Ten minutes later, and the six boys were all ash.o.r.e, laying hold of the rope in order to drag the captured fish out.

"Say, he"s some whopper, let me tell you!" exclaimed George, as, having drawn the shark high and dry, they all hastened to examine the capture.

Nick was dancing with joy, and his eyes fairly beamed as he stood beside the great bulk, putting one foot up on it after the manner in which he had seen noted hunters do, in pictures that told of their exploits when hunting big game.

"Now, how about it, Jimmy?" he demanded, as Jack was cutting the stout hook from the jaw of the monster. "Think this is some punkins, don"t you, now. Three hundred pounds, if it weighs an ounce. Have to hustle some, let me tell you, my boy, if you ever expect to go a notch higher than this."

"Arrah, come off, would you!" indignantly cried Jimmy. "Sure, ye wouldn"t be claiming that ye took this same ould sea wolf, and inter it in the compet.i.tion. I do be laving it to Jack here, if that"s fair?"

"But I hooked it, you all saw that?" expostulated Nick.

"I don"t know," remarked Herb, looking very serious; "I was under the impression that the shark had got you, up to the time Jack came along with his little gun, and tapped him on the head. How about it, Commodore? Can Nick enter any claim to having caught this prize?"

"Wait," said Jack, smiling; "let me read out the exact words of the wager. I"ve got a copy right here in my note book. Listen now, both of you. It reads like this: "Each contestant shall have the liberty of fishing as often as he pleases, and the fish may be taken in any sort of manner; the one stipulation being that the capture shall be undertaken by the contestant, _alone and unaided_; and that he must have possession of the fish long enough to show the same, and have its weight either estimated or proven.""

"That settles your goose, me bhoy!" croaked Jimmy, gleefully; "and I"m top notch in the game up to the prisent moment. Do we get busy again, Nick, I say; or are ye satisfied to lit me claim first blood?"

"Well, it seems mighty small, that after grabbing that nice fellow, I"ve got to let the honors go for the day," remarked the fat boy. "And I guess I"ve had quite enough excitement for once. I"m all soaked in the bargain; and it feels kind of cool, you see. So I won"t fish any more right now. But next time, just you look out for yourself, Jimmy. I"m after you like hot cakes. Say, ain"t we going to have that fish for supper, boys?"

Nick was a voracious eater. He liked nothing in the world so much as to enjoy a glorious meal; and long after his chums were through, he often sat there, finishing the dishes. On the other hand, lean, lanky Josh, while possessed of a knack for cooking all sorts of good things, had a poor appet.i.te, and often merely nibbled at his food, to the wonderment and disgust of the fat boy.

"If you get to work and clean it," said Jack, "I think there ought to be plenty to go around. But you"ll find that one-third of a channel ba.s.s is the head. As we had one before, we know it"s worth eating, so pitch in, Nick. Since you lost your knife overboard, take mine here, and get busy."

It pleased Jimmy to strut around near where his rival was occupied with his menial task, and make occasional remarks about "his prize,"

calculated to rub salt in Nick"s wounds. But after all, the fat boy was good-natured, and took things in a matter-of-fact way. Besides, he was grimly resolved that sooner or later, by hook or by crook, even if it were a fish-hook, he would overcome this strong lead of his rival in the race for high honors.

As more or less fuel had been found ash.o.r.e, and Josh expressed his desire to manage the supper, as head chef, it was found advisable to change their plans. And so, a.s.sisted by many willing workers, the lanky wonder started operations.

He was soon bustling around, looking very consequential. Nick had made him a _chef"s_ cap out of a piece of white muslin, which he was requested to wear on all such occasions as this, when in charge of affairs about the cooking fire.

Nick himself was busy trying to mend some little contraption, purchased on the street in Jacksonville, and which he had broken before he could have any fun with the same as originally intended.

Jack, stepping off from the _Tramp_, where he had gone to get some of the tinware needed for coffee and substantial food, was electrified to hear Josh give a whoop; and at the same instant his ears were a.s.sailed by a dreadful rattling noise that sounded for all the world like the angry buzz of a diamond-back rattlesnake.

