The tide favored the castaways at Sand-Fly Pass and they reached Chokoloskee Bay without further adventure, but then came the painful part of the trip: telling the owner of the Etta of its destruction by a waterspout. All the comment Mr. Streeter made was:
"Glad none of you went down with the boat."
The captain and Johnny went to their homes, while Dick accepted Mr. Streeter's invitation to stay with him.
CHAPTER V
OUTFITTING FOR THE HUNT
The Streeter home was on the bank of a little river that emptied into Chokoloskee Bay, and Dick, for the first time, saw oranges and grape-fruit growing and tasted the delicious alligator pear and the guava.
After supper Mr. Streeter said to Dick:
"Johnny tells me you have got a friend lying around loose somewhere in the Big Cypress Swamp, or the Everglades, and that you and he are going to take a day off to look him up."
"That's about the size of it, only of course I don't expect to find him in a day or a week. I had some hope that a month would do. I suppose it all seems very silly to you?"