"Yes."
Higgins took out his pipe and slowly began to fill it. Payne looked round.
"Hig, that means we've got to hustle and find a way out in a hurry. In this heat we can't go long without water. I suspect it's all salt round here. I remember I've read of salt water between the Everglades and the sea. You take the bank downstream and see what you find. I'll go upstream. We'll meet here in an hour."
They parted at once. But Payne was back at the camp fire in an hour and Higgins was there ahead of him.
"What did you, Hig?"
"I found a mangrove swamp that a bobcat couldn't get through. Did you have any luck?"
Payne shook his head.
"This high ground ends less than a mile up there. And then there's nothing but mud—not a thing but mud. Was there water round the mangroves?"
"Yes. Salt. Salter than salt herring."
"Do you want to turn back, Hig?" asked Payne suddenly.