Bobby Blake on a Plantation: or, Lost in the Great Swamp

“Leave them there a few minutes, and they’ll be fit for a king to eat,” said the Southern boy.

“Seems to me you’re what Mr. Leith would call an unbounded optimist,” said Bobby. “I’ve got my doubts if they’ll even be fit for me to eat, let alone a king.”

“Well, we won’t have long to wait to find out,” said Lee. “I imagine they’re pretty nearly cooked now.”

“Oh, don’t be in a hurry,” said Bobby. “I’m perfectly willing to wait a while, you know.”

“Maybe you are, but we’re not,” retorted Lee, as he scraped the fire aside and fished out an egg. “Here you are, Bobby, I’ve tasted them before and they’re not really so bad, especially when you’re hungry. Go to it.”

“How do you eat the things, anyway?” asked Bobby, looking doubtfully at the strange object. “I suppose neither of you happens to have an egg cup and a spoon in your pocket, have you?”

“I usually carry them around with me, but I reckon I must have lost them,” said Lee, sarcastically. “Just chip the end off, and go to it, Bobby. You’ll enjoy it, believe me.”

“I’d like to believe you, but I’m afraid I can’t,” said Bobby. “Well, I can only die once. Good-by, fellows. Here goes.”

He chipped part of the thick outside covering off the egg, and very gingerly took a small bite.

“What’s it like?” questioned Fred, watching him anxiously. “Is it as bad as I think it is?”

“It isn’t bad at all, if I only had a little salt to go with it,” said Bobby, taking another and larger bite this time. “You fellows had better dig in, or there won’t be any left.”

“What does it taste like, anyway?” asked Fred, doubtfully.

“Alligator egg,” returned Bobby, munching away. “I was elected to try these eggs first, but there was nothing in it about telling you fellows what they tasted like. Try ’em for yourselves.”

“But that was the idea that you should taste them, so you could tell us whether they were good or not,” complained Fred.

“You should have thought of that at the time, then,” said Bobby. “It’s too late now. Help yourself. After all, the only way to learn is by experience, as the coach is always telling us back at Rockledge.”

“Well, I’m getting hungry enough to eat an alligator, much less its eggs. Pass me over one of those things, will you, Lee?”

“Sure thing,” said that individual, “and while I’m about it, I reckon I’ll have one for myself.”

Presently all three boys were munching away, and after they had each eaten two of the eggs the general verdict was that they “were not half bad.”

“I only wish I could get a few home with me,” said Bobby, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “I’d like to give a few to our cook, Meena, and see what she’d do about it. She says she doesn’t like boys, and I’ve got a hunch she’d like this one less after that.”

“I wish I had a few of her doughnuts,” sighed Fred. “I don’t think she likes me much, but sometimes I can’t help liking her after I’ve eaten some of the good things she cooks.”

“Please don’t mention it,” returned Bobby. “It makes my mouth water just to think of it. Those eggs are filling, but that’s about the best you can say of them. But I suppose we ought to be thankful to have even them. Those and what fish we can catch wouldn’t keep us going very long, though. When shall we make another try to get out of this everlasting swamp?”

“I think we’d better start as soon as it’s light enough to see, to-morrow,” said Lee. “I hate to think of tackling the bog again, but we’ve just got to do it.”

“Well, then, that’s settled,” came from Fred. “We’ll get a good sleep to-night and start strong, anyway. Don’t you think it would be a good idea to cook a lot of those eggs and take them along with us? There’s no telling how long it may be before we find any other food.”

“That’s a good idea,” said Bobby. “Let’s get busy and cook some right now. Thank fortune they are fresh.”

Before long the boys had a dozen of the alligator’s eggs cooked hard. By the time they had finished this task, it was nearly dark, and after gathering a good supply of firewood they built up the blaze and lay down to discuss their plans for the morrow.

As night came on all manner of strange noises arose from the swamp, chief among them being the snorting bellow of the alligators. Suddenly, in a momentary lull, they heard, far off, a wild, long-drawn cry, that hushed their voices and set their hair creeping.

The shrieking wail, carrying an indescribable note of ferocity and menace, rose and fell, and then was gone, eclipsed by the nearer noises of the swamp, that now resumed their usual volume.

“What was that?” whispered Fred, as the boys gazed wide-eyed at each other.

“That was the cry of a cougar,” said Lee, his voice a trifle shaky.

“A cougar!” exclaimed Fred, “what’s that?”

“Its a kind of panther,” explained Lee. “There used to be a lot of them around here, but now there aren’t many left. What there are, though, are fierce enough to make up for that.”

“Gee!” exclaimed Bobby. “I hope that fellow doesn’t take it into his head to pay us a visit.”

“He wouldn’t be likely to come into the swamp this far,” said Lee, although there was not much conviction in his voice. “But we’ll have to be on our guard anyway. We’d better stand watches to-night and keep the fire going.”

“We’d probably have had to do that, anyhow,” said Fred. “Your Southern winters aren’t like the ones we’re used to up North, but just the same it’s pretty cold sleeping out at night without any blankets.”

“I should say so,” said Bobby. “It’s fairly warm when the sun’s shining, but I thought I was going to freeze to death last night, sure.”

The boys listened anxiously for a repetition of the wild cry that had so disturbed them, but apparently the cougar was not coming in their direction, for they heard nothing further to indicate his presence. Nevertheless, they kept a good fire going all that night, which prevented the one on watch from seeing two glowing green eyes whose owner prowled restlessly about just beyond range of the firelight, as silent as any shadow but more to be feared than the bellowing alligators, who made the night hideous with their noise.

CHAPTER XXIII

TRACKED BY A PANTHER

But in, the morning there was no sign of this midnight prowler, and with the rising sun the boys gave little thought to the weird sounds of the night before. They were up at the first break of dawn, somewhat sore and stiff from the effects of their hard bed, but still full of “pep” for anything the day might have to offer.

They had decided to follow in a general way the course that had taken them so far, that is, head in the general direction of home, but still keep away from the impassable low ground in the vicinity of the river. Bobby wanted Lee to take the lead, but the latter objected.

“I got us into a pretty bad mess the last time,” he said, “and you got us out again. So now, you’d better lead again.”

“Oh, it was mostly luck on my part,” Bobby replied. “How did I know we were going to hit on this island?”

“Your brand of luck is what we need, then,” said Lee. “Let’s hope it will hold out long enough to get us out of this swamp.”

“Well, I’ll do my best, then,” said Bobby, “but don’t blame me if I land you at the bottom of some nice mudhole.”

“I’ll take a chance on your getting through all right, and it will be more than luck that does it, too,” said Fred.

“Let’s go, then,” urged Bobby; and the three friends resumed their perilous journey.

They had by this time become so expert in choosing the best spots to step that they found their progress less arduous than they had expected. But now a new difficulty arose, for the sun became clouded over, and this left them at a loss as to direction, this having been their only guide so far.

Bobby grew more and more anxious as the haziness continued to increase, and at last called a halt on a bit of high ground that was a little harder than the surrounding bog.

“Looks as though we’re rather up against it now, fellows,” he said. “If we can’t see the sun, we won’t know what direction we’re going in, and chances are we’ll just be getting in deeper all the time instead of getting out.”

“But we can’t stay here,” objected Lee. “We’ve just got to keep going, and hope we’ll come out somewhere, anyway. We know we’re headed about right now, so why not try to keep on that way?”