SMILAX BRINGS NEWS
Intuitively I dropped behind and walked at the heels of Smilax who, as
if he were treading a well-defined trail instead of unknown jungle land,
moved with a free stride that challenged my endurance. Clinging vines
pulled at my clothes as things alive, causing both noise and annoyance.
Silence was a virtue on our present expedition.
After an hour of this we came to a cypress swamp, and for several miles
waded through water ankle-deep although on a bottom of firm sand. Hardly
any undergrowth was here, but in all directions stood gray, dismal
cypress trees, coarsely buttressed at the water's edge and tapering to
slender tips. Draped in long streamers of Spanish moss which were
delicately swayed by an almost imperceptible current of air, this was a
ghoulish place--suggesting a rookery for shrouded spirits which perched
along the bonelike branches awaiting their resurrection. Here, too, upon
some convenient root of these gray ancients--perhaps the longest lived
of our southern trees--lay coiled the dozing moccasin. And from this
grim place we merged once more into the jungle where my clothes again
became the prey of clawing things.
But Smilax, never faltering, moved with the ease of a shadow. At last,
by watching him I, too, came to learn his secret and was charmed to find
that it made my pace both quiet and swift. Indeed, I took great care to
practice this silent trail walking--a knack that can be acquired only by
the closest observation; for a hundred books could not teach a hundredth
part as much as a ten-mile hike at the heels of a trained woodsman when
he is trying to go noiselessly. Finally he turned and looked at me,
saying:
"You do good now."
Noon brought us to a higher country whose beauty could not be surpassed.
Dark and cool it was, even dismal without bringing depression. The
mid-day suns of a hundred years must have been tempered to the aisles of
this wild cathedral by venerable specimens of mahogany and black olive
trees; and, where the branches of these did not touch, rose the
slenderer red ironwood. The mahoganies, alone, stood as a proof that we
were entering a region which had escaped the eyes of white man for--how
long? It was even seventy years ago that bands of wood pirates, known as
"the mahogany cutters," invaded southern Florida from the Bahamas and
ruthlessly pillaged this desirable wood for foreign markets; so here, at
least, was a spot that had remained undiscovered, where perhaps a white
foot had never trod.
Charmed as I was, a greater enchantment awaited, when the next few steps
brought me to a pool; a pool of crystal transparency, though dark for
reflecting the black bowl of earth in which it lay. Without a ripple it
nestled close against the roots of a golden-fig tree--an unfruitful
parasitic giant of squat stature and tremendous girth; while, pendant
from one gnarled out-reaching branch, and almost touching the
mirror-like surface into which it looked, hung a solitary streamer of
Spanish moss.
One might have fancied that this pure water slept in the tranquillity of
being forever blessed by a gaunt old friar, the gray sleeve of whose
cowl hung from an arm perpetually outstretched in silent benediction.
Around the bank, and leaning their purple flowers above the more purple
depths, grew a fringe of wild iris; while sprinkled at random farther
out were a few blooms of "bonnet"--the yellow water-lily of southern
ponds. And then, in a darker nook, erect and motionless upon one leg, a
pink flamingo stood. I caught my breath in amazement at the beauty of
this place!
To me it possessed a soul; and the soul, arms, that were amorously held
out, inviting, pleading. This was the spot, and not by the green waves,
to strip my mind of culture, to tear a club from nature's forest and do
battle for existence! Here, in the very birthplace of silence where I
could smell the loam of untouched wilderness, would be the haunt of my
re-created, or pre-created, self. Throughout the days I would hunt--and
slay; in the nights I would sleep among the branches. But there would
come dawns and sunsets when in some corner of this wild temple I would
raise a pagan altar, light a tiny wish-wood flame, and conjure the
forest's soul of many arms to reach across the earth, bringing me a
living, breathing Psyche with iris-colored eyes to gaze into the limpid
pool!
In the contemplation of such an Eden I had forgotten Smilax, who now
shattered my illusion by swinging down the pack and saying, as he turned
to me:
"We eat."
O, mundane worm, that he could think of food while my spirit was
communing with our common ancestor! However, without much reluctance, I
arrived at his point of view when, filling my pipe, I stretched out to
watch his savory preparations. And now to my surprise, but increasing
admiration for his woodcraft, he raised a hand as I was about to strike
the match.
"Wait," he said. "Wind wrong; maybe some one smell; me go see."
"Never mind," I protested, wanting to spare him additional work after
the amount he had already accomplished. "I don't care about smoking."
"Cook fire smell," he said, rather pityingly that I should have
overlooked this obvious fact. "Me go see; get good wood." Then, grinning
broadly, he added: "Maybe Efaw Kotee somewhere."
