he fed him liberally with the hot soup.
Indeed, Walter felt little desire to talk; a few swallows of the warm
liquid made him very drowsy, and he quickly sank into a deep sleep from
which he awoke feeling much stronger and almost like his old self again.

To his great joy, he found Charley conscious, and without fever,
although still very weak. He sat down on the edge of the invalid's bed
and the two talked over the thrilling adventures through which they had
passed.

They were interrupted by the entrance of the captain and Chris, the
captain bearing an armful of yams and Chris a string of fresh fish.
"We are layin' in a stock of provisions against the appetite I reckon
you lads will have now you are gettin' better," explained the captain,
cheerfully.

Walter caught the old sailor by the sleeve and held him tightly. "Now
you have got to sit right down and tell us your story before I will let
you go," he said. "First, Charley and I want to know where we are."

The captain filled his old black pipe, and got it to drawing good
before he answered.

"You're on an island about two miles inside the Everglades, as near as
I can calculate."

"Did you build this shelter since you have been here?" asked Charley
eagerly.

A shade of sadness passed over the captain's open face. "No," he said
slowly, "this island belonged to the chief an' this wigwam was where he
lived, an' it was here we brought him to die."

"To die?" echoed both boys together.

"Aye, lads, he passed away the same day we reached here," said the
captain, sadly. "He was a white man clean through, if his color was
red. I got to know him powerful well on the trip here, an' he sure had
all of a white man's feelings."

The boys remained silent in face of the captain's evident grief, and
the old sailor, after a pause, continued. "We buried him under a big
oak tree, with his gun and plenty of food by his side, just as he had
directed, an' I reckon his spirit is up in his happy hunting-grounds
now."

"And the young chief, his son, what has become of him?" Walter asked
after a pause.

"Gone to gather his people together an' swoop down with them on the
murderin' convicts. He found out from signs, that I couldn't make
nothin' of, that his tribe had divided into two parties, one going
towards a hunting-ground called Big Cypress, an' the other to another
place where deer an' bear are thick. As soon as the chief was buried,
he jumps into his dugout an' s