CHAPTER VII

KILLING A MANATEE

“What was it?” cried Jerry.

“I don’t know,” answered Bob, who was almost too frightened to speak. “I was dreaming one of you fellows was pulling me from bed by my foot and I woke up to discover that some animal had me. I looked and saw something black! Then I yelled.”

“Let’s make an examination,” suggested the professor. “Is your foot much hurt?”

“A little,” admitted Bob.

But an investigation showed that though his shoe was dented as if by the marks of broad teeth, the leather had not been penetrated, and, on taking off his shoe, Bob found his foot was only bruised.

“There are the tracks of where the beast came from the river,” said Jerry, pointing to the unmistakable path of some large animal. It had come up the river bank, straight to the bed Bob had so carefully made.

“Must have been a crocodile,” insisted Ned.

“There aren’t any in Florida,” said the professor. “The alligators are not found in this region, either. Whatever it was Bob, you baited it yourself.”

“How?”

“Why, when you pulled that grass you left a long trail of it from the river bank right to the tent. The creature simply followed it up, eating as it went, and when it struck your bunk I suppose it thought it had quite a feast. I guess the taking hold of your foot was only accidental.”

“Maybe it was a sort of walking fish,” suggested Jerry.

“I have an idea what it was,” the professor answered.

“A snake?” asked Bob, and he turned paler than before.

“No, not a snake. I’ll tell you in the morning. Better go to bed now. We’ll light several more lanterns and I think they will keep away any other creatures.”

Bob declared he had had enough of his grass bed, so he got some blankets from the boat and stretched out under the tent between Ned and Jerry, and as far as possible from the river.

“Whatever it was, it’s not going to nab me again,” he said, as he fell into an uneasy slumber.

There were no further disturbances that night, and in the morning the boys gazed curiously at the broad path made by Bob’s midnight visitor.

“Looks as though it was as big as a cow,” said Jerry as he saw the marks.

“Maybe it was,” remarked the professor.

“Don’t see what cows would be doing in the river,” observed Ned, but Mr. Snodgrass only smiled.

“What’s the program this morning?” asked Bob after breakfast had been disposed of and the things packed back into the boat. “Where are we going, Jerry?”

“Let’s keep right on down this river,” suggested Ned. “It’s a fine place.”

“Not for me!” exclaimed Bob. “At least if we do I’m going to sleep on the boat. No more cows for mine.”

“We’re going to Titusville,” declared Jerry. “Of course it would be nice to voyage down this river, and, according to my guide book it’s a beautiful sail. But if we want to get to Lake Okeechobee we’ll have to change to rail transportation for a while and embark again on Lake Tohopekaliga.”

“I guess that will suit me as well,” the professor announced. “I must soon begin to look for that rare butterfly. It is found in the region of the lakes, and I may be fortunate enough to run across a specimen very soon.”

“How are you going to know it when you see it?” asked Ned.

“By its color, for one thing. It is pink, and has blue and gold wings. Then it feeds in a peculiar manner. It spreads its wings out when taking nectar from a flower, and is frequently mistaken for a blossom. I hope I shall find several such butterflies.”

“We’ll help you look for them,” offered Jerry, as he started the boat.

It was but a short run from the head of the Indian river, where the travelers had entered, to Titusville, and, in order to enjoy the unusual scenery, Jerry ran the craft at slow speed. The boys watched the river as it stretched out before them, now narrowing and again widening, while they puffed slowly past groves of palmetto trees that the orange growers depended on as a screen for their groves, which might otherwise be frosted by the cold winds from the Atlantic.

“Can’t we go ashore and get some fruit?” asked Bob, when they had traveled some miles.

“I guess the owners would have no objection if we took some,” said the professor. “I understand they always invite visitors to help themselves.”

The boys decided to act on this suggestion, and soon the boat was anchored at the shore and the four voyagers went inland until they found an orange grove. They met an overseer who invited them to gather all they could eat.

“These are much better than the others we had,” spoke Bob, biting into a luscious fruit.

“He’s getting to be quite an expert,” declared Jerry.

Once more they boarded the boat and Jerry put it well out toward the middle of the river which was very broad at this point.

“There, I guess I’ve had all the juice there is in that orange!” exclaimed Bob, as he tossed the mass of skin and pulp overboard. “Hand me another, Ned.”

As the orange which Bob threw away struck the water, there was a sudden rush as though some large creature had grabbed the pulp.

