The Plunderer | Page 8

A week in which to feast our souls on the enchantment of Southern Florida! Friends, I think we may congratulate ourselves; and we start back in fifteen minutes."
"The grub's so damn bad at that Flora Hotel," snapped a weazened old man. "I'm poisoned yet by some of that beef I et. Tougher'n hell it was."
"Mister Perkins, sir! I must ask you to refrain from the use of profanity. The spirit of the Colony, of its members----"
"Well, I should say so!" said Mrs. Perkins. "Swearin' and rarin' round after all Mr. Granger's done for us! I declare I'm 'shamed to take you along, Tom Perkins."
"Have you no soul or eyes for the higher things, Mr. Perkins?" inquired a large, black-clad lady reprovingly. "With all this beauty about us, and the inspirin' scenery, I should think----"
"Well, that's all right, Mrs. Caine, what you think," interrupted Mrs. Perkins sharply. "You do your thinking for your husband and I'll do the thinking for mine; and I guess if you do that you won't have to fill in your time meddling with others."
"Well! Well, I never----"
"Ladies!" murmured Granger. "Let us not allow this little inconvenience which we have experienced to disturb our equanimity."
"Let's have that agin," growled a fat gentleman. "You say we can't get up the river, hey? Well, what's the matter with driving up?"
"The magnificent oiled highway which is going to bring thousands of visitors to our Colony has not quite been built down to the mouth of the river here."
"All right. We'll walk up to where she begins. Ain't no cripples aboard, far's I can see."
"The one bad piece of land in the district unfortunately lies between the mouth of the river. It is a small swamp--only a small one--then the fair uplands of our Colony begin. But until the road is built across it the river is the only means of travel inland and that, as I sorrowfully tell you, is blocked. Come; let us forget our business, our future wealth, for the time being and revel in the subtropical joys at Flora City. The land will remain. Each day sees an increase in its value. Good friends, we're getting ready to sail. All aboard for beautiful Flora City."
"Slick enough!" chuckled Higgins, where he and Payne were standing in the background. "I'll say he does it well. Now let's step up there and tell him how many kinds of a liar he is."
"Hold on," muttered Roger. "I'm here to get some business done; I'm here to get up the river and see that land."
"Sure."
"This boat isn't going up, there's no question of that; calling him a liar wouldn't send the boat upstream."
"Not an inch."
"And it would warn them that we were onto the fact that boats can go up, and that we intend to go."
"Oh, you intend to go, do you? How, for instance?"
"That tub, the Cormorant, is going up. I don't know when, but that's where she's bound. I'm going on her."
Higgins made no reply.
"You don't want to tackle it, I see."
"No, you don't see anything of the sort," retorted Higgins. "I'm going with you all right; I've made up my mind to that. I was just trying to figure how we are going to work it. You're right; if we tell 'em we're staying here, the Cormorant won't go up. There's something slick going on round here so we've got to be slickers ourselves. We've got to sneak on 'em."
"Sneak? What for? I've got a right to go up and look at the land I've paid money on."
"Sure, so has that flock of suckers on the boat; but you don't see them going, do you?"
"I wonder if the whole crowd demanded to be taken up----?"
"Pooh! They're sheep and Granger's got them hypnotized. You say one word against the Colony and you'd be an outcast among 'em. No; we've got to let them go."
Roger agreed.
"And we've got to pretend to go along to Flora City," he added. "I don't like to sneak. It goes against my grain; but business is business. Come on, Higgins. Next trip in a week, Mr. Granger? Good enough. We're going to our stateroom and catch up some sleep. Wake us at peril of your life."
He led the way swiftly to the stateroom, grasped his bag and Higgins', locked the door and hurried aft out of sight of the people gathered forward.
"Come on," he whispered throwing a leg over the railing.
Higgins, peering after him, saw the young man untying the rowboat which was fastened to the dock beneath the Swastika's stern.
"You certainly see a lot of things and work fast, when you get a-going," whispered the engineer as he let himself down into the boat. "Now where to?"
"Just round that bunch of mangroves and out of sight of the Swastika's decks. Grab that oar and paddle.