“It’s deadly.” Bill’s voice, when it came, was very low. “And to think that this is going on in the United States of America! Surely, though, the government will eventually put a stop to it?”
“Maybe,” returned Osceola apathetically, “but it isn’t likely that you and I will live to see it. If the federal government has done anything to break up organized crime that’s terrorizing the country, I haven’t heard of it. By the way, how did these people get hold of you?”
Bill told him, and ended by stating his worries concerning his father.
“Martinengo probably means to get money out of Mr. Bolton before shipping him over here. He’ll never let him go free, no matter what he may promise. If the secret of Shell Island ever leaks out, it means an end to Martinengo’s profits here.”
“Were you taken on the Island?”
Osceola laughed contemptuously. “I was a fool, Bolton. My ambition since I was a small boy has been to do something for my people. Once we were great warriors, today we are a degenerate, ignorant race. White man’s fire-water and lack of education have made us go backward while the rest of the world has progressed. I meant to educate myself first, and when I had acquired knowledge, I felt I would then be fitted to take up my task. So I went to school and won a scholarship at Carlisle. I still have two more years to go there before graduation. Shortly after the summer holidays began this year,—I had gone back to my people—I took my gun to bring in some waterfowl.
“Well to cut the tale short, I ran into a man-hunting gang of Martinengo’s. They pretended they were lost and I offered to lead them back to Whitewater Bay. I suspected nothing. They took me off guard, carted me over to Shell Island with some other poor fellows—and eventually I was put to work here.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Six weeks ago yesterday. We Seminoles stand it better than the others. Most of us are fever-proof, probably because we have lived in the Everglades for generations.”
“Haven’t you tried to escape?” Bill asked him, and voiced the thought that had been uppermost in his mind ever since he left Shell Island.