He was doomed, however, never to leave that part of the country. He
went out one day with Miss Anna Clarkson, and an old negro, to shoot
in the swamps. They had a boat which was in charge of the negro. That
evening, Miss Clarkson returned alone. She was drenched and covered
with slime and mud. There had been an accident. The boat had capsized
by striking against a sunken tree. They were all thrown into the
water. She managed to cling to the boat, and ultimately to right it,
but her companions disappeared. The negro, she thought, was taken by a
crocodile.
A search-party went out to try and recover the bodies. The negro was
never found, Miller was. He presented an extraordinary appearance,
and those who examined him said he had not died by drowning. This
theory, however, found no favour. Men were often drowned in the swamps,
which swarmed with alligators and crocodiles, huge snakes, and other
repulsive things. When a man once got into the water he had no chance.
It was a perfect miracle how Miss Clarkson escaped. ‘Poor thing, she
must have had an awful time of it.’
It is true that crocodiles, alligators, and snakes did swarm in the
swamps, and the remarkable thing was that Miller’s body was recovered.
Much sympathy was shown for Miss Clarkson; Miller was duly buried and
forgotten in a week.
Amongst the lady’s most pronounced sympathisers was a Mr. Lambert
Lennox, an Englishman engaged in fruit-farming. He was about
forty-five, a widower with two daughters and a son. It was generally
agreed that he was one of the finest men in Florida. He was an athlete.
He stood six feet two in his stockings. His health was perfect. It was
his boast that he had never been laid up a day with illness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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