Wakulla: a story of adventure in Florida

ping, was seen to be on its beam ends. One side rested high up on the bank and the other down in the mud at the bottom of the river, just on the edge of the channel

as now tossing and heaving in a most remarkable manner. From beneath it came the smothered cries of the Elmers, who had been suddenly w

up he made his way to the other end of the boat and dragged the canvas from off the struggling family. First Mr. Elmer emerged from the confusion, then Mrs. El

mical figure of Jan. He was walking towards the fire, dripping mud and water from every point, and Mark's wrath was tur

id he didn't mind mud now any more than an alligator, took light-wood torches and set out to discover what had happened. As Jan climbed down

er, the weight upon these branches became greater and greater, until they could support it no longer, and one side of the lighter went down with a crash, while the other rested against the bank. Jan, w

tide had risen, so that the lighter again floated on an even keel. By sunrise a simple breakfast of bread-and-butte

of Wakulla. They gazed at it eagerly, as though expecting it to turn into something different from an ordinary cypress, and all felt more or less disappointed at not seeing any clearin

lage, the lighter was poled over to that side. There was no wharf, so she was made fast to a little grassy promontory that Captain Johnson said

was built of stone, covered with earth and a thick sod. From here an old road led away from the river through the woods, and up it Mr. and Mrs. Elmer and Captain Johnson now walked, Mark and Ruth having run on ahead. The

ure enough there lay a black snake almost as long as Mark w

ake, though her husband assured her that it

he children declared it was nasty. Mr. Elmer, however, regarded it with great satisfaction, and told them it was a sulphur spring, stronger than any he had ever seen, and that they w

rther side of this field stood the house. As they approached it they saw that it was quite large, two stories in height, with dormer windows in the roof, but

icket-fence; but now the fence was broken down in many places, and almost hidden by a dense growth of vines and creepers. In the garden, rose-bushe

illed with the close, musty odor common to deserted buildings, and they quickly threw wide open all the windows and doors that were not nailed up. On the first floor were four large rooms, each containing a fireplace and several closets, and up-stairs were four more, lighted by the dormer windows in the roof. A broad hall ran throug

fireplace of this kitchen they were surprised to see freshly burned sticks and a quantity of ashes, while about the floor were scattered feathers and bones, and in one corner was a pile o

goods were being unloaded from the lighter by Jan and the crew. Leaving Mrs. Elmer and Ruth here, Mr. El

ot used as a dwelling-house being a small church very much out of repair. The white men living in the village were away from home, but from among the colored people, who were much excited at the arrival of strangers in their midst, Mr.

nt at everything they saw, and especially at the canoe, was unbounded. One of the men expressed his wonder at the little cr

engaged in a struggle with the tangled growth in the front yard, through which they cut a broad path to the house. While they were doing this, Mr. Elmer and Jan cut and placed in position some temporary supports under the

t into the kitchen to clean it and to make a fire in the great fireplace. She could not explain the tr

" said Mark, who overheard her, "and they'll make

, kase dey's powerful pernickety when dey's crassed," said the old woma

across the river for the team. With the help of Captain Johnson and his crew, who had agreed to remain over th

eshly caught fish, as cards of introduction. His name was Bevil, and he welcomed the Elmers most heartily, and said that he considered their coming a sign of better times for th

the keen appetites resulting from hard work. The dinner was a bountiful meal, largely composed of Mr. Bevil's game and fish; and before they ate

ter to the nearest saw-mill, sixty miles away, for a load of lumber and shingles. He al

night in their new home, and though their beds we

ugh which a flood of moonlight was pouring. He was as certain as he could be of anything that he had seen a face at that window as he started up-a wild, haggard fa