Chapter XXIV - The Youth on the Raft Capitolo XXIV - Il giovane sulla zattera

Tom Osborne, on the way back in the Gem with the girls and Mr. Stonington, told his story. He had prepared the luncheon, and, seeing the girls going out on the little neck of land to gather flowers, he recalled seeing some blooms, of the orchid variety, farther in the woods. Aveva preparato il pranzo e, vedendo le ragazze uscire sul piccolo appezzamento di terreno per raccogliere fiori, si ricordò di aver visto alcune fioriture, della varietà delle orchidee, più in là nel bosco.

Thinking to give the girls a surprise, he decided to gather some before they returned. He set off, but the flowers grew farther away than he thought, and before he realized it he was a mile from the glade. Si incamminò, ma i fiori si allontanarono più di quanto pensasse e prima di rendersene conto si trovò a un chilometro dalla radura.

"Then, all at once," he related, "a couple of rough fellows sprang out at me, and before I could do anything they had me tied." "Poi, all'improvviso", ha raccontato, "un paio di tipi rozzi mi sono saltati addosso e prima che potessi fare qualcosa mi hanno legato". "How awful!" "Che cosa terribile!" exclaimed Betty.

"I thought so at the time," said Tom, grimly. "L'ho pensato in quel momento", disse Tom, torvo. "I couldn't imagine why they wanted me, but when they led me off into the swamp I understood. "Non riuscivo a capire perché mi volessero, ma quando mi hanno condotto nella palude ho capito. They were after workers, and they'd do anything to get them." Cercavano lavoratori e avrebbero fatto di tutto per averli". Happily the days are past when such things are done, but a few years ago, before the law intervened, men who were making money by getting valuable timber, and other products, from the Southern forests, stopped at little in order to obtain the necessary labor. Fortunatamente sono passati i tempi in cui si facevano queste cose, ma qualche anno fa, prima che intervenisse la legge, gli uomini che guadagnavano denaro ricavando legname pregiato e altri prodotti dalle foreste del Sud, si fermavano a poco per ottenere la manodopera necessaria.

Tom was taken to the Everglade camp, which explains why the calls of the girls did not reach him. Strong and healthy, he was a great "find" for the unscrupulous contractors, but as he stubbornly refused to work he was made a prisoner in one of the shacks. Forte e in salute, era una grande "scoperta" per gli appaltatori senza scrupoli, ma poiché si rifiutava ostinatamente di lavorare fu fatto prigioniero in una delle baracche. It was there that he got into communication with The Loon.