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Read Ebook: Motor Boat Boys Among the Florida Keys; Or The Struggle for the Leadership by Arundel Louis
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Ebook has 1136 lines and 51445 words, and 23 pages
THE MOTOR BOAT BOYS AMONG THE FLORIDA KEYS
A Struggle For the Leadership
AT ANCHOR, INSIDE THE BAR.
"Get busy here, Nick; now's your chance to make a big score for a starter!"
"It's awful kind of you, George, to let me out of my part of the work this afternoon, and that's a fact. I appreciate it, too; because I just want to beat Jimmy out in this thing the worst kind."
"Oh! shucks! don't mention it, Nick. We're all interested in your game, and you know it. Besides, there goes your rival, Jimmy, right now, in his little dinky boat, and with a wide grin on his face. Jack's given him a holiday, to celebrate the opening of the great fishing contest. Get a move on, you slow-poke!"
"Here you are, Nick. Got your tackle all right, have you; and sure that life preserver is in the boat? All ready? Then away you go; but keep clear of the inlet, if the tide changes, or you might get carried out to sea in that eight-foot dinky."
Three minutes later, and Nick Longfellow--who belied his name dreadfully, in that he was short, and fat, and built pretty much after the style of a full meal bag--was rowing clumsily toward a likely spot, where he believed he might do some successful fishing.
A trio of motor boats were anchored just inside Mosquito Inlet, not far from the town of New Smyrna on the east coast of Florida, having come in that very afternoon, after making the outside passage from the mouth of the St. Johns River.
They might have entered at St. Augustine, and taken the inside passage down to this place, only that something was wrong with the connecting canal that led to the Halifax River, and it seemed unwise to take the chances of being held up.
These lads belonged in a town far up toward the sources of the mighty Mississippi River. They would have been attending high school, only that a fire had almost demolished the buildings, and vacation season was enforced until after New Year's.
Owning these boats, and having had considerable experience in making long trips, the boys had, with the consent of their parents, shipped the craft east to Philadelphia, and some five weeks previously started down the coast by the inside route.
And now they were starting on the second half of the remarkable voyage, which they intended would take them around the end of the peninsula of Florida, among the keys that make this region the small boat cruiser's paradise, and finally land them at New Orleans in time to ship their boats north by steamboat.
Spending several days in Jacksonville, and taking aboard supplies, before making a start, Nick and Jimmy had fallen into quite a heated dispute as to which of them could be called the more expert fisherman.
Now, truth to tell, neither of the boys had had very much experience in this line; but, egged on by Josh and Herb, they had finally entered upon a contest which was to last until they reached New Orleans. Jack had solemnly entered the conditions in his log book; and the one who, during the duration of the cruise, could catch and land unassisted the heaviest fish of any description, was to be declared the champion.
Eager to accomplish wonderful "stunts," the two boys naturally seized upon this very first chance to get their lines overboard, in the hope of starting things moving by a weighty capture.
And the others, anticipating more or less fun out of the bitter rivalry, lost no opportunity to "sic" the contestants on. Just as a breeze fans a flame, so their frequent allusions as to the budding qualities of the rivals as fishermen kept Nick and Jimmy eager for the fray.
An expert with the oars or a paddle might manage the affair fairly well; but as Nick was as clumsy as he was fat, it seemed as though he would never get the hang of the squatty tender.
When he sat in the middle, one dip of an oar would cause the boat to spin wildly around as if on a pivot; and as to rowing in a straight course, the thing was utterly beyond Nick's abilities. So, when he was aiming for a certain spot, he was wont to approach his intended goal by a series of eccentric angles.
The flood tide was still coming in lazily, for they had managed to hit the inlet when the bar was well covered, wishing to take no chances. So Nick, after managing to propel the "punkin seed" over to the spot near a bunch of mangroves, that he had selected as most promising, set to work.
He tied the boat, first of all, by a piece of cord, so that it would not float away while he fished. Then he laboriously got his tackle in readiness.
Those on the motor boats had kept an eye on the actions of the two rivals, as if anticipating that sooner or later they might have something to laugh over; for Nick was forever tumbling into difficulties of some sort.
"It takes an expert to run that cut-off runt properly," said Herb, who was also engaged, wiping his engine, while Josh started operations looking to the evening meal, the lanky boy being by all odds the best cook in the party.
"Thank you for the compliment, Herb," laughed George. "It happens that I've always been at home in small boats. And there was something about that stumpy little affair that made me take a fancy to her. Nick will do better after he learns the ropes. And he generally manages to get there, even if he does cover twice as much distance as I might. Look at Jimmy, fellows!"