I knew that if he went for wood he must mean buttonwood, because there
was no end of other kinds about; but buttonwood is the only fuel in
Florida--dry mangrove being a close second--that, burning slowly like
charcoal, is both very hot and smokeless, and he was evidently taking no
chances. I knew, too, that he would have to go far toward the coast for
it, since only on tidewater shores may it be found; and with a pleasant
feeling of excitement I wondered if he would also bring back news
of--her; some sign, a thin line of smoke above the trees! It was not the
excitement of battle, or a skirmish; no, it was the approaching reality
of a dream that had gripped me with soft fingers since the moment I
entered this forest. Since my eyes had rested on that pool, my heart had
called afresh for her. The arms of the place were about me.
Softly I arose and went back to it. The pink flamingo was there, but as
I approached, nearer this time, he gave signs of uneasiness and at last
clumsily took wing for some other sanctuary where his solitude might be
untroubled by strange beings.
Standing on the flowery bank, I looked deep into the water. No fish,
nor life of any kind, disturbed its sweet serenity. So like her soul, I
thought, was the soul of this! Yet could her soul be undisturbed? Was it
not, indeed, turbulent with apprehensions? Did it--I asked the question
eagerly--did it sometimes hope that I would come? And something in the
water answered yes. So I picked a blossom of the iris--that had taken
its color from her eyes--and put it carefully away. By the spirit of her
glance, by the unspoken message of this place, I swore--oh, why put down
here all I swore? Men have stood beside solemn pools before, and women,
too. Those who commune in the woods think more sublimely than they
speak, so I can not speak now, in written words, my immeasurable
longing.
Soon Smilax, grinning broadly, emerged from the shadows.
"All right," he said. "You smoke; me cook."
"Did you see anything? How far did you go?" I asked, and he answered in
the curious way he had of dealing with one question at a time.
"No see signs of Efaw Kotee. Long way."
While the combined aroma of bacon and coffee was for the moment throwing
its cloak of materialism about the romance of my forest, I asked again:
"Why are we heading so far inland, when they must be somewhere along the
coast?"
"Best go this way. All right; you smoke."
I was smoking, but that seemed to be his way of telling me to put my
mind at rest. Yet I persisted with another question:
"How do you know we haven't passed them already?"
"Me know," he grinned. "All right; you smoke."
He was a funny cuss, but I let it go at that.
Biscuits, bacon and coffee might properly be called the Woodsmen's
Ambrosia, but it is not a feast over which man is inclined to loiter,
and Smilax was soon re-wrapping the pack.
Up to this time I had walked practically empty handed, yet now I
conscientiously rebelled, insisting that a share of the load must rest
upon my shoulders. But here he showed himself as obdurate as a mule
until, arbitrarily, I strapped on our second automatic, took out our
second rifle, and filled my pockets with extra cartridges. He raised no
objection to this; he even approved it. We were getting down into the
Death river country and ready fire-arms made agreeable companions.
Furthermore, at his direction I tied the rather goodly supply of
buttonwood into a bundle and swung it to my back.
Toward evening we saw on our left evidences of open country and bore in
that direction, for when one has walked many hours in the shadows of
interlocking branches it is as natural to be drawn toward a spot of
sunlight as it would be to approach an open window after having been
confined in a dismal room. So we bore in that direction and came to the
edge of a vast prairie stretching before us as a sea of lifeless grass.
Except for a gray line on its horizon, marking, I afterward learned, the
boundary of the Great Cypress Swamp, there was but a single break on
this expansive waste. That was a rich growth of trees about two miles
out, to the southeast of us; an oasis, it would have been called in the
Sahara, but in the Florida prairies known as an "island." Whether this
term of "island" finds origin in the similarity of these verdant places
to real islands, seeming as they do to float upon an inland sea of
grass, or whether because, being of higher ground, they actually become
islands during rainy seasons when much of the prairie land is inundated,
the native "cracker" is unable to explain. At any rate, fanned by the
prairie breeze, they afford agreeable shelter where, in perfect
seclusion, one may look out upon the surrounding country for great
distances.
"We camp there," Smilax nodded.
"A good place," I affirmed.
"You stay hide," he said again. "Me find out if nobody 'round to see us
go."
"Why can't I look with you?" I asked, wanting to study more of his
methods, but he squelched me by answering:
"You look whole lot; no see anything."
I would have given him a good piece of my mind had he not suddenly
disappeared; returning soon with his usual smile and saying:
"Come."
