"Come on," he said, as he straightened up for breath, "drink all you want, it's sweet and fresh."
Much to their delight, his companions found it true and they drank long and greedily of the sweet, cool fluid.
"Now, for beds," Charley announced, cheerfully, when their thirst was at last satisfied. "Just reach up and break off branches and lay them across the roots, that will have to do for to-night."
By standing on their tip-toes, they were able to reach some of the small boughs and by pulling down—broke them off without difficulty. In a short time they had gathered and placed enough to make a platform big enough to accommodate them all. Upon this they were glad to lie down and stretch their tired, aching limbs and bodies.
"This beats the launch, anyway," Charley observed, cheerfully. "The trees shield us from the wind, our thirst is satisfied, and there is no spray to wet us. The air is so warm we ought to be able to get a little sleep without catching cold. I guess, we could all eat a pretty hearty meal right now but we will have to wait until morning to get that."
"What is this strange floating forest," his chum inquired. "I never saw trees like these before."
"They are quite common," Charley answered. "They are cypresses, and grow only on low, over-flooded ground."
"Have you any idea where we are, lad?" asked the captain.
"I fancy we are on the north-western edge of the great Everglade swamp," Charley replied. "It meets the gulf somewhere below Marco, about one hundred and twenty miles from Clearwater. But we can talk over these things in the morning. Now we had better get a little sleep if we can. We will need all the rest we can get, for to-morrow is going to be a hard day."
Hard and uncomfortable as was the uneven platform, his companions were so exhausted that they were instantly asleep and their snores soon mingled with the hooting of multitudes of owls and the croaking of thousands of frogs.