"He's got something, for a fact!" exclaimed Herb; "and Nick is excited over it. See him wiggle around to watch, just as if he feared the game was going to be settled right in the start. Hi! sit down, Nick! Want to upset that cranky thing, do you? Well, it's good you've got your air bag fastened on; for without a life preserver you'd drown in this tideway, if ever you fell over."
"Watch Jimmy, will you, boys?" chuckled Jack. "Look at the grin on his face as he pulls his line in. You can see that half his fun is in keeping an eye on Nick, to enjoy his confusion and disappointment."
"Wow! why, the fish is pulling his boat around, do you notice?" demanded George.
"That looks as if it might be a good one. There, I thought Jimmy couldn't keep still much longer. Listen to him yap, would you?" Herb called out.
Jimmy had started to crow over his rival, as any ordinary boy would be apt to do under similar conditions.
"Don't be after gettin' downhearted too soon, Nick, me bhoy!" he shouted. "Sure, this is only a little one for a stharter, so it is. Wait till I get going, and I'll open your eyes good and sthrong. Och! how he pulls! If only ye were a bit closer now, I'd let ye fale of the line, to know the sensation. Come in, ye darlint, and let's have a look at ye. Whirra! but he's bigger than I thought; and it's me as hopes he won't upset the boat when I pull him over the side!"
Of course much of this talk was for the purpose of making his rival squirm with envy; though the captive did show signs of being a strong fighter.
After about five minutes of apparently strenuous effort, Jimmy concluded that it would be unwise to risk losing his prisoner by playing it longer; so he dragged the hooked fish over the side. There was a flash of bronze and white that told Jack the story.
"A channel bass, and something like fifteen pounds in weight, too. We're sure of fish on this trip, anyway, with the two of them bending every energy to the winning of the medal!" he exclaimed.
"There goes Nick back to his work," said George. "If there are fish here, he hopes to get his share. But ten to one he's nearly choking with envy right now, because Jimmy drew the first blood. It's an uphill game for poor old Nick."
"Well," Herb went on to remark, "the game will last a whole month, and more; so nobody can tell how the finish may turn out. Nick might get hold of a bigger fish any minute. But it's up to us to encourage 'em right along. We'll never want for a fish diet if we do, for they'll stay up nights to keep at it."
"There, I declare, if Nick didn't have a jerk at his line then; but he failed to hook the rascal!" Jack exclaimed.
"And came near upsetting the boat in his excitement, too," complained George. "If he does, I can see the finish of my oars, which will go out of the inlet with the ebb tide."
"But what about Nick; you don't seem to worry about how he'll act?" laughed Herb.
"Oh! he'll just float around, with that life preserver holding him up, till one of us pushes out and tows him ashore. Whatever is he doing now, do you suppose?" George demanded.
"Throwing out that shark hook of his, with the clothes line attached," Jack explained. "You see, Nick has evidently made up his mind to go in for something worth while. He wants to knock the spots out of Jimmy's hopes right in the start."
"But, my stars! if he hooks a big shark while he's sitting in that punkin seed of a boat, there's bound to be a warm old circus!" Herb declared.
Some little time passed, and those aboard the anchored motor boats, busily engaged in their various occupations, had almost forgotten about the bitter rivalry going on so near by, when suddenly they were startled by a great shout.
"And say, he's fast to a whopper, as sure as you live!" cried Herb.
George added his contribution on the heels of the rest.
THE WARNING RATTLE.
Jack Stormways was a quick-witted lad. He had proved this fact on numerous occasions in the past, within the memory of his chums.
And so Jack, after taking that one look out over the water, sprang forward, and started dragging his anchor aboard with all possible speed. That done, he next applied himself to getting power on the boat, which fortunately could be done with a simple turning over of the engine.
Meanwhile Nick was going at a great rate, not in a direct line for the inlet, but following jerky, eccentric angles, as though the shark hardly knew what to do, on feeling the contact with the point of the big hook at the end of the chain.
Several times the fat boy seemed on the point of creeping forward to get at the rope that was fastened to a cleat in the bow of the dinky. It was George who roared at him on such occasions.
"Keep still, Nick; sit down, can't you? You'll upset sure, if you don't lie flat! Jack's coming out after you on the jump! Hey, look out there, Jimmy, or you'll get foul, too! Whew! what a race horse you've got fast to, Nick. If only you could land him, Jimmy's name would be Mud. There he goes again, heading for the bar! Look at the water shooting up on either side of that dandy little boat, would you? And ain't Nick having the ride of his life, though? There he goes, crawling along up to the bow again. Perhaps he wants to cut loose; small blame to him if he does!"
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