Motor Boat Boys Among the Florida Keys; Or, The Struggle for the Leadership

CHAPTER XXII.
WHERE AMBITION LED.

True to his word, the generous Irish lad was the very first to grasp Nick’s blistered hand and congratulate him on his wonderful success.

“That’s what comes of stick-at-it-tiveness,” declared Herb, ponderously, as he, too, gripped the fingers of the successful shark fisherman.

Nick was allowed to get the rifle, and wind up the career of the savage sea monster. In the morning they estimated his weight, just as they had done with others in the past. Everybody was satisfied to agree with that first guess which Jack made, and call it four hundred. And they declared that Nick was a wonder, in that with only the assistance of the falls, he had dragged such a monster up on the beach.

The voyage was resumed that day, and for the better part of a week they were put to it dodging storms, making outside runs when the fair weather allowed of their braving the open gulf, and extricating themselves from various unpleasant predicaments, when they managed to lose themselves in what had promised to be a convenient cut-off, but which proved a trap in the shape of shallow water, with many chances of the boats sticking in the mud.

After Pensacola would come Mobile; and then the next place they expected to reach would be their destination, New Orleans.

Each night as they figured on the time that still remained, a sense of gloom would descend upon the camp, though Jack or else Jimmy soon dissipated it by some joking remark, or it might be by bursting out into ragtime song. But they had had such a glorious time since starting out on this remarkable voyage that they viewed its approaching finish with a feeling bordering on dismay.

Jimmy had now taken to being haunted by a desire to eclipse the great feat of his stout rival. Though it did not seem that there might be one chance in fifty of his succeeding in capturing a fish that would exceed the weight of that monster shark, Jimmy had developed an industrious trait.

Early and late his mind was set upon the game. Nick had generously turned over his shark tackle to the other. He guaranteed that it was sound, and capable of sustaining any strain.

So Jimmy would each night do just what the other had been engaged in until recently; and the way he attended to that line was worthy of all praise.

But, although hardly a night went by that he did not make some sort of capture, his best effort fell far short of the necessary heft, and Nick began to feel that the wager was as good as won. Nevertheless, he watched all that Jimmy did with a certain amount of interest, not to say anxiety, knowing that there is, according to the old saying, “many a slip between the cup and the lip.”

All of them were in the very best of health, and in this the voyage down the coast, and around the end of Florida among the keys had done them good. Even Josh seemed to have recovered from his spell of indigestion, and was able to do his share of the eating.

How could it be otherwise, when they were living in the open air day and night, drinking in the pure ozone all the while; with contented minds, and plenty to appease the healthy demands of the inner man?

So one fine afternoon they headed up the wide bay leading to Pensacola, expecting to get more home letters here. George had a wrinkle between his eyes at times, but this was not on account of any anxiety in connection with a girl he had left behind him, as some of the others jokingly declared. The fact was, his new engine was giving him a little trouble.

“Tell you what, George,” Herb had said, when they had to stop an hour for the other to do some work, in order to induce the motor to carry on its part; “your old Wireless is just a hoodoo, and that’s what ails you.”

“Huh!” grunted George, in disgust, “I’m beginning to believe that way myself, to be honest now. I’ve done everything a fellow could do, even to installing a new and guaranteed motor; yet here the measly thing goes back on me, just like the old one used to. Huh! it’s just sickening, that’s what!”

“But you see, George,” Josh remarked, with a wide grin, “the bally boat wouldn’t feel right at all if it went too smooth. Ever since you first got her she’s been accustomed to playing you tricks. Expect her to reform all at once, and be as meek as Moses? Well, I guess not. Give her time, George, plenty of time.”

“Oh! she’s got to see me through this cruise,” declared the owner of the cranky speed boat; “because I haven’t got the money to buy another right now. And no matter what the rest of you say, I’ve somehow always loved this boat.”

“Of course,” observed Herb; “they always say that the bad child is loved most by its parents, because they feel the greatest anxiety for that one. But give me the steady old Comfort, that never keeps me awake guessing what sort of trick it’ll play next.”

