themselves in this Martello tower. They made it so that through it
they could point their muskets and shoot anybody sent to capture
them as soon as he entered the lower rooms. They did not have a
chance to use it for this purpose, however, for the officer sent
after them just camped outside the tower and waited patiently
until hunger compelled the runaways to surrender, when he quietly
marched them back to the ship.

In all of the forts, as well as in all the houses of Key West, are
great cisterns for storing rain-water, for there are no wells on
the island, and the only fresh-water to be had is what can be
caught and stored during the rainy season.

It was a week after the orange auction that Mr. Elmer came into
the cabin of the schooner one afternoon and announced that the
court had given its decision, and that they would sail the next
day.

This decision of the court gave to the schooner Nancy Bell five
thousand dollars, and this, "Captain Li" said, must, according to
wrecker's law, be divided among all who were on board the schooner
at the time of the wreck. Accordingly, he insisted upon giving Mr.
and Mrs. Elmer each two hundred dollars, and Mark, Ruth, and Jan
each one hundred dollars. As neither of the children had ever
before owned more than five dollars at one time, they now felt
wealthy enough to buy the State of Florida, and regarded each
other with vastly increased respect. While their father took
charge of this money for them, he told them they might invest it
as they saw fit, provided he and their mother thought the
investment a good one.