Single file, as before, we pushed into the breast-high grass, and the
walking was easy. Once we crossed a patch of oozy turf from which arose
a score of jack-snipe; again we skirted a drying pond whose boggy edges
were the hunting ground of marsh hens. Yet other trails could be read
here: deer, wildcat, raccoon, and innumerable wee things. And here, too,
around the "bonnet" leaves, the silent moccasin lay coiled, so it was
well to step with caution in a place like this.
A wound by the cotton-mouth moccasin, if treated properly, may not
result in death. Like other viperine bites, however, it so affects the
surrounding flesh that blood poisoning may follow days after the first
crisis has been passed. Yet, even with this two-fold menace lurking in
its fangs, it is not the most feared of Florida snakes. Preeminent in
that capacity stands the diamond-back rattler, largest of the world's
venomous species and second to none in point of deadliness. Smilax
insisted--on I do not know what authority--that more dangerous than
either of these is the beautiful little coral snake, _elaps fulvius_,
whose victim becomes ravingly insane and invariably dies. That he
possessed some uncanny knowledge of the creature must be admitted
because of its close relationship to the Cobra-de-Capello, of Asiatic
fame, whose poison, we know, flies directly to the nerve centers and
almost entirely ignores the tissue. Four days later I had good reason to
remember this.
"Are there many snakes hereabouts?" I asked.
"Winter, not much; summer, heap."
However, at that very moment he held his hand back to stop me, then
beckoned me forward.
"Look!" He was pointing tensely ahead of us, moving his arm leftward and
indicating a circle of perhaps thirty feet in diameter.
Whatever it was, I could see the tops of the grass shake as their stems
were slightly jostled by this unknown creature's progress, which
continued with incredible speed and was circling back toward us. Then,
with a slightly swishing sound as its body glided through the dry grass,
that friend of Florida woodsmen--the king snake--passed before our feet
like a brownish-green streak.
"Rattler! You watch!" Smilax whispered. His eyes were wide with
interest, for it is not permitted many men to see a duel between these
mortal enemies.
Somewhere directly ahead of us a diamond-back rattlesnake must have
awaited the attack he sensed, though we could not yet see him. Time
after time the king snake swept by in front of us, decreasing the
circles and, I thought, increasing his speed. After each revolution we
stepped in a little nearer, being careful not to interfere with his
course nor distract his attention from the serious business at hand.
Soon the viper became visible. His flat head, elevated a few inches
above his heavy coil, turned anxiously with the sounds in the grass. He
knew what was coming, I think, but did not rattle until the king had
reduced the circles about him to a diameter of six or seven feet. Then
he became electrified. The rattles sounded viciously, and his head began
an ominous swaying motion, out and in, as he searched for a vital spot
at which to strike.
The king, although keeping just outside the danger line, was also
watching for an opportunity. He may have realized his immunity to
poisons, yet did not care unnecessarily to suffer the laceration of
fangs. Rather did he choose to rely upon the further protective gifts
that nature had given him: length and strength, speed and agility, and a
skin that blended elusively with the ground colors; therefore, revolving
in these smaller circles, he seemed to make almost a continuous line,
without beginning or end, and the rattler was at a loss to act. Now,
profiting by a moment when the venomous eyes were turned away, he darted
in and caught the viper close up behind its head. Wrapping himself about
the squirming body he ruthlessly straightened out. We heard the
vertebrae being torn until his victim lay crushed and stretched into a
helpless mass.
For several minutes the sleek avenger remained perfectly quiet. Then,
uncoiling warily but not releasing the hold with his teeth, he worked
his body aside. Last of all he dropped the head and drew suspiciously
back as if alert for a sign of life. Of course, there was none, and
soon he glided into the grass, not seeming to have noticed us at all.
"Whew!" I said, taking a deep breath. "I wish we had king snakes around
us all the time!"
"Heap good friend," Smilax grinned, stooping to cut off the rattles that
were large and perfect.
"I thought you said there weren't any snakes out in winter!"
"Not much; maybe no see any for long time."
He told me now as we proceeded across the prairie that the Seminole
Reservation lay about fifty miles north of us, and I wondered what our
chances would be of getting a squad of "braves," should the _Whim_ not
show up and we found ourselves on the eve of a fight against rather big
odds. It was worth keeping in mind.
The "island," when we reached it, was by far the largest I had ever
seen, and proved to be an ideal place to camp. High pines and stately
palms grew here in great profusion, while there also might be found a
sprinkling of hardwoods; and yet in some parts there was enough sunlight
to permit the growth of really luxurious grass, as trim as if it had
been cut by the hand of man. Smilax, pointing to a number of tracks I
had not observed, said the deer kept it short by grazing. One's first
impression here was of a well-kept park, intersected by green avenues
that stretched beneath the best specimens of trees which a landscape
architect had carefully planned to leave standing. But there were wilder
portions; perhaps three acres of heavy jungle. About midway, festooned
with vines, was the pool I had hoped to find, of quite good size and
cool. It, like the other that had entranced me, nourished a few stalks
of iris, but there was no "bonnet" or other place on its closely cropped
bank for the wily moccasin.