“Oh! that’s all right,” remarked George, indifferently; “everybody to their taste. But I’d die in that tub, watching all the rest run circles around me.”

“Oh! hardly that,” laughed Herb; “because, you see, once in a while there’s a little ripple of excitement comes breezing along, when some fellow asks to be taken in tow!”

Of course, after that George had nothing further to say; for he could look back to several instances that were full of humiliation to his proud spirit, when necessity had forced him to accept of this friendly aid on the part of his chums.

But they reached Pensacola finally in good shape. George hoped that after all, as the others said, that one little trick on the part of his engine might have only been a slip that would never occur again; though his confidence was shaken, and he watched its working suspiciously after that.

Letters from home greeted them at Pensacola; but no new developments were contained in them, at least nothing positive. The strike had not been settled, and there was warm talk of the town putting men to work regardless of labor unions.

“And so little has been done,” Jack remarked, after getting the consensus of opinions from all the letters that had been read, “that I can’t see, for the life of me, how they’re ever going to complete the building this season. I understand that it was proposed to use the biggest church in a pinch; but just as luck would have it, the heating plant in that has gone all to pieces, so that the scholars would be apt to freeze.”

The boys looked at each other, and smiled. Perhaps they were, deep down in their hearts, secretly hoping that the workers up there would keep on quarreling, and the completion of the high school building be postponed until the next summer. For boys give little thought concerning lost opportunities in the way of learning. Besides, were they not getting the finest lessons possible in the line of self reliance; and was not this long cruise the best sort of education, when they had learned a thousand things that could never be forgotten?

When they left Pensacola the weather appeared favorable; but at this season of the year nothing can be taken for granted; so that the experienced cruiser is accustomed to keeping a strict watch for signs of storms.

They had need of caution about this time, since there arose a necessity for considerable outside work, always dangerous in small boats, because of shallow water near the shore, and an absence of suitable harbors in which to seek shelter, should a sudden gale arise.

If all went well, they anticipated making it a one-night stop between Pensacola and Mobile; and Jack thought he had the place for this camp picked out on his coast chart, which he studied faithfully.

So, as this day moved along, they were putting the miles behind them at a steady rate. George had no new trouble with his engine, though it was noticed that he cut out some of his racing ahead of the others. Constant friction from water will wear away granite in time; and the numerous and long-continued troubles of George must be making an impression on his usually buoyant spirits.

“Alabama, here we rest!” sang out Jack, about five in the afternoon, as he pointed ahead to where a friendly island or key offered them the shelter they craved.

“Oh! I’m so glad!” Nick was heard to say, and they could easily guess why; for of course Nick must be ravenously hungry—he nearly always was.

Accordingly they headed in, meaning to pass behind the end of the key that jutted out like a human finger, offering an asylum to all small craft that could gain the sheltered water behind.

It was just while they were slowing up, since caution had to be exercised whenever they neared shoal waters, that Herb called out excitedly:

“Oh! Jack, look out yonder; what in the dickens is that coming along, and sticking out of the water?”

Of course every eye was instantly turned in the direction Herb was pointing.

“It’s a whale!” shouted Nick, almost falling overboard in his excitement, as he discovered some dreadful looking black object rushing through the water amid a sparkling mass of foam.

“A whale!” echoed Jimmy, dancing up and down excitedly; “Och! if I only had a harpoon now, wouldn’t it be just grand? A whale would knock the spots out of the biggest shark that iver grew, so it would.”

Jack had snatched up his marine glasses, and was leveling them at the monster, back of which trailed that line of foam and bubbles. The others, watching, saw him stare as though hardly able to believe his eyes, and then laugh outright.

“Oh! there goes Jimmy in the dinky; and, would you believe it, he’s got a gun!” exclaimed Nick. “Nothing is too big to scare that boy, I do believe. He’d just as soon tackle a whale as a sunfish. Call him back, Jack, or he’ll be drowned!”

Jack laid down the glasses, which had occupied his attention so much that he had not observed the actions of his cruising mate.

