Betty said nothing, but in the semi-darkness her chums could see theworried look on her face.
Suddenly there was a crashing through the underbrush, announcing theapproach of someone.
"Here he comes!" exclaimed Amy.
"Let's call!" suggested Grace.
"Wait a minute," advised Betty.
The figure of a young man came into view. He looked about him nervously,turning his head from side to side like a timid bird.
"That isn't Tom!" said Mollie.
Low as her voice was the youth heard. He fairly leaped forward, andBetty, as she had a better glimpse of him, spoke:
"It's The Loon! The one who saved our boat for us!"
CHAPTER XXI
TO THE RESCUE
For a few seconds it was like a tableau, the strange young man, moreragged than before (if that were possible) standing in the midst of theclearing, and gazing as though spellbound at the girls in the motorboat.
On their part, Betty and her chums, following the half-whisperedannouncement made by Betty, stared at The Loon almost as if he might bea ghost of the Florida forest.
For perhaps a quarter of a minute they all remained thus, scarcelymoving--hardly breathing--and then the young man made a slow turn. Heseemed about to plunge back into the tangle whence he had come.
"Don't do that!" said Mollie, hardly above a whisper. "He mustn't dothat!" and she seemed appealing to her chums. "We must keep himhere--speak to him--perhaps he knows where Tom went."
"Or, if he doesn't, perhaps he can tell us which way to go to get home,"breathed Grace. "He's some company, anyhow."
The Loon, to give him the title bestowed on him by the men in the boat,hesitated as he caught the sound of whispering. He shifted from one footto the other, much after the manner of some animal seeking to escapeunnoticed.
He took a step backward. By this time Betty had brought her boat closeto the extending tree branch, where she had made fast before. The powerhad been shut off and the _Gem_ had drifted to the former mooring place.Now Betty was ready for action.
"I beg your pardon," she said in a low voice, and with an intonationcalculated to disperse the fears of even the most timid youth, "but willyou be so good as to help us again? We are the girls, you know, whoseboat you got when the manatee was towing it away."
"Wha--what?" gasped the other, and he seemed much afraid.
"We're the same girls," went on Betty. "You know, we saw you poling downthe river that day. If you come closer you can see us and make sure. Weneed help again. We are lost and a friend of ours is missing. Wait, I'lllight the lamps," and with a turn of the switch Betty set aglow theelectric lights, operated by a storage battery.
The youth started again. Clearly he was a most timid creature.
"We saw the men who were after you," put in Mollie, thinking to add tohis confidence. "And we didn't tell; did we, girls."
"No!" came in a chorus. In spite of the rather unprepossessingappearance of the youth the girls were glad to see him.
"Now will you help us again?" asked Mollie. "We've had a dreadful time,and we need help. You won't go away; will you?"
"N--no!" was the hesitating answer. "I came to look for you, but Iwasn't sure--you see I have to be so careful."
"Gracious, I wonder if he thinks we wanted to capture him?" thoughtGrace, feeling about amid the cushions for some chocolates. That was asure sign Grace had recovered her equanimity.
"You came to look for us?" echoed Betty, wonderingly.
"Yes, miss," was the answer. "He sent me to find you."
"He? Who do you mean?" Betty questioned anxiously.
"Tom--Tom Osborne. He told me to come here and tell you he couldn'tcome."
"Couldn't come--why?" Betty's voice had a note of fear in it now.
"'Cause they've caught him. He's cotched, Miss."
"Caught? By whom?" It was Mollie who questioned now.
Before answering The Loon, which name seemed to fit the poor creaturewell, glided forward, glancing back nervously over his shoulder now andthen, as though he feared pursuit.
"Oh dear!" murmured Grace. "I don't like this. It's worse than the ghostof the island."
"Be quiet," urged Betty. "It may be all right yet. I'm going to lightmore lamps."
Thus far she had only set aglow one in the after cockpit, and the redand green side lights, together with the one on the small signal mast.Now she flooded the cabin with radiance, for it was getting more andmore gloomy in the forest clearing.
