52 IN LOWER FLORIDA WILDS 



east for several days and the sea was exceed- 

 ingly rough. 



"I doan' know, sah, " he said, "dis mighty bad 

 win', an' dar'll be a big sea in de channel. I 

 doubt if I can put yo acrass, sah." 



I told him I was very anxious to go and again 

 he surveyed the weather. "If dere's any mans 

 in dis islan' can put yo 'crass it's Josef" the 

 accent on the last syllable "but yo got no idee 

 how rough it is in dat channel." I strongly urged 

 him to make an attempt, and at last after scratch- 

 ing his head several times and telling me that 

 No Name was full of rattlesnakes he said: 



"I try it, boss, but I tell yo one t'ing, if I put 

 yo 'crass yo got to pay me mighty well foh it." 



I had only money enough reasonably to carry 

 me through the trip, and as I thought that "Josef" 

 intended to make me pay an exorbitant price I 

 very reluctantly concluded to give up going. 

 However, I plucked up sufficient courage to ask 

 how much. 



"Hit'll take de bes' paht of a day, boss, an' I 

 bleedzed to chahge yo dollah an' a half." 



As soon as I could recover from my astonishment 

 at his exorbitant figure I told him we would go. 