“Here, you, Jimmy, come right back!” he called, though he could hardly talk because of the desire to laugh.

“But howld on, Jack, darlint, didn’t ye be afther sayin’ anything that swum was a fish; and if I get a whale ain’t it fair play?” the other replied, pausing in his labor of using the short oars belonging to the Tramp’s tender.

“Sure, I did,” answered Jack; “but that didn’t mean you could go around banging away at one of your Uncle Sam’s submarines, out for a trial spin from the Pensacola navy-yard. I guess you’d better come back now, before you get in trouble; don’t you?”

CHAPTER XXIII.
WINDING UP THE VOYAGE—CONCLUSION.

Ambitious Jimmy evidently came to the conclusion that a Government submarine was rather larger game than he cared to tackle. Besides, from the riotous way in which his five chums were laughing, he must have become convinced that there would be sustained objections to allowing him to count his prize, even did he bag such prey.

At any rate, he ceased rowing, and backed water, returning to the Tramp, with one of his characteristic wide grins decorating his freckled face. So the others never knew whether the wild Irish lad might have been playing a joke upon them, or really thought it was a whale, which he might as well try to take in.

The submarine had by this time vanished from sight, evidently testing her ability to remain under the surface of the water for a length of time; as well as proceeding at a rapid clip when partly submerged. But the boys did not see anything of the strange craft again.

They made their camp that night, just as Jack had figured upon doing. And on the following day, by cleverly getting an early start, they passed around grim Fort Morgan, sailing up Mobile Bay, where gallant Farragut earned his lasting laurels many years ago.

But, besides securing their letters, if there were any, they did not mean to remain long here. One day sufficed to show them all they cared to see of the quaint little city that has had such a history.

Truth to tell, all the boys were anxious as to what news might await them when they reached New Orleans. That, of course, was to be the deciding point. If nothing new developed, it was of course their intention to hold to their original plan. This had been to ship the three motor boats up the Mississippi by some packet, themselves taking passage on a train, headed for home.

As they had previously made a voyage down the Father of Waters; and heading up against the fierce current was never to be thought of on the part of such small craft, this was really the only thing they could do.

Apparently they had plenty of time to reach their destination on schedule, and yet none knew better than did Jack Stormways how exasperating delays often occur to hold motor boats up. There was George, for instance, with his unlucky speed boat, which might become disabled at a time when they would lose days towing him along; or it might be storms would follow each other so fast that a necessary outside passage could not be attempted.

And so they decided, that first night out from Mobile, that if there was any loafing to be done, they had better defer it until within a single day’s run of the Crescent City. When their minds were perfectly free, and they knew nothing was apt to interfere with their carefully laid plans, that would be the time to hang around, and rest up.

So day succeeded day, and they drew gradually closer to their destination. Jimmy began to look very doleful, or at least pretended to be in the “dumps,” as Josh called it. The wager would come to an end when they made the city on the lower Mississippi, no matter what their future course was to be. And if he had not beaten that wonderful shark record by then, the game was up.

Nick puffed himself out, and assumed airs. He felt that he had really done himself proud in bringing such a remarkable fish to land, alone and unaided. He even made out solemnly worded vouchers, which every one of the others was compelled to sign; and which in so many sentences told the actual story of his feat.

“You see,” Nick explained, “a lot of people up in our town would call it just a fish story, and let it go at that. And I want to prove it to my dad as well. He never dreams what a wonderful boy he’s got. Guess they won’t laugh so much after this, because I happen to have a little extra flesh on my bones. That don’t mean I’m lacking in muscle, does it? I think not. Haven’t we got a shining example of the same in our great and noble President today? Huh! a fellow can be stout, and yet some punkins, after all.”

“And that little kodak picture I took will go a good way toward proving your story, Nick,” remarked Josh. “When they see you standing so nobly, with one foot on that tremenjous shark, it’d have to be a mighty suspicious feller that would doubt your word. And even Jimmy, here, your worsted competitor, has signed your affidavy.”

