“What are those?” he asked.

“Egrets,” said Johnny.  “Want ter shoot ’em?”

“Of course not,” replied Dick.  “It’s against the law, and wicked, besides.  They are the loveliest birds there are and never ought to be killed just for fun.”

“We never kill ’em for fun.  Only tourists do that.  If you Northern fellers didn’t pay us ter git plumes we’d never kill ’em.  D’ye remember that key over there?”

“No.  What about it?”

“See that crik by the palmetter ’nd the big stump?  Know it now?”

“What!  Isn’t that the creek we slept in night before last?”

“Sure! ’nd that’s where we wanter go now.  Them trees that we stopped fer was cut by our fellers to keep off the Lossman River plume hunters.  We’ve got ter cut ’em out, er git ’round ’em if ’t takes a week.”

“How about water?”

“Find it t’other side o’ the crik.  I’d rather go without than go back t’ anybody’s house fer it.”

“But that old shack where we killed the rattler isn’t far off, and I saw a water-barrel under the caves.”

“So did I, ‘nd a possum floatin’ in it, too.  That’s why I didn’t fill up there.  We’ll go slow on what we got ’nd do without a day ’r two, ‘nd we’ll find some by then if we stick t’ anything.”

“We’re going to stick to things hereafter, Johnny.  It was plumb foolish to lay down just because a tree got in our way, and it was my fault, too.  It isn’t going to happen again, though.  Let’s get through that creek to-night, if we have to work by the light of the lantern.”

“Ain’t you ‘fraid o’ the snakes?” said Johnny.

“No.  I’m too ashamed of myself for backing out of that creek to be afraid of anything, except doing it again.”

When the boys got back to the trees which lay across the creek, they took turns with the little axe, which was not much heavier than a hatchet, until they had cleared an opening for the canoe.  They found other trees in their way, but they kept on.  Once they unloaded the canoe on stumps and logs until they could lift it over a log that lay so deep in the water that it was hard to cut.  Five minutes later, and within a hundred yards of where they had turned back on the previous day, the boys reached the end of the creek, where it opened into a bay which seemed to Dick as beautiful as a dream.  It was dotted with little islands, on some of which were picturesque groups of palmettos, and on others big trees filled with white-plumaged birds.  Two black dots on the surface of the water a hundred yards from the canoe moved slowly across its bow.  Johnny stopped paddling and said: 

“There’s a ’gator.  D’ye want him?”

“I don’t see him.”

“See them two black knobs on the water?  The little one’s his nose ‘nd the big one’s his eye.  He’s turnin’ ’round ‘nd showin’ both eyes, now.  Shoot him in the eye if yer want t’ kill him.  It’ll take some time t’ skin him, though, ’nd mebbe ye’re in a hurry to get along.”