He never let a chance pa.s.s to put out one or more lines. And since size was now his one object in life, he no longer bothered with a rod and line. If the fellows wanted fish for eating purposes, somebody else must take the trouble to capture them, because he was too busy to bother with small fry.

So every night he would get out his shark hook, and set it in the best place he could find, where he believed he would have a chance to make a capture.

The tables had turned, and it was now Jimmy"s turn to strut around with that look of superiority on his face. He would watch Nick"s feverish labors, and just grin in a way that gave the rest of the boys great amus.e.m.e.nt.

But, although several sharks were caught, they seemed to be in league with Jimmy; for it was only the small fellows who took the hook. Nick"s excitement, when he was working his catch in by the aid of a snubbing post which Jack showed him how to make, was always succeeded by bitter disappointment, after he had discovered the disgusting size of the caught sea tiger.

Not one of them up to now had weighed anything near the required weight.

But all the time the sanguine fat boy lived in hopes of some fine day making a record strike.

The others hoped he would, seeing how much his heart was set on proving himself true game. This rivalry would prove to be a great thing for Nick. It had started him into doing things that otherwise he would never have dreamed of attempting, being somewhat given to laziness, as so many boys built after his stout fashion seem to be. And it had made him think, too, which was a fine thing; throwing him on his own resources, as it were, and bringing out many hidden attributes which the others had never dreamed he possessed.

At Tampa Nick insisted that George keep his word. So, as the three boats had been laid up in the yard of a boat builder, a new motor was installed aboard the _Wireless_. George was so devoted to his boat and its speed record, that he refused to be away from the scene of operations for any length of time.

"One day around Tampa is enough for me, boys," he had declared, when they tried to tempt him to accompany them on the second day. "I want to be around, and watch how they do this job. It would give me a bad jolt, you know, if I had to sacrifice speed for steadiness after all, when I"m hoping to combine both."

"Yes," laughed Josh, "it"d sure break George"s heart if he couldn"t just shoot through the water like an arrow. If he had his way he"d go at about the rate of ninety miles an hour."

"Make it an even hundred, Josh, while you"re about it," George remarked, calmly; and meant it, too.

A number of days were pa.s.sed in the hustling city on Tampa Bay. Jack had always been anxious to see the place; and during the time of their enforced stay they certainly took in every point of interest worth observing.

And of course the _Comfort_ was duly repaired in a proper manner while the opportunity offered. The boat builder complimented Jack on having done such a reliable job under such difficult conditions. He declared that the chances were, the repairs would have held out through the whole cruise, though it was best that they have the hole obliterated in shipshape style once for all.

But all of them were really glad when, one fine morning, after another Norther had blown itself out, and the big bay calmed down, the little flotilla of three motor boats started away from Tampa, headed south, so as to get around the end of the Pinellas Peninsula.

Nick especially was sighing for new chances to show what he could do in the fishing line.

"There must be sharks upwards of three hundred pounds and more that will take my hook," he declared, stoutly, to George, as they boomed along down the bay; "and in good time I"m going to show you something that will make you sit up and take notice, see if I don"t."

"Say, she runs like oiled silk!" exclaimed the skipper of the new _Wireless_; and from this remark Nick realized that, according to George, all his affairs were as a mere dot compared with the great question as to what the new motor would do.

After trying the boat in various ways, George expressed himself as satisfied that he had made a good thing when he decided to have the engine changed. And all the others began to hope that the troubles of the speed boat skipper might now be in the past.

Tampa Bay is so big that the motor boats felt the swell almost as much as though they were upon the gulf itself. And that afternoon, when, after pa.s.sing sharply to the right, they placed Long Key between themselves and the sea, all expressed themselves as pleased at the change.

Here they made out to pa.s.s the night. Nick could hardly wait until the anchors had been dropped before he was begging Jack to go off with the castnet, and get him a supply of mullet for bait, so he could begin his fishing operations. And as Jack was feeling that a supper of mullet would taste rather good, if so be the jumping fish proved to be plentiful, he did not have to be coaxed long.

Consequently the shark line was soon doing business at the old stand; and as usual there arose a wordy war between the two rivals concerning the finish of the game; each feeling stoutly confident that in the end he would be in a condition to carry off the prize.

CHAPTER XX.

THE SHARK FISHERMAN.

"How long have we got before we ought to be home?" asked Herb, that night, as they prepared to camp ash.o.r.e.

"Nearly three weeks left of our time," remarked Josh, sadly; for, much as they wanted to see the dear ones, they would all be sorry when the vacation had reached its end, and once more they must take up school duties at home.

