r's tied t' tree 'nd Cap beats him till feller
begs t' be killed. I don't want t' hurt anybody 'cept one feller,
but I ain't goin' back t' no chain gang. If the sheriff holds me
up, 'nd sez 'Come back or I'll shoot,' I'll say 'Shoot!'"

The boys were very silent after the outlaw's story and when he left
them they shook hands warmly with him and asked what they could do
for him; ammunition, food, clothing, money, anything they had was at
his service.

"Don't want nuthin'. You've give me more'n you'll ever know," said
the outlaw gruffly.

But the gruffness was a bit tremulous and there were tears in the
man's voice.

The outlaw got in the way of spending his evenings with the young
explorers and Ned pumped him dry of his knowledge of the Everglades,
the Big Cypress and the lesser swamps of South Florida. He made
charts from lines traced in the dirt to show rivers, bays, prairie
land and swamps. Ned learned of hidden creeks that connected waters
thought to be completely separated by land and of others that could
be connected by a short carry.

CHAPTER XV

DICK AND THE BEAR

Dick wanted a bear and the outlaw showed him a near-by swamp where
several of the creatures lived. Day after day Dick waded, wandered
and watched in that swamp with the rifle, while Ned tramped in
another direction carrying the shotgun, making maps of the country,
and picking up occasionally a duck or Indian hen for dinner.
Sometimes Dick got sight of a bear, but Bruin was shy and kept well
out of range. One day, while sitting in some thick woods, hoping
that a bear would wander near him, Dick heard a loud tearing sound
that seemed to come from the top of a little group of young
palmettos. He crept as slowly and silently as possible near the
trees and saw a bear sitting in the top of a palmetto, tearing away
the outer husk of the bud of the tree which is the cabbage of the
Cracker and often serves as his bread. While Dick was creeping
nearer to get a surer shot, Bruin tore out the bud and, with the
cabbage in his mouth, dropped from the top of the tree to the
ground, alighting on its fore shoulder. Dick didn't know that this
was the way bears in that country usually came down a tree when in
a hurry, and supposed the bear had met with an accident and was
killed. He changed his mind the next instant when the creature came
racing toward him. Dick and the bear were about ten feet apart when
they saw one another. The bear had to turn quick