Bobby Blake on a Plantation; Or, Lost in the Great Swamp
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CHAPTER XV
THE LAND SHARK
“Like Jim Boolus, for instance,” said Lee, his face clouding over. “Whatis he up to now, Mother? Has he been trying to make trouble again?”
“He’s always trying to do that,” responded Mrs. Cartier, “and the worstof it is, he so often succeeds.”
“Lee was telling us something about him,” said Bobby, “but I’m afraidFred and I don’t understand it very well, anyway.”
“Well,” said Mrs. Cartier, “our family has owned this plantation over ahundred years, and until recently there was no question of ourownership. But now, this Jim Boolus has laid claim to all the southernhalf of our land, and while we and all our neighbors are morally certainthat his claim is dishonest, we find it a difficult thing to proveaccording to law.”
“You see,” explained Lee, “when my great-grandfather bought this land itwas wild country, nothing but woods and swamps. He had it surveyed atthat time, and the four corners were marked off by four large stones.When he bought the land, the southern end included a small part of thebig swamp, or Shadow Swamp, as it is known in this neighborhood. Thefirst Cartier, by means of hard work and at great expense, managed todrain the part of the swamp included in his land, and it was on thisreclaimed land that the boundary stones were set up. For many years thiswas one of the most fertile parts of the plantation, but then came thewar, and while that was going on the swamp crept up on the drained landand swallowed it up, and with it the boundary stones that would, Ibelieve, prove our ownership.”
“But couldn’t the swamp be drained again?” asked Bobby. “If it were,maybe the stones could be located again.”
“No,” said Lee, shaking his head doubtfully, “the chances are the stoneswould have sunk below the surface of the ground by now, and anyway, itwould cost so much to drain it now that it would be out of the questionfor us.”
“Is it such a big swamp, Lee?” inquired Fred.
“Oh, yes, it covers a good many miles. For the most part, nobody can getthrough it at all, but there are one or two secret paths through it, andI’ve been told that there are small bits of dry ground, too, if you knowwhere to find them. Some of the negroes around here know their waythrough, and before the war runaway slaves used to hide there sometimes.But any one who didn’t know the place would probably get lost andswallowed up before he’d fairly got into it.”
“Sounds inviting, all right,” said Fred. “The more I hear about it, themore I think it would be a good adventure to explore it.”
“You wouldn’t say that if you were as familiar with the place as wepeople around here are,” said Mrs. Cartier, shaking her head. “Two sonsof a neighbor of ours were lost in it two or three years ago, not tomention many others.”
Fred said no more at that time, but Bobby, who was nearest him thoughthe heard him mutter something about “better luck next time.”
“But you were telling us something about a river that ran near theplantation, weren’t you?” asked Bobby. “Whereabouts does that lie?”
“Well, it’s that river that really makes the swamp, in a way,” explainedLee. “The country is rather low hereabouts, anyway, and when the riverhits the swamp it spreads out. You can follow its course right through,though, and come out on the other side, if you don’t happen to getpocketed in some blind bayou or lagoon.”
“Well, perhaps we could do some exploring by water, anyway,” suggestedFred, hopefully.
“That is possible,” said Mrs. Cartier. “We have a small motor boat, andany time you boys care to use it you may have it.”
“That will be fine!” exclaimed Bobby and Fred.
“We can go to-morrow afternoon, if you want,” said Lee. “I want to driveto the village in the morning to get some things for mother, but if westart early, we can get back in time to get the boat and go for a shorttrip, anyway.”
Both Bobby and Fred were enthusiastic at the prospect, and for the restof the evening little else was talked of except plans for the comingouting.
It was arranged that Bobby should accompany Lee on his trip to thevillage, while Fred was to stay at home and look over the motor boat tomake sure that everything was in readiness to start when his two friendsgot back. After making these arrangements, the boys said good-night toMrs. Cartier, and went to their rooms. They were all three excited atthe prospect of fun and adventure the next day.