than
even that he will turn out a quitter or a shirker."

The captain knocked the ashes from his pipe as he inquired, "Now who
would you select for a third member, Charley?"

"I do not know anyone in Florida I would want to take a chance on for a
long trip. I only know two fellows I would like to have along, and we
can't get them. One is Walter Hazard, the Ohio boy who chummed with us
down here for so long. The other is that little Bahama darky, Chris,
whom Walter insisted on taking back north with him and putting in a
school. There wasn't a yellow streak in either one, and Chris was a
wonderful camp-fire cook."

"I wrote to Walt two days afore I wrote to you," observed the captain,
calmly.

Charley stared at the simple old sailor in frank amazement. "You
surely don't imagine he'll drop whatever he is doing and travel a
thousand miles just for a trip with you and I?" he at last recovered
himself enough to demand.

The captain nodded complacently. "I've sort of got a feelin' that way,
an' if I ain't mistaken, them's his pony's hoofs comin' now--someway
they sound different from what yours did, though."

Both adventurers rose to their feet and stood eagerly peering into the
darkness from which there came the thud of rapidly approaching hoofs.

A moment later and two ponies were reined up in the circle of
fire-light. As Charley recognized one less robust than himself, he
gave a shout of delight and with a rush dragged him from his saddle in
an affectionate embrace, while the captain, his eyes dancing with
pleasure, was wringing the hand of a widely-grinning little darky who
had dismounted from the other animal.

"Go easy, Charley," said the newcomer with a happy grin, "you're
squeezing all the wind out of my body, and that is all there is in it
now. Chris and I had to hustle to make connections and get here on
time. We haven't had a bite to eat to-day."

"Walter Hazard, you are the one person I would have picked out for this
trip," Charley cried joyfully, "and Chris, too, it seems almost too
good to be true. But come over to the fire, and we will cure that
empty feeling in a minute. The captain is helping Chris put the ponies
up."

Charley quickly routed out a clean plate, and heaped it up with bacon
and hardtack, reserving, however, a generous portion for Chris.

"Fall to and don't wait," he commanded, and Walter lingered for no
second bidding.

In a few minutes they were joined by the captain