



Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed
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THE GREAT WESTERN SERIES.


                                 I.
GOING WEST; or, The Perils of a Poor Boy.

                                 II.
OUT WEST; or, Roughing it on the Great Lakes.

                                 III.
LAKE BREEZES; or, The Cruise of the Sylvania.

                                 IV.
GOING SOUTH; or, Yachting on the Atlantic Coast.

                                 V.
DOWN SOUTH; or, Yacht Adventures in Florida.

                                 VI.
UP THE RIVER; or, Yachting on the Mississippi.

                                (_In Press._)




_THE GREAT WESTERN SERIES_


DOWN SOUTH
OR
YACHT ADVENTURES IN FLORIDA



By

OLIVER OPTIC

AUTHOR OF YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD, THE ARMY AND NAVY SERIES,
THE WOODVILLE SERIES, THE STARRY FLAG SERIES, THE BOAT
CLUB STORIES, THE LAKE SHORE SERIES, THE UPWARD
AND ONWARD SERIES, THE YACHT CLUB SERIES,
THE RIVERDALE STORIES, ETC.


_WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS_



BOSTON
LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM
1881

COPYRIGHT,
1880,
By WILLIAM T. ADAMS.

Electrotyped at the Boston Stereotype Foundry
No. 4 Pearl Street.




TO MY YOUNG FRIEND,
WILFORD L. WRIGHT,
_OF CAIRO, ILL._,

EX-PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL AMATEUR PRESS ASSOCIATION,
WHO HAD THE COURAGE AND THE SELF-DENIAL TO
RESIGN HIS OFFICE IN ORDER TO PROMOTE
HIS OWN AND OTHERS' WELFARE,

This Book
IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.




PREFACE.


"Down South" is the fifth and last volume but one of the "Great Western
Series." The action of the story is confined entirely to Florida; and
this fact may seem to belie the title of the Series. But the young
yachtman still maintains his hold upon the scenes of his earlier life
in Michigan, and his letters come regularly from that State. If he were
old enough to vote, he could do so only in Michigan; and therefore he
has not lost his right to claim a residence there during his temporary
sojourn in the South. Besides, half his ship's company are Western
boys, who carry with them from "The Great Western" family of States
whatever influence they possess in their wanderings through other
sections of the grand American Union.

The same characters who have figured in other volumes of the Series
are again presented, though others are introduced. The hero is as
straightforward, resolute, and self-reliant as ever. His yacht
adventures consist of various excursions on the St. Johns River, from
its mouth to a point above the head of ordinary navigation, with a run
across to Indian River, on the sea-coast, a trip up the Ocklawaha, to
the Lake Country of Florida, and shorter runs up the smaller streams.
The yachtmen and his passengers try their hand at shooting alligators
as well as more valuable game in the "sportsman's paradise" of the
South, and find excellent fishing in both fresh and salt water.

Apart from the adventures incident to the cruise of the yacht in so
interesting a region as Florida, the volume, like its predecessors in
the Series, has its own story, relating to the life-history of the
hero. But his career mingles with the events peculiar to the region in
which he journeys, and many of his associates are men of the "sunny
South." In any clime, he is the same young man of high aims and noble
purposes. The remaining volume will follow him in his cruise on the
Gulf of Mexico, and up the Mississippi.

DORCHESTER, MASS., August 25, 1880.




CONTENTS.


                                                           PAGE

CHAPTER I.
    MAKING A FLORIDA PORT                                    13

CHAPTER II.
    OUR LIBERAL PASSENGERS                                    23

CHAPTER III.
    A NATIVE FLORIDIAN                                        33

CHAPTER IV.
    A TRIP UP THE SAN SEBASTIAN                               43

CHAPTER V.
    SAVED FROM THE BURNING HOUSE                              53

CHAPTER VI.
    MOONLIGHT AND MUSIC ON BOARD                              63

CHAPTER VII.
    THE ENEMY IN A NEW BUSINESS                               73

CHAPTER VIII.
    A DISAGREEABLE ROOM-MATE                                  83

CHAPTER IX.
    A BATTLE WITH THE SERPENT                                 93

CHAPTER X.
    THE FELLOW IN THE LOCK-UP                                103

CHAPTER XI.
    THE HON. PARDON TIFFANY'S WARNING                        113

CHAPTER XII.
    SUGGESTIONS OF ANOTHER CONSPIRACY                        123

CHAPTER XIII.
    MR. COBBINGTON AND HIS PET RATTLESNAKE                   133

CHAPTER XIV.
    THE EXCURSION TO FORT GEORGE ISLAND                      143

CHAPTER XV.
    A WAR OF WORDS                                           