The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1895-10-02

above him. The bag of money was
missing of course, and to go home with
out it after what he had said to his
father was not to be thought of. He
would follow the men and perhaps a
chance to recover the money might
offer.
It must have been about noon when,
hungry and tired, Joe stopped at a
farmhouse and asked for drink The
kind hearted farmer, seeing that the lad
was hungry, made him sit down to a
hearty dinner, and Joe told his story to
the sympathetic family.
''Two tramps passed here about day
light, volunteered the farmers daugh-
ter. "Can you describe the men?''
He could, and his description tailed
exactly with that of the tramps seen by
the farmers daughter, especially about
one man having very black eye. They
had taken the road to the north, she
said, but they were wicked looking men,
and she advised Joe not to attempt to
follow them.
The men were far ahead, but by max
ing careful inquiries at a country store
he learned that they had staid in the
village some time and could not be
more than couple of miles away This
intelligence spurred him on, and in two
hours he caught sight of the pair cross
ing field some distance ahead. Keep
ing we'll in the shelter of fences and
trees, he followed as close as he dared
1t was sultry day, and the sun scorched
everything with which it came in con-
tact. They were now approaching the
river, and Joe looked with longing eyes
at the cool water.
To his great surprise the two men
stopped on the bank, and after talking
for some time they removed their clothes
and piling them in a crevice in the
stone wall they prepared to enter the
water. The younger of the two, the one
whom Joe had decorated with black
eye, looked suspiciously in every direc-
ton before he went down the bank, but
seeing nothing to alarm him he went
ahead with his bath. Apparently neither
of the men could swim. They splashed
about in the shallow water, while Joe,
with fast beating heart, crept under the
shelter Of some bushes W., coward
the pile of clothes, for he was confident
his money was concealed i'll them. II he
could only get it and get away without
being discovered!
This seemed likely to be the case, for
he had the bundle of clothes in his arms
and had risen from the ground and
cleared the fence before an exclamation
from one of the men announced that he
was discovered. Joe threw the clothes,
with the exception of the trousers he
felt to contain the bag Of money, into
the river as he rapidly crossed the little
footbridge. At the end Of the bridge
the road had lately been covered with
broken stones, and here Joe was able to
make good progress away from his bare
footed pu1suer. The man had paused a
moment when he saw his clothes splash
into the water, but evidently consider
ing that the clothes were less valuable
than the money he hurried on as he was.
The broken stones were soon passed,
and then at every step the man gained
upon Joe, and had it not been for a close
prickly hedge near by through which the
hoy forced his way, he would undOubt-
edly have been caught He reflected
that if the ruffian made up his mind to
force his way through the briers he
would suffer much more than he, and SO
he made the best of his advantage thus
gained