In the Wonderful Land of Hez: or, The Mystery of the Fountain of Youth

“I guess not, professor; he only nipped off ther heel of yer shoe. Great haystacks! but that was a narrar escape, though! I didn’t know you was so ’tarnal heavy.”

As soon as the half-drowned man found that he was not injured, he got mad, and shaking his fist under Haypole’s nose, said:

“Martin, if you ever let such a thing as that occur again, I’ll discharge you on the spot!”

“Now, don’t git mad, old man; you won’t discharge me, you know you won’t. Why, thunderation! You couldn’t git along without me.”

“It makes no difference; the whole thing was your fault. If you had not made such an ass of yourself by pushing the boat so hard against the bank, I would not have fallen overboard at all. Then the idea of your standing here laughing at me when the alligator was coming after me with all his might. You think you are very funny, Martin Haypole; and I’ll tell you what I have a great notion of doing.”

“What?” asked the Yankee, showing just a slight tinge of passion.

“I have a great mind of thrashing you.”

“You had better not try it, professor. I never seen that man yet as could do that in a square rough and tumble.”

Whack!

The enraged professor struck his employee a smart blow on the face with his open hand.

“Thunder and lightning!” howled the Yankee; “I can’t stand that, even if you do be my boss.”

He made a sudden dive forward and seized Prof. Remington Easy by the collar, and prepared to stand him on his head.

But the fat man was still mad, and he ducked down and seized his opponent by his long legs.

Then each strove to force the other to the bottom of the boat.

“Drat your tarnal hide! I’ll wallop you, anyhow, now,” exclaimed Haypole.

He let out his full strength, and down went the fat professor, with him on top.

But as they struck the boat gave a lurch, and overboard went both of them.

And the alligator, who was still hovering about the place, opened wide his jaws and swam toward the two struggling forms, who were each striving to see who could shout “Murder!” the loudest.

CHAPTER II.

AN ACCEPTED PROPOSITION

“Dick this is a pretty wild spot, isn’t it?”

“Well, I should say so, Leo; and not only wild, but dangerous, as well.”

“Dangerous? Why, you are not afraid of the ’gators, are you?”

“Not exactly; but then there are other things besides alligators to look out for in this region.”

The two speakers were young men, eighteen or nineteen years of age.

They were seated upon the trunk of a fallen tree, on a small island, situated at the lower end of Lake Okechobee, Florida.

A few feet from them a negro lad was busily engaged in cooking a haunch of meat over a brightly burning fire.

The first speaker was Leo Malvern, the son of a wealthy St. Augustine merchant, and his companion was his cousin, Dick Vincey, of New York City.

Dick had come to the South to spend the fall and winter with his relatives, and his cousin had proposed that the two should make a trip as far as the Everglades.

Both liked adventure, and the idea of penetrating into that unexplored region pleased them to a great extent.

They procured all necessary supplies needful for such an undertaking, and set out for their destination, after traveling as far as they could by rail.

The young negro who was engaged in preparing their evening meal – for it was near sunset – was a comical-looking personage, to say the least.

He was not as black as some of his race, but the spread of his nose and mouth, and the habitual grin on his face gave him a decidedly humorous appearance.

He had lived at the home of Leo Malvern’s folks since his earliest infancy, and was a faithful servant.

This interesting young coon, who is to figure as one of the characters in our story, was known as Lucky.

He never knew any other name, and, consequently, was satisfied.

Like the majority of his people, he loved a banjo, and had brought one along on the trip for the amusement of himself and his two young masters, as he chose to call the boys.

“Is supper ready?” asked Dick, as he noticed that the darky was looking at them.

“Yes, sah; it am all done. Ready for ter dive in, you bet,” was the reply, accompanied by a broad grin.

“All right,” said Leo Malvern; “we may as well eat, then.”

The two boys now made their way to the white cloth spread upon the ground, and prepared to do justice to the tempting meal before them.

The odor of coffee and roasted possum made them hungry, although their appetites were not lacking, by any means.

But just as they were about to attack the tempting morsels, the sounds of an angry discussion were heard in the near vicinity.

Leo and Dick sprang to their feet at a bound and seized their rifles.

Their canoe was but a few feet distant, and it was but the work of a minute to spring into it and push off in the direction the sounds came from.

Up to this moment they had judged they were the only human beings in this out-of-the-way place.

But now it seemed that they were not. The voices were those of two men in a dispute, and the boys determined to catch a glimpse of their owners.

Dick paddled with all his might, while Leo held his rifle ready for instant use, in case those they heard might be enemies.

Rounding a bend, they suddenly came in sight of a small sailboat and two struggling men.

It was the Maid of the Marsh, and the two men were Prof. Remington Easy and the Yankee.