CHAPTER XXIII.
MORE MYSTERY.
The two boys remained quiet for several minutes listening to the bell'sdeep toned tolling. At last Walter remarked, "It don't sound as thoughit was very far away from us, not over two miles, I should say."
"Good," exclaimed Charley with satisfaction, "I was about to ask youwhat you thought the distance was. Two miles is about what I hadestimated. We can't say very exactly, for sound is likely to travelfar in this still air. But let us make a liberal allowance for thestillness. I think we are safe in saying that the sound comes from apoint not more than four miles distant from this island. Now, the nextquestion is, from what direction does it come?"
"It's hard to tell exactly, the sound seems to fill the air so, but Ishould say that it came from the westward," said Walter after anothermoment of careful listening.
"We agree again," declared Charley, "it is not likely that we are bothmistaken. Now that we have settled the distance and the direction fromwhich the sound comes, what do you say to starting out in the morningand trying to solve the mystery?"
"The captain will not let us go," Walter objected.
"For this once, I do not intend to consult him," Charley said. "Wewill get off before he is awake. We can leave a note saying that wewill be back before dark."
"Good," exclaimed his chum, "even if we accomplish nothing else, we mayfind an island that can be defended better than this one."
So it was settled and the boys crept back to bed eager for the comingof the morrow.
The eastern sky was just beginning to lighten a little when the boysgot up and dressed, collected what cold food they could find, and,leaving a note where the captain could not fail to find it, stole downto the canoe and quietly embarked.
Charley's shoulder was still too sore to permit of his using the paddleso he made himself comfortable in the bow while Walter in the sternwielded the blade.
The canoe was headed around to the westward, as near as they coulddetermine, for the point from whence had come the tolling of the bell."I noticed what looked like a large island, from our camp, about twomiles off and in the direction we are headed," observed Walter as theyglided swiftly away.
"I noticed it too," Charley answered, "and I do not think we can dobetter than start our search there, if it proves to be an island. Wewill be there in an hour at this rate. I wish I could spell you, Walt,but it don't seem right for you to be doing all the work."
"Nonsense, I am enjoying it," his chum protested, "everything aboutthis swamp is so novel and strange. See those cute little turtles onevery log, and those curious looking smoke-birds, and did you ever seeanything more beautiful than those trees with their hanging moss andwith every bough full of orchids of every color of the rainbow?"Walter ceased his paddling for several minutes and the canoe driftedslowly on while the two boys gazed with delight at the novel beautythat surrounded them. The dark, stagnant water through which theydrifted was nearly hidden from view by great white and goldwater-lilies and the butterfly flowers of water hyacinths, the trees oneither side stood like beautiful gray ghosts under their festoons ofSpanish moss through which flashed the blazing hues of floweringorchids. Brilliant-hued paroquets and other birds flitted amongst thetree-tops, while to finish the delicious languor of the scene the airhung heavy with the subtle, drowsy scent of wild jasmine.
"It is the great swamp in its happiest mood," observed Charley, "buteven here under all this beauty are hidden countless serpents andcrawling things, while everywhere under this fair appearance lurksfever and disease."
Walter resumed his paddle with a sigh of regret and sent the canoeflying around a point and away from the scene of beauty. Here thestream widened out to about half a mile in width and increased inbreadth as they advanced. Half a mile ahead lay the island they wereseeking, its banks rising high above the great lagoon in which it lay.It was about four hundred acres in extent and its shores were coveredwith a dense tropical growth. Between it and the canoe was anothertiny island about two hundred yards distant from its big sister.Between the boys and the smaller island floated a score of dark masseslike the roots of trees.
"Alligators," declared Walter as they drew nearer to the floatingobjects.
"I am not so sure about that," said Charley, who was watching theobjects with closest attention. "Sheer off, Walt, and give them aswide a berth as possible."
He watched with anxiety as two or three of the strange creatures, asthough impelled by curiosity, swam lazily out towards the canoe. "Giveway, Walt," he cried, "paddle as fast as you can."
Under Walter's vigorous strokes the canoe shot past the lazily swimmingcreatures whose curiosity did not appear to be great enough to inducethem to increase their exertions.
When they were left behind Charley heaved a sigh of relief. "They arecrocodiles," he explained, seeing his chum's look of surprise."Alligators are harmless, generally speaking, but if one of thosefellows should upset you, you'd be chewed up into mince meat in ajiffy. But here's island number one. I guess we do not care aboutlanding there now, do we? The bigger one looks far more promising,let's try it first."
Walter gave ready assent, and they passed by the little island withonly a casual glance.