"My private bath," I declared, feeling at this sundown hour the call
strong within me.
Smilax had remained behind. His reconnoissance as we entered the prairie
must be completed by another as we emerged from it; and I had left him
standing behind the trees looking back across our trail, searching for
any distant movement. At last he came up, saying:
"All right; you smoke."
"I don't want to smoke," I laughed. "I want to get in that pool, if we
can find another supply of drinking water."
"No need um," he grinned. "Big spring come up there," he pointed toward
the farther end. "Me know island now; been here one time."
I afterwards saw that he referred to one of those unique springs,
occasionally to be found in Florida--a transparent water of bluish
tinge, bubbling up through the bottom of its deep, self-made reservoir;
keeping the sand in a subdued state of agitation, and bringing pleasure
to the eye of man.
By the spirit of Pan, my pool felt good after the long day's hike!
The wind had changed with the waning afternoon and now blew gently from
the southwest, promising a period of fair weather. It gave us, also, the
advantage of greater freedom in noises; for, when living in the wild,
one comes to realize how potent a carrier, or muffler, of noises is the
wind. A fire at night, or smoke by day, may be tempered with human
ingenuity, but nature bandies the sound waves with her breath.
I dined in the elegance of simplicity, and Smilax extinguished our small
fire of buttonwood. Leaning my back against a stalwart pine, I watched
the shadows stealing through our avenue of trees. Somewhere above my
head a whistling owl, one of those lovable little feathered cavaliers
that showers his mate with unstinted adulation, fluttered and courted.
Later the mournful call of a whooping crane floated across the prairie.
I heard these things in a lazy, contented way, but my thoughts were on
another island--a real island surrounded by water, where waves lapped
the beach and two eyes, that had given color to the iris, watched for
deliverance. Then with a jerk I sat up. Smilax had turned his head to
listen, and in his attitude dwelt a note of agitation.
"What is it?" I whispered; for surely I had heard a sound that did not
belong to these creatures living in the forest about us.
He raised his hand to caution silence. Then came the sound again,
slowly: one--two--three--four--
"Axe," he said, his eyes shining as beads and his finger pointing into
the southwest from where the breeze was coming. "You wait; me go see."
"I'll go, too," I announced.
"No; maybe make too much noise. Smilax go."
"Who d'you suppose it is that close to us?" I excitedly asked. "Not
them, surely?"
He looked at me with grave eyes and answered:
"No can say; maybe hunters find way in here. You smoke; me go see."
Yet his sudden gravity left little doubt in my mind of what, at least,
he suspected; for he well knew that hunters did not find their way into
this unsurveyed wilderness! Then, too, there was something in the
stillness of the night that seemed to portend great things. The leaves
transmitted their restlessness to my yawning nerves, as iron dust
springs to a magnet.
Intending to wave good luck as he melted into the darkness, without
being observed I walked silently behind him to the prairie's edge; but
there he stopped, opened his arms, raised his face to the sky, standing
motionless. And a great peace came over me, for I saw that, in the
simple way of the old-time Seminoles who invariably turned to their
Great Spirit on the eve of hopes or fears or dangers, Smilax was
praying.
Religion is the poetry of the savages' existence. Alas, that we are
civilized! He does not spend his nights poring over The Laws and The
Prophets, and his days peppering a neighbor across the head with a
new-born creed. No, he puts an abiding faith in some Great Spirit, be it
the sun, the moon, the stars; or fashioned of stone, or clay, or wood.
But his soul looks into the Infinite as his physical sight, less far
reaching, feasts upon the Symbol. And what does he lose? He loses the
privilege of bickering with evangelists; he loses the acid frequently to
be found in church organization--the feeling of pity or contempt of one
denomination for another, each of which stands upon the Holy Rock
searching for motes and waving a princely disregard to beams. And,
because he remains benighted and in darkness, he also loses doubt;
wherefore, as a trusting child, he touches the hand of God.
I had long since finished my second pipe when Smilax returned. He came
out of the darkness as he had gone into it, with the stealth of a
panther, and was close to me before I knew it. But a striking change had
taken place in him. His breathing was fast, though not from exertion,
and pointing back he hurriedly whispered:
"Efaw Kotee there! Lady, too! Me see!"