Mr. Seabury was very grateful, and pressed the boys and Mr. Snodgrass to spend several days aboard the Wanderer. The chums were half-minded to, but the professor was impatient to begin the hunt for the rare butterfly, the haunts of which were farther south, so they prepared to leave their island camp.
The hot sun and wind soon dried out the wetness of the night before, and when everything had been packed aboard the Dartaway the boys bade their host and his pretty daughters good-bye. Then, voicing the hope that they would meet again soon, those in the motor boat started down the lake toward the Kissimmee river, while the Wanderer followed more slowly.
“They’re a nice lot of girls,” observed Bob with a sigh, as a turn of the lake hid the houseboat from sight. “Very nice girls.”
“Which one?” asked Jerry with a smile.
“All of ’em!”
“A very fine man!” was the professor’s comment on Mr. Seabury. “He has traveled much and has seen many strange insects. A very learned man.”
They were now in a fine region, a country higher than the usual low level of Florida, and noted for the variety of its crops. They passed through several large cattle ranges and again through long stretches of dense forests. Now and then they would come to a little colony where fruit growers had settled. At noon they went ashore near a little village and had dinner.
“Boys!” exclaimed the professor, as they prepared to resume their journey, “I’ve had good news!”
“Did some one tell you where to find that butterfly?” asked Bob.
“No, but a man in the village said there was a curious mound about ten miles below here, a mound erected by a prehistoric race, I believe. I must investigate it. Who knows but I shall find some valuable relics?”