FUGITIVES.

It was possible to reach the water’s edge without passing the front of the house, and Jake led the way at a rapid pace, old Chloe panting and groaning in her efforts to walk as fast as the others; but growing angry whenever a proposition was made to slacken the speed for her benefit. Each one was loaded down with bundles, and in addition Gertie carried the kitten; but all pressed forward so eagerly that in less than ten minutes they were on board the new purchase. She was a trim little craft of not more than five tons burden, but of such light draught that it would be safe to cruise in her anywhere among the keys which were situated on the shoals.

No fault could have been found with Jake’s hasty bargain. The boat was sloop-rigged, with a large cockpit, and a tiny cuddy starting from just abaft the mast, in which were four bunks. Judging from appearances she was nearly new, for her sails and rigging were in the best possible condition.

“A party of sportsmen from up North brought her down here for one season’s huntin’ an’ fishin’,” Jake said as the fugitives stepped aboard, “an’ I got her at a bargain. She’ll carry us anywhere, an’ I’d rather trust her in a storm than that lumbering old lighter we towed from Content Key.”

Ben was not a good judge of such property, but he thought they had every reason to be satisfied with the purchase, more especially after being told that the price paid was only an hundred dollars, and even old Chloe appeared willing to trust her precious body on the little craft.

As may be supposed, no time was wasted in conversation. Although it seemed as if they had succeeded in giving Dr. Harlan the slip, it was possible he would appear at any moment, and matters might be very awkward for Captain Irwin if the quack should learn in which direction the little party had gone.

While Jake gave the details of his business transactions, he and Ben were loosing the canvas, and the story had hardly been told before the sloop was gliding out of the harbor toward the north, under a breeze so gentle that she sailed very nearly on an even keel.

Old Chloe, Gertie and the cat were in the cuddy, for if Dr. Harlan should chance to come on the dock before the yacht was out of sight he would hardly fail to understand the true state of the case on seeing two females aboard.

“Now, where are we going?” Ben asked, after he had done his portion of the work by trimming the canvas down, flat, for the wind was from the west.

“At this rate of sailin’ we oughter be ten miles away in a couple of hours, an’ we won’t think of stoppin’ till then. There are plenty of keys ’round here to choose from, an’ we’ll take the smallest we can find that has any trees on it, for we must have somethin’ in the way of foliage to hide the tent.”

Then, as a means of driving away the fear which was imprinted so plainly on Gertie’s pale face, Jake begun to talk of Dr. Harlan’s being defeated in his appeal to the law as if it was already an assured fact, and before the little craft was five miles from the shore those on board had the appearance of pleasure-seekers rather than fugitives.

At the expiration of two hours the yacht was skirting along the side of a small reef, not more than half the size of Content Key, on the north of which grew a thick clump of mangroves.

“There’s where we’ll land,” Jake said as he shifted the helm in order to run across the shoal water and gain the shelter of the trees. “’Cordin to the looks of the place we might stay here a year without bein’ found. Take the tiller, Ben, while I go forward to see how much water we’ve got.”

The little craft was of such light draught that she run to the very edge of the shore before grounding, and ten minutes later the party were in the midst of the trees selecting a site for the camp.

This task was neither long nor difficult; the mangroves grew so closely together that a shelter from the wind could be had anywhere in the thicket, and the first clear space sufficiently large to admit of spreading the canvas was the one selected.

Two small A tents, each about six feet square, had been purchased by Jake, and he said as he unrolled them ready for setting up:

“I would have got a big one if I could a’ found it; but you see we were kinder pressed for time, an’ it wasn’t safe to be too particular. Anyway, Gertie an’ aunty will have a house to themselves, an’ there’ll be plenty of breathin’ space by dividin’ the stores between the tents.”

Ben believed this arrangement was much better than if one heavy canvas was to be shared by all. There would be less danger in case of a heavy wind; the small camps could not be seen so readily from the water, and they were thus saved the labor of trying to form two rooms from a large interior.

