orests, and lagoons is greater than in the days of
De Soto, because the entire region has been slowly rising.

"All this, my dear sir, you already know, and I ask your
indulgence for recalling the facts to your memory. I do it for
this reason--the search for _what I am seeking_ may lead us to
utter destruction; and therefore my formal orders to you
should be modified to this extent:--do you volunteer? If you
volunteer, my orders remain; if not, turn this letter over to
Mr. Kingsley, who will find for me the companion I require.

"In the event of your coming, you must break your journey at
False Cape and ask for an old man named Slunk. He will give
you a packet; you will give him a dollar, and drive on to Cape
Canaveral, and you will do what is to be done there. From
there to Fort Kissimmee, to Okeechobee, traversing the lake to
the Rita River, where I have marked the trail to Little
Sprite.

"At Little Sprite I shall await you; beyond that point a
merciful Providence alone can know what awaits us.

"Yours fraternally,

"FARRAGO.

"P.S.--I think that you had better make your will, and suggest
the same idea to the stenographer who is to accompany you.

F."

And that was the letter I received while seated comfortably on the
floor of my work-room, surrounded by innocent isopods, all patiently
awaiting scientific investigation.

And this is what I did: Within twenty-four hours I had assembled the
supplies required--the cage, the woman's clothing, tank, arms and
ammunition, and the chemicals; I had secured accommodations, for that
evening, on the Florida, Volusia, and Fort Lauderdale Railway as far
as Citron City; and I had been interviewing stenographers all day
long, the result of an innocently worded advertisement in the daily
newspapers.

It was now very close to the time when I must summon a cab and drive
to the ferry; and yet I was still shy one stenographer.

I had seen scores; they simply would not listen to the proposition.
"Why does a gentleman in the backwoods of Florida want a
stenographer?" they demanded; and as I had not the faintest idea, I
could only say so. I think the majority interviewed concluded I had
escaped from a State institution.

As the time for departure approached I became desperate, urging and
beseeching applicants to accompany me; but neither sympathy for my
instant need