"But looky here," piped up Nick, "my dad wrote me that they"d had a bad hitch about building the high school again. Seems like there was a labor strike that tied up everything. It ain"t settled yet, he says, and if it ain"t done soon, why, the chances are there won"t be any session at all this Spring, because they don"t know just where to house us!"

"Glory be!" cried Jimmy; "oh! what an illegant toime we could be afther having, down in this cruiser"s paradise, if so be thim laborin" men only hold the fort a little longer!"

He voiced the sentiment that filled every heart, although no one else had spoken a word as yet.

"That would be too good to be true," Jack laughed, shaking his head.

"Yes, and we mustn"t let the idea get hold of us, because we"d only be disappointed all the more," Herb remarked.

"But we"ll know by the time we get to New Orleans, won"t we?" demanded Nick, with set jaws, and a flash to his blue eyes; "because, you see, I"m interested more"n the rest of you."

"Say ye so?" burst out Jimmy, wickedly, and chuckling under his breath.

"Because it would give me plenty of time to burst bubbles that are floating around here, and establish a new record," Nick went on, pugnaciously.

"Then, by the powers," Jimmy declared, "I do be hopin" that we spind the whole bally winter down here. It amuses me to see ye worrk, Nick. An", by the same token, it"s doin" ye a hape of good in the bargain, so it is."

They had reached Cedar Keys, and everything was going well. George still found more or less reason to congratulate himself on his wisdom in making that change in his motive power. Now and then Jack saw him pondering, and understood that there was a fly in the ointment somewhere; but George had said nothing, and they could only hazard a guess as to whether it might be a diminution of speed, or the old haunting fear of a breakdown still gripping his heart.

"Where do we strike next for mail?" asked Herb, the night after leaving the city on the key, when, after pa.s.sing the mouth of the famous Suwannee River, they had pulled up back of a friendly key.

"Pensacola is our next port; and I hope we find more letters waiting for us than there were here," George replied.

"Now, that"s quare," remarked Jimmy, with a twinkle in his eye; "when ivery one of us got a letter from the folks back home. But I do be fearin" the little girlie with the rosy cheeks, and the dimple in her chin forgot to write that toime."

"Well, what"s that to anybody but me?" said George, facing them all boldly.

The conversation immediately switched to another subject, for George was rather touchy about having his private affairs talked about by his chums. Had it been Nick, now, or even Jimmy, they would have answered back in the same humor, and the fun waxed fast and furious.

But at the time Nick was busy with that shark line of his. He fancied that as the tide came in and went out through what might be called an inlet, always with more or less confusion, there was a pretty good chance to hook one of the sea tigers, if only he took pains.

"We"ve changed our course again, haven"t we, Jack?" Herb asked.

"That"s so," came the reply; "you see, the coast no longer runs nearly north and south here, but turns to the west. And if one of those old Northers bursts on us now, why, we"ll get it from land side instead of the gulf; unless it whirls around, something these winter blows seldom do; because, you see, they don"t happen to be of the tornado, or hurricane type, just straight wind storms."

Jack was always a fund of information to his mates. He studied things at every opportunity, and never forgot a fact he had learned. And it was surprising how the others had come by degrees to depend on him in all sorts of emergencies.

"I do be glad, Jack, darlint," remarked Jimmy, just then, "that ye make Nick put on a loife preserver ivery toime he do be going in that cranky d.i.n.ky, to carry out his baited shark hook. It"s him that is so clumsy, the boat looks like "twould turrn over at any minute, so it does. And he so fat and juicy, how do we know some hungry shark mightn"t loike to take a bite out of him? Look now at the gossoon, would ye, and how he worrks? In all me experience I niver yit saw such a change as there has been in our Nick."

"Yes, that"s so," laughed Herb. "You know, they say compet.i.tion is the life of trade; and it seems to be putting a good lot of life in Nick Longfellow. Why, he jumps around now like n.o.body ever saw him do before.

If this keeps up long, he"ll be able to play on our baseball team next season. Wow! just imagine the Ice Wagon galloping across centre to grab a long fly!"

Meanwhile, the object of all this talk was paying strict attention to business. He had been shark fishing so many times now that he seemed to have the whole thing down to a fine science. After baiting his bog hook, with its attendant chain, he dropped it in a promising place. Then he made for the sh.o.r.e, paying out the stout line as he went most carefully.

Once on the sandy strip of beach, Nick fastened the rope to the nearest tree he could find, first taking a couple of hitches around a stake he had driven in deeply, not far from the water"s edge, and which was to serve as a snubbing post, in case he were lucky enough to make a strike.