In a few minutes more they had left it behind and had drawn close toits bigger sister. Choosing a place at which the timber seemedthinnest they ran the canoe up on shore and fastened it securely.
With guns in hand they scrambled up the high bank and stood for amoment surveying the surroundings. From that elevation, they could seequite clearly for a couple of miles in each direction. Save for thelittle island they had passed they could see no other solid land withinthe range of their vision.
Charley noted the fact with satisfaction. "The solution of our mysterymust lie on one of these two islands," he declared, "and the chancesare in favor of this one, so here goes to discover it," and he plungedinto the timber with Walter close at his heels. He had taken no morethan twenty steps when he stopped with an exclamation of surprise andastonishment, his way was barred by a great wall of stone that toweredseveral feet above his head. It had once been a fortification ofconsiderable strength, but growing trees had made breaches in it hereand there, their thrusting, up-growing trunks tumbling its blocks tothe ground, where they lay hidden by covering vines.
"Whew," whistled Walter as he readied his chumps side, "who could havebuilt this? It could hardly have been done by the Seminoles."
"No," said Charley, who was examining the strange wall carefully, "thisstone is all limestone, which is found only along the coast or at agreat depth. It has been brought here from a considerable distance.Indians may have done the work, but they never did it willingly. Ifthey did it at all, it was as slaves. But we have no time for idlespeculation. Let's walk along it and see how far it extends."
But after forcing their way along the wall for almost a quarter of amile, at the expense of a good deal of exertion, they gave up the task.
"I believe it extends clear around the island," Walter declared, "wecan't spare any more time to follow it up; it's noon already. Let'ssee what is inside."
Charley offered no objection, and the two boys climbed through a gap inthe wall and reached the great enclosure.
At first glance, they could see but little difference between the densegrowth amongst which they stood and that outside the wall, but a closerexamination showed that, while the timber was very thick, it was ofsmaller size than that which they had left behind.
"This was a clearing at one time, years and years ago," Charley said,"see, there is an ironwood stump there that still shows the signs of anaxe. It takes generations and generations for one of those stumps torot."
"Look, Charley," cried his chum who had pushed a little ahead, "justsee this."
A couple of strides brought Charley to his side, "A road," he cried inamazement.
Straight as an arrow, it extended before them into the depth of theforest. So well and carefully had its smooth surface bee
n laid thateven the assaults of time and the forest had been unable to dislodgethe great blocks of stone of which it was composed. Vines and creepershad grown over its surface and the forest trees had met in solid massabove it, but still it lay intact, a triumph of road building, as solidand strong as when built.
With a feeling of awe, the boys moved forward over its hard surface.They had to stoop continually to avoid branches and the tangled vinesand briers had often to be cut away, but their progress was easier andfar more rapid than it would have been through the forest itself.
They had proceeded perhaps a quarter of a mile when the road endedsuddenly at the base of another wall. A break in the wall told of anancient gateway but the gate itself was gone, probably rotted into dustby the passage of time.
The boys pushed through the gap and stopped short with a cry of wonder.Before them lay an inclosure of perhaps two acres, and in its centerstood a half dozen buildings of stone, all in a fair state ofpreservation. Near the building closest to the boys, a sparklinglittle spring gushed forth and flowed away down a gentle inclinetowards a corner of the wall.
"Someone must be living here," Walter cried, "see, there are no treesor vines growing here."
But Charley stooped and scratched away the dead leaves blown in fromthe trees of the forest. "As I suspected," he said, after a moment'sinspection, "this enclosure is paved like the road. My, what workmenthose fellows that did this job must have been for their work tocontinue so perfect down to this day! I tell you this thing makes mefeel creepy, Walt."
"And me too," agreed his chum. "Instead of solving a mystery, we havediscovered a greater one."
But the young hunters were not the kind of boys to remain long under asuperstitious dread, and they were soon approaching the buildingsbefore them.
The first building was the largest of the group. It was constructedentirely of stone and had been little hurt by the passage of time. Itsdoors and windows had, of course, rotted away, but otherwise itappeared uninjured. Passing through the arched doorway the boys foundthemselves in a large apartment divided into two by a stone partition.Small holes here and there in the walls left little doubt as to thecharacter of the building.
"It was their strong house or fort," Charley declared, as he gazedaround. "Here was where they used to gather when danger threatened.The other buildings are no doubt dwelling-houses where they lived intime of peace. You take one side and I will take the other and we willsearch this one over carefully."
But although the boys searched closely they could discover nothing totell them who had been the builders of this little city in the swamp.
By the time they had completed their search of the larger building, itwas nearly noon and they sat down in the shade in the great archeddoorway and ate the lunch they had brought with them.