“What was that?” cried Bob, as he saw some big object swimming just beneath the surface.

“Made enough fuss for a whale or shark,” observed Ned.

“It was after the orange, but I guess it didn’t like it, for it didn’t eat it.”

“Throw another in,” suggested the professor. “We’ll see what it is.”

Jerry tossed some fruit overboard. There was a swirl in the river, and a mass of foam, just ahead of the _Dartaway_. The creature seemed to inspect the floating oranges, and then ignore them.

“Look out!” cried Ned suddenly. “It’s coming this way, Jerry!”

Jerry saw something approaching the craft. He whirled the wheel over, and speeded up the engine, just in time to avoid whatever it was.

“That’s an ugly beast,” remarked Bob. “Mad, I guess, because we didn’t give it something it liked to eat.”

“Here it comes again!” yelled Ned, and this time the boys saw the creature, just under the surface of the water, approaching the boat on the port side.

“He’s going to hit us!” yelled Bob. “Look out, Jerry!”

Jerry gave a glance over his shoulder. He saw the mass of water piled up in front of the on-rushing creature. He increased the speed of the boat, and endeavored to steer it out of the path of the animal, whatever it was. But the creature was not going to let the boat escape. It changed its course, and, an instant later, the _Dartaway_ careened under a violent shock.

There was a splash, as of some heavy object striking the water.

“Bob’s overboard!” yelled Ned, throwing his chum a cork ring, attached to a rope. “He’s going to ram us again, Jerry!”

There was great confusion on the _Dartaway_. Jerry had reversed the engine, and was looking about to catch sight of Bob, who was floundering around in the water.

“There it comes!” shouted Ned.

Once more the creature was returning to the attack. But this time it did not strike the boat. The reversing of the engine had brought the craft to a stop, and it was beginning to go astern. This caused the creature to shoot just across the bows.

“It’s a seal!” yelled Jerry, who caught a passing glimpse of a big brown body just under the water. “Hand me a gun and I’ll shoot it!”

By this time Bob had grasped the cork ring, and the professor, who had hold of the rope, was pulling the boy aboard. Ned reached a rifle from the locker and passed it to Jerry, who had shut off the power so he would not have to steer the boat.

“Can you see it?” cried Ned.

“He’s coming at us again,” replied Jerry.

“Shoot it in the head!” called the professor, not desisting from his work of rescuing Bob.

“You take a gun, Ned!” shouted Jerry. “I may miss!”

Ned secured another weapon, and hurried to the bow to stand beside his chum. Both boys could see where the creature was by reason of the disturbance in the water.

“I see its head!” spoke Ned in a whisper. “It’s just like a seal.”

He took as careful aim as he could, as also did Jerry. The two rifles were discharged together, and as the bullets struck the water they sent up little jets of spray. Then followed a great commotion, and the river in that vicinity was churned to foam.

“We must have hit him!” yelled Jerry.

“We sure did!” added Ned. “The water is red!”

The crimson color was spreading over the surface. The creature was lashing about evidently in a death struggle.

“Once more!” cried Ned, as he worked the lever of his repeating rifle, and Jerry followed his example. They fired again.

This time they could hear the thud of the bullets as they struck. There was a cessation of the beast’s struggles, and the water grew quieter.

“Guess that finished him,” observed Jerry, peering forward. “He’s done for.”

“What was it?” asked Ned.

“Give me a hand here!” called the professor. “I want to lift Bob in.”

The two marksmen turned from their inspection of the thing in the water at the bow of the _Dartaway_ to assist in getting their chum aboard.

“Did you think you needed a bath, Chunky?” asked Ned.

“I--I got--one--whether--I needed it--or--or not,” spluttered Bob, as he got rid of the water in his eyes, nose, ears and mouth. “Give me a hand.”

They helped him into the boat, dripping wet, but otherwise uninjured, as Bob was fat, and floated well, in spite of the handicap of his clothes.

“What was it, a whale?” asked the wet one. “Did he put a hole in the boat?”

“Guess we’re not much damaged,” replied Jerry. “But I haven’t yet seen what the thing was, unless it’s a seal.”

“There it is,” observed Mr. Snodgrass, as he pointed to a big brown object floating on the water. “It’s a manatee or sea-cow. I didn’t expect to meet with any, as they are almost gone from this part of the world.”

“A manatee!” exclaimed Bob, in consternation. “It’s a good thing I didn’t try to bring one to Andy Rush!”