FLORIDA AND THE WEST INDIES 81 



or self-destruction. My indifferent strumming of 

 popular ballads at anyrate added a little to the 

 gaiety of the situation by drawing forth the 

 manager's wife and sister-in-law from their hiding- 

 places. I have no wish to pose as an Orpheus. 

 Indeed, so crude is my poor little knack of playing 

 " by ear" that I hesitate to present myself in the 

 character of a troubadour earning bread by his lute, 

 but the fact remains that a very welcome cold 

 supper, for which I had in vain thrown out hints 

 earlier in the afternoon, made its appearance that 

 evening in my room, a banquet for which Mr 

 Concannon stoutly declined to make any charge in 

 my bill. 



As foretold by the patient baggage-clerk, all my 

 luggage came on by the night mail from Lakeland. 

 Having made arrangements for an early call and for 

 a launch (at eight dollars) to leave the pier at six, I 

 turned in, full of supper, tobacco and goodwill to all 

 mankind, even the frowsy caterer round the corner 

 and his lady friend in the bath-robe. Fitfully I 

 slept through a conspiracy of thunder and mos- 

 quitoes to keep me awake. 



Next morning, at the hour named, I and my kit 

 were stowed aboard a little launch that made good 

 going down the harbour, convoyed by heavy pelicans 

 and graceful man-o'-war hawks. From behind the 

 screen of mangroves that fringe every islet peeped 

 frightened egrets, inspired with a distrust bred of 

 encounters with the plume-hunter. Fat mullet 

 leaped in the gleaming shallows, too quick in their 

 movements for the clumsy fishing of the greedy 

 pelicans. 



At length, at breakfast-time on the Sunday 