"Won't you come aboard?" urged Betty kindly. "We will do all we can forTom Osborne if he is in trouble. We can't understand why he deserted us.We have been in much distress, we got lost and had to come back. Comeaboard and tell us all about it so we will know what to do. Perhaps youare hungry. We left food there," and she indicated it. "Bring it here,and then perhaps you can take us back to the bungalow. The men therewill organize a searching party if need be. But tell us who has caughtTom."
The Loon did not answer for a minute. He looked to where Betty pointed,saw the packet of food and went toward it eagerly. Then he brought it tothe moored boat.
"I am hungry," he said simply.
"Then eat first, and talk later," urged Mollie. "I know what it is to behungry."
"I'll admit I'm hungry now," said Grace. "We left enough food so wecould have some, I think."
"Hush! we had a good lunch," said Betty, "and there is no telling whatwill happen before morning. Grace, you and Amy might make some hotchocolate."
"Will you tell us your name now, or are you still afraid?" asked Bettyof the youth, who was eating ravenously. "The men called you--TheLoon--I believe it was."
"Yes, Miss, that's my name. You see I'm not quite right in the head. Igot hurt when I was a baby. I'm harmless, but I can't do much work--I'mnot strong. My name is Harry Jackson."
"And have you no home--no friends?"
"Not as I knows on, Miss, no. I had an uncle once, but he died. I livearound the camps--sometimes the men is good to me, and sometimes not."
He ate quickly, but daintily, and was not all uncouth. From time to timehe glanced about like some frightened animal.
"They calls me The Loon," he went on. "But I know some things. I knowmore than they want me to."
"Do you think you could pilot this boat to Mr. Stonington's place?"asked Mollie with much anxiety.
"Yes, Miss, I could. I know my way all around these waters. I can takeyou there. But we ought to help him--help Tom and the other one. Ipromised I'd come for you."
"Then tell us where Tom is--who has him--how did he come to send you forus--who is 'the other one'?"
Betty questioned thus rapidly. The Loon passed his hand over hisforehead as though to brush away the cobwebs from his poor brain. Thenhe said:
"The same men caught him, Miss."
"What same men?"
"The ones who were after me. There's a camp back there in the woods, andthey have him, and the other one, too. I started for help for him longago, but they got after me and took me back. Then they brought Tom inthis afternoon. He saw me and told me to come for you. They didn't seehim tell me. We've got to go to the rescue."
"I should say we had!" exclaimed Betty. "This is all very mysterious,Harry." She could not bear to call him The Loon. "Can you tell us anymore about all this? Why did Tom go away?"
"That's it!" cried the queer youth. "That's what I've been trying toremember. He told me to be sure and tell you that he didn't run away. Hesaw you getting flowers, he said, and he went off in the woods a way tolook for some rare kind for you. He didn't mean to go so far. Then themen caught him, and took him away before he could warn you. That's whathe wanted me to be sure and tell you. Now I've remembered," and heseemed quite pleased in his own peculiar way.
"But who is this other one you started to help?" asked Grace, a strangeeagerness creeping into her voice.
"Wait, please, wait," begged The Loon, again passing his hand over hisbrow. "I can't think very fast. I know the bad men in the lu
mber camphad Tom, and the other one--I don't know his name. But maybe we canrescue them both. If you'll come----"
He sprang from the boat to the tree branch and thence ashore. Then hestood waiting in the glare of the boat's lights.
"Wait," said Betty gently. "We must go for help, first. Come, Harry, getaboard and take us to the orange grove. Then we will get Mr. Hammond andsome men to come to the rescue."
CHAPTER XXII
THE EVERGLADE CAMP
The Loon stood irresolute for a few seconds. He seemed to want to rushoff into the dark woods again, and evidently expected the girls tofollow him. But, though they were very anxious to effect the rescue oftheir friend Tom, and the other unknown, held in some distant camp,Betty and her chums would take no risks.