He and Jake set about erecting the shelter even before unloading the stores, and the tents were placed side by side in such a manner that by raising the inside walls during the day the effect of a single camp was obtained.

Aunt Chloe and Gertie, seated on the sand close at hand, watched this portion of the work, and the cat scampered around the key as if rejoiced at being once more where she had perfect freedom of action, but running up to her young mistress from time to time to assure herself that there was no possibility of being deserted.

The task of taking the stores on shore occupied but a few moments after the tents were erected, and when this had been done Jake said in a tone of satisfaction:

“I reckon we’ll be about as snug here as if we’d staid at Key West, an’ I ain’t sure but I’ll like it better. Aunt Chloe an’ Gertie can put the house to rights, an’ after me an’ Ben have seen to the yacht a bit we’ll bury the water breaker so’s to keep it somewhere near cool. Now, lad, let’s see what can be done to hide our craft, for we don’t know how soon that quack may take it in his head to look ’round the keys for us.”

This was not an easy matter, for the sloop was much too heavy to be hauled upon shore, and her mast could not be unstepped without taking down all the standing rigging. After studying the question carefully for some moments, and realizing that the little craft must of a necessity remain in the water, Jake said with the air of a man who has solved a difficult problem:

“We’ll anchor her close in shore, and then cover the spars and hull with mangrove branches, so she’ll look like a tree when seen from a distance. It isn’t likely Gertie’s step-father would take the trouble of searchin’ every key, an’ if he doesn’t see anything suspicious there won’t be much danger of his coming ashore.”

It was two hours before this work had been done to Jake’s entire satisfaction, and then it would have required a very close scrutiny to distinguish a boat in this seeming clump of bushes which was apparently growing in the water about ten feet from the shore. It would be necessary to move the little craft further out in case of a heavy sea, but while there was no surf running she would be perfectly safe even with her bow resting on the sand. The light kedge was used to moor her, and Jake hove the cable taut, intending to let out more slack during the evening.

To land after the task had been accomplished it was necessary to wade a short distance; but that was of little consequence since the weather was warm and the water very shoal.

Then the breaker, a small cask holding about five gallons, was buried in the sand at such a depth that the wide bung was but just exposed, and the laborers were quite ready for the cold meal old Chloe had prepared.

“We’ll rig up some kind of a fire-place in the morning, an’ if we can’t do much cookin’ on it you can at least have your tea,” Ben said as he did full justice to the bread and butter, boiled ham and fruit.

“I ain’t gwine ter rouse any trubble,” Chloe said with the air of one who fancies she is making a martyr of herself for others; “but I can’t linger ’roun’ here berry long widout a little sometin’ hot.”

“You shall have it now,” Jake replied quickly, probably because he also desired a warm drink, and before the mantle of night had covered the key a steaming pot of tea was served by way of dessert to the cold supper they had enjoyed.

All of the party were tired, for the excitement had wearied as much as the labor, and when the meal was brought to a close every one felt perfectly willing to retire. A lantern was hung in Gertie and Chloe’s tent, the wall of canvas dropped, and without a thought of the yacht, which was riding at a dangerously short cable, the ex-cook wrapped himself in the blankets, fully prepared for a long night’s rest.

If Jake had been half as good a sailor as he claimed to be cook, his first thought would have been to care for the safety of the boat; but he was not, and with foliage enough on her spars to act as a reasonably good-sized sail, the little craft swung to and fro under the influence of the night wind, lifting the kedge with each undulation of the light swell as she slipped inch by inch into deeper water.

The feeling of security which came upon the fugitives when they succeeded in leaving Key West without being seen by Dr. Harlan, increased decidedly after the tents were put up on the tiny key, and served to make their slumbers all the more profound. When the sun looked up over the sea at the low-lying reefs they were yet asleep, and not until his rays had dissipated the dampness of the dew did either awake.

