
 
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