"Come!" called the Little Captain to the simple-minded lad, "we will gofor help, and soon be back here--if you can guide us."
"Oh, yes, I know the way all over these parts--even in the Everglades."
"Are there Everglades here?" asked Mollie, who had heard much of thosestrange, floating forests.
"A small patch," answered The Loon, "but not much like the realEverglades. It is a big swampy tract, and the camp is in there."
"A turpentine camp?" asked Grace, filled with sudden hope.
"No, the bosses are getting out a certain kind of wood. Oh! but it ishard work. The wood is partly under water, and the bugs and mosquitoesand alligators are terrible. I ran away, for I couldn't stand it."
"Poor fellow," murmured Amy. "Oh, to think of Tom Osborne and some otheryoung fellow being there."
"Just like my poor brother Will," agreed Grace. "Oh, I wonder if hecould be the 'other one' he refers to! Listen," she went on to thesimple youth eagerly, "I am going to describe a young man to you. I wantyou to tell me if he is like the one you once tried to rescue--the timeyou saved our boat," and she gave a close description of her brother.
"Is the 'other one' like that?" she asked breathlessly.
The Loon shook his head.
"No," he said slowly, "not at all like that. He is very thin, this one,and he is lame."
"Oh dear!" half sobbed Grace. "I was beginning to have such hope!"
"Never mind," consoled Betty. "We will find your brother yet. Come now,we are losing time. Come, Harry," she said gently.
"And the other one, too?" he asked eagerly. "I promised I would helphim, and took his money; but I lost it."
"Yes, we will rescue him, too," said Betty. "Come now."
The Loon was satisfied that his friend would be helped, so he spranginto the boat. Betty started the engine and then, with the powerful gasheadlight aglow, she turned the wheel over to The Loon.
However simple-minded the poor youth might be, however undecided andtimid in the forest, he seemed to be a new person on the water. Therewas a self-reliance about him, a poise and a certain ability that heseemed to have acquired suddenly. Without a trace of hesitation heguided the boat through the winding course of the creek that flowed intothe main stream.
Coming to the turn he took an entirely different direction from thatfollowed by the girls.
"That's where we made our mistake!" exclaimed Mollie.
The Loon did not respond--he was too busy peering ahead at the darkwater, which was illuminated only for a comparatively short distance bythe searchlight.
"Suppose--suppose we hit--an alligator!" voiced Grace.
"Don't suppose at all," retorted Betty. "It's bad for the nerves."
It was now so dark that the girls could not see just the course taken,and so could not know where it was they had made other mistakes. But thedarkness did not seem to bother The Loon. Like the bird whose name hebore he seemed able to see in the gloom as well as in the light.
"Are we coming back with the men when they make the rescue?" askedGrace.
"Oh, no!" exclaimed Amy. "I'd be afraid."
"I wouldn't!" declared Mollie. "I think we ought to come along."
"So do I!" added Grace. "That other one, of whom Harry spoke, may be mybrother after all; even if it isn't a turpentine camp we are going to."
"It hardly seems possible," objected Betty. "The description is sodifferent. And Will isn't lame."
"No," responded Grace, in a low voice. "But, oh, how I wish we couldrescue him!"
"Did this other young man--the one who gave you money--tell you hisname?" asked Betty, determined to try again to bring some glimmer ofmemory to The Loon.
"Yes," answered the simple-minded lad, "but I can't think of it. My mindisn't all there," he added cheerfully, as though it was something to beproud of.
"It wasn't Will, was it?" asked Grace.
"No. The men called him Hippity-hop, 'cause he was lame, I guess. Butmaybe I could find your brother."
"I wish someone could," murmured Grace, with a half sob.
The _Gem_ chugged on through the darkness, making turn after turn,twisting here and there in the water, The Loon seeming to know thechannel perfectly. In a much shorter time than the girls had expectedthey made a turn that a few seconds later brought them out on a broadstream.