It was old Chloe who first opened her eyes, and she performed her toilet in the salt water without noticing that any of their belongings were missing. Her only thought was to begin the duties of the day under the mild exhilaration of her favorite beverage, and while building a small fire near the canvas dwellings, Jake made his appearance, yawning until it seemed as if his jaws would be dislocated.

“We had a pretty long watch below, eh, aunty? I feel as if I could go back an’ take another twelve-hour snooze, but we’ll have all the sleep we want before it’s time to make Key West agin. Halloo! What’s----”

He made no effort to finish the question, but stood staring out over the sea as if he saw some terrible sight, and his loud exclamation caused Ben to come from the tent very quickly.

“What’s the matter?” he asked nervously, alarmed by the expression on the man’s face.

“The boat!” Jake cried, pointing to the shore where Ben had last seen the sloop. “I forgot to give her more cable before I turned in, an’ she has gone adrift!”

Ben gave one quick glance around, and as nothing met his eager gaze but the placid sea and shimmering green of the foliage, he ran at full speed toward the indentation of the beach which had served as harbor.

Here he gained an unobstructed view of the waters, on which, far away to the eastward, could be seen a clump of green as if some of the mangroves had left the reef on an independent cruise.

“There she is!” he cried as Jake and Chloe joined him, the latter puffing and blowing like a miniature steam-engine. “I believe I can swim that far, for the sea is as calm as a pond.”

“Don’t go to tryin’ anything so wild as that,” and Jake seized the boy by the shoulder roughly to prevent him from taking off his clothes. “There are plenty of sharks ’round here, an’ even if they could be steered clear of, you’d never reach her.”

swimming for the boat.+]

“But we can’t let her drift away,” Ben cried, struggling to release himself from the cook’s detaining grasp. “If she’s lost how can we get to Key West? Nobody knows where we are, an’ it might be two or three months before Captain Irwin could find us among all these reefs.”

“That’s true, lad, but however bad we’re fixed now, I ain’t goin’ to let you make it worse by doin’ what’ll surely end in death. The sloop is driftin’ further away every minute, an’ it would take a ten-mile swim to catch her.”

“We can’t stand here an’ see her go without doin’ anything to prevent it.”

“We’ve got to, lad. It’s my fault that she went adrift, an’ I’d take pretty big chances for the sake of bringing her back, but babies couldn’t be any more helpless than we are now. I oughter be thumped black an’ blue, an’ then pickled for bein’ sich a fool. The idea of my goin’ to sleep when I knew the cable was hove so short that any catspaw of wind would send her adrift!”

It seemed as if Jake’s condemnation of himself caused Ben to fully realize the situation, and he no longer made any attempt to swim after the slowly receding craft. When his excitement subsided a little he understood how futile would be such an effort, and said quietly as he removed the cook’s hand from his shoulder:

“You needn’t be afraid of my tryin’ to swim, for it would be foolish. Don’t blame yourself for what can’t be helped, an’ let’s go back to the tent. Perhaps we can rig up some plan for gettin’ away from here when we want to go.”

By this time Gertie had joined the party; but, much to Ben’s surprise, she did not appear to consider the loss of the boat such a great misfortune. Her one fear was that she might be again in Dr. Harlan’s power, and any disaster would have seemed small by comparison.

“Captain Irwin will find us,” she said confidently. “We have got a comfortable place in which to live, food enough for some time, and it’s wicked to feel so badly about what can’t be helped.”

“Well,” Jake said with a long-drawn breath of astonishment, “if a child like you can take things so easy, I reckon an old shell-back like me ain’t got any call to kick up a row. We’ll get breakfast, an’ then kinder take account of stock, for we’ve got to be mighty careful of the provisions an’ water till we know how to get more.”

Then Ben remembered how small the cask was which they had buried in the sand, and he knew the time must speedily come when there would be no water to drink; but nothing could be gained by reminding his companions of this unpleasant fact, therefore he followed the others back to the tents in silence.