Published by Good Press, 2021

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      EAN 4057664595058

Table of Contents

       Chapter One.

       Chapter Two.

       Chapter Three.

       Chapter Four.

       Chapter Five.

       Chapter Six.

       Chapter Seven.

       Chapter Eight.

       Chapter Nine.

       Chapter Ten.

       Chapter Eleven.

       Chapter Twelve.

       Chapter Thirteen.

       Chapter Fourteen.

       Chapter Fifteen.

       Chapter Sixteen.

       Chapter Seventeen.

       Chapter Eighteen.

       Chapter Nineteen.

       Chapter Twenty.

       Chapter Twenty One.

       Chapter Twenty Two.

       Chapter Twenty Three.

       Chapter Twenty Four.

       Chapter Twenty Five.

       Chapter Twenty Six.

       Chapter Twenty Seven.

       Chapter Twenty Eight.

       Chapter Twenty Nine.

       Chapter Thirty.

       Chapter Thirty One.

       Chapter Thirty Two.

       Chapter Thirty Three.

       Chapter Thirty Four.

       Chapter Thirty Five.

       Chapter Thirty Six.

       Chapter Thirty Seven.

       Chapter Thirty Eight.

       Chapter Thirty Nine.

       Chapter Forty.

       Chapter Forty One.

       Chapter Forty Two.

       Chapter Forty Three.

Chapter One.

       Table of Contents

      A Deadly Introduction.

      The last golden gleams of the setting sun sparkled across the translucent waters of Tampa Bay. This fading light fell upon shores fringed with groves of oak and magnolia, whose evergreen leaves became gradually darkened by the purple twilight.

      A profound silence, broken by the occasional notes of a tree-frog, or the flapping of the night-hawk’s wings, was but the prelude to that wonderful concert of animated nature heard only in the tropical forest.

      A few moments, and the golden lines of trembling light had disappeared, while darkness almost palpable overshadowed the scene.

      Then broke forth in full chorus the nocturnal voices of the forest.

      The mocking-bird, the whip-poor-will, the bittern, the bell-frog, grasshoppers, wolves, and alligators, all joined in the harmony incident to the hour of night, causing a din startling to the ear of a stranger.

      Now and then would occur an interval of silence, which rendered the renewal of the voices all the more observable.

      During one of these pauses a cry might have been heard differing from all the other sounds.

      It was the voice of a human being, and there was one who heard it.

      Making his way through the woods was