sly beautiful, dangerously sweet old world this is. The sky and
water were beginning to be touched by the first faint tones of rose, the
dawn was bringing its enchantment to this marriage-time of the black
and white. Over in the Key West barracks a bugler would soon be blowing
reveille; down in the sleeping town stumpy little street cars would
squeak from their sheds and clang their discordant gongs through the
narrow thoroughfares. But farther yet to the northeast, in the Florida I
best knew and loved, a whooping crane would startle the solitude with
its uncanny cry, the alligators would croak their guttural grunts at
waking time, while, here and there in the shadowy forest, the whine of a
skulking panther would strike terror to the hearts of gentler things.
Ah, the trackless wilderness of dreamy Florida, where nature moves on
padded foot and silent wing!

Gates had hoisted even the topmast- and maintopmast-staysails, but these
did not help much; and when Tommy and Monsieur appeared half an hour
later they were in wretched humors at the way matters stood. The only
slight hope we nursed had been one cry of "Sail-ho!" from the mate, but
he could not tell what kind of a craft had rested on his lens, because
she was almost at once swallowed by the distant bank of mist. At last,
with a squint into the southwest, Gates prophesied that something worth
while would be coming before long, and with this crumb of comfort,
seasoned by his promise to call if anything appeared, we half-heartedly
went down to breakfast.

Healthy man is ever cheered by breakfast, especially if Pete has
prepared it, and gradually our departed spirits came lumbering back. I
remembered Tommy's promise of the night before to mutilate my
countenance on certain conditions, and began to laugh. Then he laughed,
doubtless because I had, and pretty soon Monsieur showed signs of
warming up.

"This is what my boy Tommy would call hot-stuffie, eh?" he cried. "To
be chasing a scoundrel who has kidnaped a Princess is fun, you think
so?"

"And such a princess," Tommy rapturously exclaimed. "Eyes more deep than
the mysteries of twilight shadows in a woodland pool!--oval cheeks more
damask than the rose which steals its fragrance from her hair!--lips
whose Cupid's bow----"

"Here," I good-naturedly protested. "Don't make her so wonderful! You
won't have an adjective left for the beautiful Bluegrass flower!"

"But isn't she wonderful?--I challenge you, isn't she p