"I don't wonder you don't care to go hunting," said Sam. "I'd feel
the same way."

"I have never visited the forest since the time the tragedy took
place," answered Harold Bird. "At first I thought to sell off the
stretch of land to a lumber company, but now I have changed my mind,
and I intend to give it to the heirs of Blazen, if any appear."

"Is it a valuable tract?" asked Fred.

"The lumber company offered me twenty thousand dollars for it."

"If your father was drowned it is queer that you never heard anything
of his body," said Fred.

"Bodies of drowned people are not always recovered," answered the
young Southerner. "But he must have been drowned, for if he had been
alive we surely would have heard something of him. The reward we
offered set hundreds of people to hunting for him."

"It is certainly a mystery," said Dick. "I suppose you'd give a good
deal to have it cleared up.

"I'd give half of what I am worth," answered Harold Bird, earnestly.

CHAPTER V

STUCK IN THE MUD

Noon found our friends at the town of Benton--a place of some importance
in the cotton trade. Without delay Dick sought out the man who had
had to do with the telegrams.

"I can't tell you much more than what I put in the message," said
the man. "I saw the houseboat out yonder and headed in that direction.
I was watching her when a fog came up and hid her from view."

"I think I can follow her," put in Harold Bird. "Anyway, we can try."

"Did those fellows steal the houseboat?" questioned the Benton man.

"They did."

"Then I hope you catch them."

Our friends did not stop to get dinner, but took their lunch on board
of the _Venus_. The river at Benton was broad and deep and consequently
Harold Bird turned on full speed, sending the launch forward with
such a rush that the water often came in a shower of spray over the bow.

"I may be mistaken, but I have an idea that those rascals headed for
Lake Sico," said the young Southerner. "Gasper Pold used to hang
around that lake, and most likely there are men there who would aid
him in disposing of whatever is on the _Dora_ of value."

"Where is Lake Sico?" asked Sam.

"About fifteen miles from here. It is a very broad and shallow sheet
of water, and is reached by a narrow and tortuous bayou all of four
miles long. One end of the lake is a perfect wilderness of bushes
and brake--an ideal hiding-place for the houseboat."

"Then perhaps we had better explore the lake