"Now I know where we are!" cried Betty. "This is the Mayfair river--ourriver; isn't it?"
"Yes," answered The Loon. "We shall soon be at your orange grove now."
A few minutes later they saw a sudden glare of light and heard thefiring of guns. Then they noticed boats here and there on the stream,each one containing several lanterns, while the occupants were shoutingfrom time to time.
"Look! Look!" exclaimed Grace.
"Hush!" called Betty. "They are calling us!"
The girls could distinguish their names being spoken.
"They're searching for us!" cried Mollie. "Here we are!" she shouted,and her voice carried to the searchers and as they saw the lights ofthe _Gem_ the boats converged toward her.
Mr. Stonington and Mr. Hammond were in one, and Amy's "uncle" greetedher and the others with alarm in his tones.
"What happened? Where were you? We have imagined all sorts of terriblethings about you."
"We got lost," explained Betty quickly, "and some men have captured Tom.They are holding him a prisoner in an Everglade camp. This young man cantake us back there. We must rescue him," and they quickly filled in theother details of the story.
"Well, this beats all!" exclaimed Mr. Hammond. "Those timber men aregetting worse and worse all the while. We'll have to teach them alesson!"
"Will you rescue them?" asked The Loon.
"Surely, Harry," spoke the foreman, who knew the simple-minded lad."We'll get right after the fellows. What do you say, Mr. Stonington?"
"I say yes, of course."
"And may we come?" asked Grace. "My brother may be there."
The two men did not answer for a moment. Then Mr. Hammond said in a lowvoice:
"Their launch would come in useful, and really there is not much dangerin daylight."
"Very well," said Mr. Stonington. "I'll go along too."
"Aren't you going to rescue them to-night?" asked The Loon.
"It would be impossible, Harry," said Mr. Hammond, gently. "They mightescape in the darkness, and take your friend, and Tom, with them. We'llget ready to descend on their camp at daybreak. That will be best."
After some thought The Loon agreed to this, and those in the othersearching boats, one or two of them being small launches, having beeninformed of the return of the girls, the whole flotilla went back to theorange grove.
The Loon was given a place to sleep, and then the girls told more oftheir story. Mr. Stonington told how, becoming worried over the longstay of the young people, he had organized a searching party, gettingmore and more alarmed as the hours went by without the return of Bettyand her chums.
It was rather a restless night in Orangeade, and all were astir early,for they wanted to be at the Everglade camp by daylight. Two extralaunches besides the _Gem_ made the trip, the others carrying a numberof sturdy men headed by Mr. Hammond. Mr. Stonington went with thegirls, The Loon steering.
&nb
sp; By taking a little different course the boats were able to approachclose to the camp in the forest fastness, and at a signal from The Loonall came to a stop.
"We had better walk the rest of the way," said the half-witted lad."They may hear the boats."
"Good idea," said Mr. Hammond. "Harry is smarter than any of us think."
A faint gleam of light was beginning to straggle through the trees whenthe party, with The Loon in the lead, set off to march to the Evergladecamp. There was a narrow trail, and Mr. Stonington insisted on the girlskeeping to the rear.
Silent was the approach, and the only sounds heard were those made bythe awakening denizens of the woods. Presently those in front of thegirls halted. Word was whispered back along the line:
"We're there!"
"Then don't you come any farther," said Mr. Stonington to Betty and theothers. "There may be no trouble; but it's best to be on the safe side.We'll bring the rescued ones back here."
Wondering what would happen, and not a little alarmed, the girlswaited.
CHAPTER XXIII
THE ESCAPE
Taken by surprise by the sudden rush of Mr. Hammond and his men those incharge of the Everglade camp, and the miserable creatures they held invirtual bondage, offered little resistance. There was neither time norchance for any.
Well armed, but fortunately not being obliged to use their weapons, themen from the orange grove made such a show of strength that resistanceseemed out of the question.