soon as their absence was discovered,
bloodhounds were put upon the trail which led towards the interior.
The dogs were soon completely baffled, however, for the fugitives had
evidently taken to water whenever they came near a pond or creek. This
ruse, as well as the whole uprising, is believed to have been the
headwork of 'Indian Charley,' one of the escaped prisoners, who, it
will be remembered, was drummed out of his tribe and sentenced by the
courts for the murder of a white settler last spring. Small outlying
settlements will rejoice when this body of hardened desperate men are
once more in the grasp of the law."

"I've got it!" exclaimed Charley, so suddenly that the captain looked
up in mild surprise.

"Got what?" he inquired.

"A pretty bad attack of sleepiness," Charley said with assumed
lightness. "I feel all done up to-night. Guess I'll turn in."

But although he was first to turn in, it was along in the wee small
hours of morning before slumber crept in on his tired brain.

He was awakened by Walter shaking him vigorously.

"Get up, you lazy rascal, get up. The sun is half an hour high, and
breakfast is ready. Get up and gaze upon the beautiful St. Johns."

"What does it look like?" inquired Charley, sleepily, as he buckled on
his heavy leggins and strapped on his pistol belt.

"For a dismal, wretched, man-forsaken stretch of country it beats
anything I ever saw," Walter exclaimed in disgust. "The river itself
is about a half mile wide, but it twists, turns, and forks every few
yards so as to puzzle a corporation lawyer. The shores for half a mile
back from the water are nothing but boggy marsh, with here and there a
wooded island. Ugh, the sight of it is enough to make a man homesick."

"Not giving out already, Walt," Charley said, cheerfully, as he made
his way through the boggy marsh to the water to wash, followed by his
chum.

"Not much," said Walter grimly, "I for one am not going back
empty-handed after coming so far. But I'm beginning to realize that
this is not going to be all a pleasure trip. You noticed the article
that the captain read last evening about the convicts escaping. Can it
be they are the party you saw signs of?"

"I believe they are," agreed his chum as they turned back towards the
camp where the captain and Chris were patiently waiting breakfast. "I
may be wrong, but I thought it all over last night and I decided it was
only fair to tell the others what I sus