The dip of paddles, the drip of water as they were raised monotonously, the gurgle of the boats’ passage—these were nearly the only faint sounds heard in the swamp, which in places seems almost devoid of life.
Some noisy fish crows cawed at them while flying over, their sharp eyes discovering the creeping canoes. A couple of buzzards sitting on a branch of a dead tree, jumped into the air and went flapping away at their near approach. There were always water moccasins, either gliding down from the exposed roots of trees where they had been sunning themselves, or coiling up in the water aggressively, until struck by the sharp edge of a paddle blade, when they would writhe in agony, and sink.
It was getting more and more gruesome all the time, and Thad took notice of numerous things that he had not seen before, in the other section of the swamp.
Evidently the alligator hunter believed Thad was following the wrong track for he had turned in another direction entirely. Perhaps the boat that had made the numerous signs Thad was searching for and using as a trail, had been that of Alligator Smith himself on his way in and out, and not the one containing the mysterious man and girl.
But Thad was quite satisfied with what they had done. He believed that in the end the hide hunter would take them where they wanted to go; and more than that they could hardly ask.
The three boats were very close together as the midday hour drew near when, without the least warning there sounded the report of a rifle from some point not far away.
And the scouts not accustomed to being under fire, experienced a thrill in the region of their hearts when every one heard the strange zip-zip of a bullet cutting through the air just above their heads.
CHAPTER XIV.
SWAMP TACTICS.
“Back water, fellows!” called out Step Hen, who could be cautious at times, as well as bold.
It was ludicrous to see how quickly the scouts did dip their paddles in again, and not only stay the forward progress of the two canoes, but cause them to retrograde so that almost like magic they had succeeded in putting a tongue of land, on which trees grew densely, between themselves and the danger zone.