CHAPTER 15 _BEYOND THE BOARDWALK_
"Steady! Steady!" warned the old swamper as Louise shrank back in horrorfrom the big snake. "Don't move or he'll strike!"
Digging his paddle into the slimy bed of the narrow run, Trapper Joeinched the skiff backwards. Should the boat jar against the tree root, heknew the snake almost certainly would strike its poisonous fangs intoLouise's face.
"Hurry!" she whispered.
Slowly the skiff moved backwards through the still water, until at lastit lay at a safe distance. The snake had not moved from its restingplace.
Now that the danger was over, Louise collapsed with a shudder.
"You saved me!" she declared gratefully.
"It weren't nothin'," he replied as he sought another run. "There'sthousands o' varmints like him in this swamp."
"And to think Penny and I dared come here by ourselves the other day! Wedidn't realize how dangerous it was!"
The incident had so unnerved both of the girls, that some minutes elapsedbefore they recalled the strange pounding sound which had previously heldtheir attention.
"I don't hear it now," Penny said, listening intently. "Just before weran into that snake, you were about to say something, Joe."
The guide stopped paddling a moment. "Was I now?" he asked. "I don'trecollect."
"We were talking about the strange noise. You said you never had heardanything like it before in the swamp. Then you added--'I wonder--'"
"Jest a-thinkin'," Joe said, picking up the paddle once more. "One does alot o' that in the swamp."
"And not much talking," rejoined Penny, slightly annoyed. "What do youthink made the noise?"
"Couldn't rightly say."
Realizing it was useless to question the old man further, Penny droppedthe subject. However, she was convinced that Joe had at least a theory asto the cause of the strange pounding sound.
"He knows a lot he isn't telling," she thought. "But I'll never get aword out of him by asking."
If Joe were unwilling to discuss the signal-like tappings, he showed noreluctance in telling the girls about the swamp itself.
Wild turkey, one of the wariest fowls in the area, could be found only onthe islands far interior, they learned. Although there were more than adozen species of snakes, only three needed to be feared, the rattlers,the coral snake, and the cottonmouth.
"Ye have to be keerful when yer passin' under tunnels o' overhanginglimbs," Old Joe explained. "Sometimes they'll be hangin' solid withlittle snakes."
"Don't tell us any more," Louise pleaded. "I'm rapidly losing enthusiasmfor this place!"
"Snakes mostly minds their own business 'less a feller goes botherin''em," Trapper Joe remarked. "Too bad more folks ain't that way."
The boat floated on, and the heat rising from the water becameincreasingly unpleasant. Penny mopped her face with a handkerchief andconsidered asking the old man to turn back.
Before she could speak, Joe who had been peering intently at the shore,veered the skiff in that direction.
"Are the orchids here?" Louise asked in surprise.
Old Joe shook his head. "Jest want to look at something," he remarked.
He brought the skiff to shore, and looking carefully about for snakes,stepped out.
"May we go with you?" asked Penny, whose limbs had become cramped fromsitting so long in one position.
"Kin if yer a mind to, but I only aim to look at that dead campfire."
"A campfire?" Penny questioned. "Where?"
The old trapper pointed to a barren, dry spot a few feet back from thewater's edge, where a circle of ashes and a few charred pieces of woodlay.
"Why, I hadn't noticed it," Penny said. Wondering why the trapper shouldbe interested in a campfire, she started to ask, but thought better ofit. By remaining silent, she might learn--certainly not if she inquireddirectly.
Trapper Joe gazed briefly at the camp-site, kicking the dead embers withthe toe of his heavy boot.
"Thet fire hain't very old--must have been built last night," heobserved.
"By a swamper, I suppose," said Penny casually. "One of the Hawkins'family perhaps."
"It hain't likely they'd be comin' here after nightfall. An' that firenever was built by a swamper."
"Then a stranger must be hiding in the area!" Penny cried. "DannyDeevers!"
"Maybe so, but Danny was city-bred and never could survive long in thewilds. One night here would likely be his last."
"Supposing someone who knew the swamp were helping him?"
"Thet would make it easier, but it weren't Danny Deevers who built thisfire."
"How can you be so positive?"
"Deevers was a big man, weren't he?"
"Why, fairly large, I guess."
"Then would he be leavin' little tracks?" Joe pointed to severalshoeprints visible in the soft muck. "This man, whoever he be, didn'thave anyone campin' with him. Leastwise, there hain't no tracks exceptfrom the one kind o' shoe."
"I guess you're right," agreed Penny, disappointed to have her theoryexploded. "I wonder who did camp here?"
"I'm a-wonderin' myself," replied the old trapper. "If it's the fellerthet stole my gun, I'd like pow'ful well to catch up with him."
Joe inspected the ground for some distance inland, satisfying himselfthat no one was about. As they returned to the boat, he saidthoughtfully:
"Not in years heve I been as far as Black Island, but I've got an itch togo there now."
"Good!" chuckled Penny. "I want to see the place myself."
"It's a long, hard row. I couldn't rightly take you'uns."
"Why not?"
"Fer one thing, I hain't sure what I'll find at the island."
"All the better," laughed Penny.
But the old trapper was not to be persuaded. "The trip ain't one feryoung'uns. Likewise, with three in a boat, it's hard goin'. Part o' theway, the run's so shallow, ye have to pole."
"In a polite way, he's telling us we're excess baggage," Louise said,grinning at Penny. "To me it sounds like a long, hot trip."
"I kin go another day," said the trapper. "There hain't no hurry."
"But you're well on your way there now," Penny remarked. "How long wouldit take to go and return here--that is, if you went alone?"
"Two hours if I made it fast."
"Then why not go?" Penny urged generously. "Isn't there somewhere Louiseand I could wait?"
"Without a boat?" Louise interposed in alarm.
"I hain't suggestin' ye do it," said the old trapper. "But there is asafe place ye could wait."
"Where?" asked Penny.
"On the plank walk."
"Does it extend so far into the swamp?"
"This is a section of an old walk that was put in years ago," Joeexplained. "It used to hook up with the planking at the entranceway, butit went to pieces. Folks never went to the trouble to rebuild thissection."
"All right, take us there," Penny urged, ignoring Louise's worried frown."If we're above the water, we should be safe enough."
The old trapper rowed the girls on a few yards to a series of shallowbays where water lilies and fragrant pink orchids grew in profusion. Asthey drew in their breath at the beautiful sight, he chuckled withpleasure.
"Purty, hain't it?" he asked. "Gatherin' posies should keep ye busy forawhile. The boardwalk's right here, and goes on fer quite a spell beforeit plays out. If ye stay on the walk, you'll be safe until I git back."
Louise gazed with misgiving at the old planks which were decayed andbroken. As she and Penny alighted, the boards swayed at nearly everystep.
"I'll pick ye up right here, soon's I can," the old guide promised. "Ifye keep to the shade, ye won't git so much sunburn."
"What if you shouldn't get back before nightfall," Louise said nervously."Wouldn't we be stranded here?"
"I'll git back."
"Where does the walk lead?" Penny asked.
"
Nowheres in particular any more. Ye'd best not foller it far. Jest waitfer me purty close here, and I'll be back soon's I kin."
Reaching into the bottom of the skiff, the trapper tossed a parcel oflunch to Penny.
"Here's some meat if ye git hongry while I'm gone. Mind ye stay on theplanks!"
With this final warning, Joe paddled away and soon was lost to viewbehind the tall bushes.