Chums in Dixie | Page 7

some cheese; and a can of sardines; the whole to be topped off
with a dish of prunes, cooked on the preceding evening, and only partly
eaten.
When Tony received his share he ate ravenously. Perhaps the boy had
seldom tasted such a fine variety of food, for the canned stuffs likely to
reach these squatters of the big cypress swamps were apt to be of the
cheapest variety.
They were sitting thus as the lunch drew near its conclusion when, in
addressing his chum in some laughing way, Larry happened to mention
his name in full.
The effect upon Tony was singular. He started as though he had been
shot, and immediately stared at Phil; while a troubled look came over
his sallow face; just as though he had recognized a name that was being
held up to derision and execration down in the settlement of the McGee
squatters!
CHAPTER III
THE SQUATTERS
A short time later, and once more Larry loosened the rope that held the
motor boat to the bank; so that the swift current taking hold,
commenced to carry the craft down stream. Then Phil started
operations; and the merry popping of the noisy exhaust told that they
were being urged on at a faster gait than the movement of the stream
could boast.
Tony had curled up in the sun, just like a dog might have done. He
seemed to be asleep; and the two other boys talked in low tones as they
continued to glide on down the winding river; now under heavy trees,
and again passing through an open stretch, where the turpentine

industry had killed the pines years back; so that only a new growth was
coming on.
Perhaps Phil might have thought it a bit singular had he known that
Tony did not sleep for a single minute as he lay there; but was from
time to time observing his new friends from the shelter of his arms, on
which his head lay.
Phil had reached under the deck of the boat and brought forth a
splendid gun of the latest model. It was a Marlin repeater, known
among hunters as a pump gun; and could be fired six times without
reloading, the empty shells being thrown out from the side instead of in
the marksman's face.
This fine weapon had been a present to the boy from his father on the
preceding summer, when he had a birthday; and as yet he had found no
opportunity to test its shooting qualities. Still, his father had once been
something of a true sportsman, and knew more or less about the value
of firearms; so that Phil never feared but that it would prove to be an
excellent tool.
"I've got some buckshot shells along with me, you remember, Larry,"
he was saying as he guided the boat, and tried to keep her in the middle
of the widening stream. "And I fetched them in the hope of meeting up
with a Florida deer, or perhaps a panther; which animal is found down
here. If a fellow can't carry a rifle these buckshot shells answer pretty
well. I got my deer up in the Adirondacks last year with one, fired from
my old double-barrel."
"How about grizzly bears and wildcats and coons?" asked Larry, not in
the least ashamed to show his utter ignorance about all such matters, in
his quest of knowledge.
At that Phil laughed out loud.
"The bobcat and coon part is all O. K., Larry," he said; "but you're
away off when you think we're going to rub up against a grizzly bear
down in Florida. They have got a specimen of the breed here, but it's

only a small black fellow, and not particularly ferocious, they tell me.
But we'll ask Tony about all these things later on; he ought to know."
"Yes, and perhaps he can help us go ashore, and get a fine deer once in
a while!" exclaimed Larry, who loved to enjoy the good things of life
almost as much as he did to exploit his ability as a cook. "Yum! yum, a
real venison steak, cooked on the spot where the animal was shot--what
a treat for hungry fellows, eh?"
"Wait," said the other, nodding. "You may change your mind before a
great while. For instance, venison ought to hang quite a time before
being eaten. I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed, Larry, and that
if we're lucky enough to get a deer you'll find it as tough and dry as all
get-out."
"Then things ain't all they're cracked up to be," declared the other. "I
always read that things tasted just dandy in camp; and here you spoil all
my illusions right off the reel."
"They taste good because the appetite is