"Who—who's going to watch you?" stammered the fat boy.
"Don't worry. We will look after the Professor," laughed Tad. "You must remember that he hasn't been getting into quite so much trouble as you have."
"He will," answered Stacy. "He's just been lucky, that's all."
The party, after again assisting Stacy in his saddle and placing him between the Professor and Tad, moved on once more. The distance to their next camping place was now less than a mile, and they soon reached the Sunflower without further disturbance, tearing their way through the dense cane, making a crashing that must have been heard a long distance away.
The Sunflower was a stream some fifteen rods wide by several miles long, with little bayous reaching off into the swamp every now and then, lonely, silent bayous, beneath whose surfaces lurked many perils.
"Do we swim across?" asked Walter.
"Master Stacy may want to. I do not believe the others will care about doing so," answered Lilly with a smile and a brief nod.
"Where do we make camp, Mr. Lilly?" called Butler's cheery voice.
"Straight ahead on the little rise of ground, Master Tad."
"Any choice as to position?"