THE LAND SHARK
“Like Jim Boolus, for instance,” said Lee, his face clouding over. “What
is he up to now, Mother? Has he been trying to make trouble again?”
“He’s always trying to do that,” responded Mrs. Cartier, “and the worst
of it is, he so often succeeds.”
“Lee was telling us something about him,” said Bobby, “but I’m afraid
Fred and I don’t understand it very well, anyway.”
“Well,” said Mrs. Cartier, “our family has owned this plantation over a
hundred years, and until recently there was no question of our
ownership. But now, this Jim Boolus has laid claim to all the southern
half of our land, and while we and all our neighbors are morally certain
that his claim is dishonest, we find it a difficult thing to prove
according to law.”
“You see,” explained Lee, “when my great-grandfather bought this land it
was wild country, nothing but woods and swamps. He had it surveyed at
that time, and the four corners were marked off by four large stones.
When he bought the land, the southern end included a small part of the
big swamp, or Shadow Swamp, as it is known in this neighborhood. The
first Cartier, by means of hard work and at great expense, managed to
drain the part of the swamp included in his land, and it was on this
reclaimed land that the boundary stones were set up. For many years this
was one of the most fertile parts of the plantation, but then came the
war, and while that was going on the swamp crept up on the drained land
and swallowed it up, and with it the boundary stones that would, I
believe, prove our ownership.”
“But couldn’t the swamp be drained again?” asked Bobby. “If it were,
maybe the stones could be located again.”
“No,” said Lee, shaking his head doubtfully, “the chances are the stones
would have sunk below the surface of the ground by now, and anyway, it
would cost so much to drain it now that it would be out of the question
for us.”
“Is it such a big swamp, Lee?” inquired Fred.
“Oh, yes, it covers a good many miles. For the most part, nobody can get
through it at all, but there are one or two secret paths through it, and
I’ve been told that there are small bits of dry ground, too, if you know
where to find them. Some of the negroes around here know their way
through, and before the war runaway slaves used to hide there sometimes.
But any one who didn’t know the place would probably get lost and
swallowed up before he’d fairly got into it.”
“Sounds inviting, all right,” said Fred. “The more I hear about it, the
more I think it would be a good adventure to explore it.”
“You wouldn’t say that if you were as familiar with the place as we
people around here are,” said Mrs. Cartier, shaking her head. “Two sons
of a neighbor of ours were lost in it two or three years ago, not to
mention many others.”
Fred said no more at that time, but Bobby, who was nearest him thought
he heard him mutter something about “better luck next time.”
“But you were telling us something about a river that ran near the
plantation, weren’t you?” asked Bobby. “Whereabouts does that lie?”
“Well, it’s that river that really makes the swamp, in a way,” explained
Lee. “The country is rather low hereabouts, anyway, and when the river
hits the swamp it spreads out. You can follow its course right through,
though, and come out on the other side, if you don’t happen to get
pocketed in some blind bayou or lagoon.”
“Well, perhaps we could do some exploring by water, anyway,” suggested
Fred, hopefully.
“That is possible,” said Mrs. Cartier. “We have a small motor boat, and
any time you boys care to use it you may have it.”
“That will be fine!” exclaimed Bobby and Fred.
“We can go to-morrow afternoon, if you want,” said Lee. “I want to drive
to the village in the morning to get some things for mother, but if we
start early, we can get back in time to get the boat and go for a short
trip, anyway.”
Both Bobby and Fred were enthusiastic at the prospect, and for the rest
of the evening little else was talked of except plans for the coming
outing.
It was arranged that Bobby should accompany Lee on his trip to the
village, while Fred was to stay at home and look over the motor boat to
make sure that everything was in readiness to start when his two friends
got back. After making these arrangements, the boys said good-night to
Mrs. Cartier, and went to their rooms. They were all three excited at
the prospect of fun and adventure the next day.