"Thunder and Mars! Great Jerusalem! I"m struck in the leg!" bellowed the lengthy Josh, as he came tumbling back from the edge of the bushes, grabbing at his shin in a frantic manner.

CHAPTER III.

DOWN THE INDIAN RIVER.

"Now, what d"ye know about that?" exclaimed Nick, scrambling to his feet after his usual clumsy way; for when the fat boy happened to become excited he generally "fell all over himself," as Josh put it.

"What ails you, Josh?" demanded Herb.

No sooner had the lengthy one reached a spot near the fire than he threw himself down, and commenced frantically to pull up the left leg of his trousers.

"Gosh! looky there, will you, fellers?" he bellowed, as if in a panic.

"He sure got me that time; I guess I"m a goner. Won"t one of you get down and suck the poison out for me? You know, I"d do it in your case.

Oh! please hurry up. My leg"s beginning to swell right now, and in a few minutes it"ll be too late!"

"Poison!" echoed Herb, who seemed to be in utter ignorance of the entire matter, and could only stare at the little speck of blood showing on the white skin as if horribly fascinated.

"Yes, oh! didn"t you hear the terrible buzz he gave when he stuck his fangs in me?" groaned poor Josh.

Jack had thrown himself down alongside the wounded one, and was minutely examining the hurt. He looked up at this juncture, and to the astonishment of Herb and George, was apparently grinning.

"Brace up, Josh," he said, cheerfully; "you"re not going to kick the bucket yet awhile, I reckon."

"Oh! how kind of you to tell me so, Jack; but how do you know? Please tell me why you say that," pleaded the cook, beginning to look relieved; for he had fallen long ago into placing the utmost confidence in whatever Jack believed.

"Well, in the first place, there"s only one tiny puncture, you see; and if this was a snake bite there"d be the plain marks of _two_ fangs,"

Jack announced.

"Sounds all right, Jack; but perhaps this critter only had one fang.

Didn"t you hear the angry shake of his old rattle-box when he struck?

It gave me a cold chill, because, right at the same second, I felt something stick me. I"ll never forget the awful sensation, even if I do live through it," and Josh rubbed his leg vigorously, as though hoping that by inducing a circulation he might avert the threatened dire catastrophe.

"Well, if you only look around right now, perhaps you"ll discover the source of that same buzz," Jack went on, soberly.

"Why, whatever can you mean?" Josh stammered, staring his amazement.

"Notice how Nick, for instance, is trying the best he knows how to keep his face straight, even while he"s just shaking all over with the laugh that"s in him. Stand up, Nick; and hold out that hand you"ve got behind your back."

Jack pointed rather sternly at the culprit while speaking.

"Oh, well, I s"pose I"ll have to "fess," mumbled the fat boy, as he whipped the hand in question around, so that all could see what he was holding.

"Why, it"s that boozy little rattle he picked up in Jacksonville, and broke on the first trial!" exclaimed George. "He"s been dabbling at it ever since, trying to mend the old thing."

"Yes," said Jack, "and just succeeded in getting it to working. Here, give it to me, Nick, and I"ll show them how it whirrs when you turn it around rapidly."

Taking the little wooden contrivance, Jack gave it a series of quick turns, with the result that a loud angry buzzing was produced, not unlike the warning rattle of an enraged snake.

"Oh! that was it, Jack!" cried the relieved Josh. "Thank you for showing me, too. It sure takes a big load off my mind, because you"ll never know what a nasty feeling I had at the time. It was a mean dodge, Nick, and I can"t forget it in a hurry, either. But Jack, that don"t explain everything."

"Now you"re thinking of that sudden little pain you had in the leg?"

suggested the other, nodding his head understandingly.

"You bet I am!" Josh declared. "It took me at the identical second I heard that whirr. If it wasn"t a snake bit me, what did, Jack?"

"Let"s find out right away, so"s to relieve your mind," Jack went on.

"Lead the way to the very spot where you were when you heard the sound, and felt that sudden pain."

"That"s dead easy," remarked the tall boy; and as he said this he scrambled to his feet, his trousers still rolled up to his knee, and limped across the camp.