go. What do you say, Jup?"

"Me like to go with Massa Jolly, an' Tim, an' young gentlemen. Maybe
dey not find de way without me," answered the black.

"In that case you may go, if they pay your wages from the time we left
Hickory Bluff," answered Munch, who had an eye to business, and would
thus save several dollars. To this Lejoillie at once agreed; and it was
settled that Jupiter, or "Jup," as he was more familiarly called, should
join our party. We were very glad to have him, for he was an active,
intelligent fellow; born of free parents in the country, and well
acquainted with every part of it. He had frequently joined hunting
expeditions into the interior, and knew the habits of the Indians as
well as he did those of the animals we were likely to meet with.

The lagoon was filled with alligators, who shoved their noses up among
the lilies and other water-plants, looking at us with hungry eyes, as if
they would very much like to feast on our bodies. We managed, not
without difficulty, to reach the shore, and, carrying our traps to a
pine-ridge elevated three or four feet above the lake, we encamped. The
next morning, having strapped on our knapsacks, we commenced our march
eastwards; while Munch and his companion set off on their return voyage
down Pease Creek.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

A DREARY REGION--HUNTING--THE VALLEY OF MUSHROOMS--AN EXPLOSION AND
CANNONADE--GOBBLERS--THE CABBAGE-PALM--A PALMETTO-LEAF HUT--THE
MOCKING-BIRD--THE RED ORPHEUS--AN EVENING'S AMUSEMENT--ATTACKED BY
SPIDERS--SOUNDS OF THE FOREST--"JUP" AND THE EAGLE--INDIAN TRAILS--ON
THE BORDERS OF LAKE KISSIMMEE--CANOE OR RAFT--SHOOTING AN ALLIGATOR--THE
CAT-BIRD--FUTURE MOVEMENTS--IN CAMP--OUR COURSE SELECTED--MAKING A
RAFT--"ATTACUS LUNA"--WHAT TIM SAW IN THE MORNING WATCH--ABOUT TO
START--AN ALARM--INDIANS--THE RAFT LAUNCHED--UNDER WEIGH--OUT OF RANGE--
AFLOAT ON THE LAKE.

We five travellers had been for some time making our way eastward in as
direct a course as we could steer by compass across a pine-barren. The
ground was as level as a floor. Now and then a rivulet appeared, from
which we quenched our thirst; while the magnolias and other flowering
plants on its banks relieved the dull uniformity of the woods. The sun,
however, beat down on our heads with intense force, and our legs were
torn by the sharp teeth of the saw-palmetto which covered the ground.
Here and there rose distant islands of pine, which give the name to the
region