“Sure if I’m worsted, I’m wool, and a yarrd wide!” grinned the said Jimmy.

“By the way, I notice that Jimmy doesn’t get busy any longer with that shark line,” remarked Herb, turning to the Irish lad with a questioning look.

“Then he must have given it up as a bad job,” said George.

“How about that, Jimmy; are you ready to crown Nick as the king pin of the bunch when it comes to bagging big fish? Shall we get the laurel wreath, and put it on his brow? Will you admit that you’re cleanly beaten at the game?”

Jack put the question direct, for he privately knew that Jimmy had yielded the palm. The other jumped up, snatched his banjo from the ground, and began to strum something that set the boys in a roar, and made Nick blush with pleasure. For the tune was, “Lo, the Conquering Hero Comes.”

“How long have we been in making this splendid run from Philadelphia?” Herb asked a little later, as Jack was jotting down some notes of the day’s run in his logbook.

“Nearly three months, all told, counting our numerous stops,” was the reply; “or it will be that when we get to New Orleans. December is nearly over now; Christmas has gone by, and the New Year only a few days away.”

“Well, I haven’t kept exact track, to tell the truth,” Herb went on; “but I guessed it must be about that. Do you want to know how? Why, you remember that on our very first night out, the moon was just four days old?”

“That’s a fact,” spoke up George; “for I can recollect noticing it up in the western heavens, and wishing it would hurry along, so as to give us more light nights.”

“Well, this is about the dark of the moon now,” added Herb, triumphantly.

“No use for Herb to ever own a watch again,” laughed Josh. “He just prides himself on being able to tell the time of day by the sun; and now he’s shown us how he can find out what day of the month it is by the moon. Pretty soon he’ll be using the stars to tell his age, and when he cut his first tooth. Once you start in along that line, there’s just no limit to what you can do, I reckon, eh, Herb?”

“Well, all I can say, fellows,” quoth Jack, as he slapped his logbook shut, and glanced around at the sunburned and healthy looking faces of his five good camp-mates, “is that we’ve surely had the time of our lives on this dandy voyage; and no matter what happens next, we’re never going to forget the glorious runs our little fleet of motor boats have made outside, and in, along the whole coast, from the frozen North to the Sunny South!”

“Hear! hear!” shouted Josh, enthusiastically waving his hat above his head.

“You never spoke truer words, Jack,” remarked George, with deep feeling. “It’s sure been the happiest time of my whole life; or would have been,” he hastily added, while a slight frown broke over his face, “only for the trouble that blessed old motor gave me every little while.”

“But you’re all right now, George, with the new engine aboard,” condoled Nick.

“Perhaps I am,” replied the skeptical George; “but the proof of the pudding is in the eating of it. The new machine may go back on me yet.”

“But, my goodness! you’ve had it, going on three weeks, and in all that time she only shied once! What better do you want than that?” demanded Herb.

“Oh! well, you never can tell,” replied the skipper of the Wireless.

“Fact is, fellers,” Nick declared, “George has become so used to looking for sudden trouble to spring on him, that he can’t think of anything else. He’s all the time watching for a breakdown to happen.”

“Three weeks ought to satisfy him that his new engine is all to the good,” remarked Josh, “but seems like it don’t. Say, George makes me think of that Irishman who was always looking for trouble. He had been employed by the same railroad company forty-three years; but, getting too old for the work, he was let go. When some of his friends, seeing him look so doleful, took him to task, he shook his head and said, says he: ‘It’s not surprised at all I am; for ever since I began work here I’ve known it wouldn’t be a permanent job!’”

And so they laughed and joked as the time slipped away.

Of course they did not intend passing around to the delta of the mighty Mississippi, when there was a much more convenient way of reaching the Crescent City by passing through the straits called the Rigolets, and thus entering Lake Ponchartrain; from whence, by means of the canal, the city could be gained.

It was on New Year’s day, at about three in the afternoon, with a piping cold wind streaming down from the frozen North, that the little motor boat flotilla came to a last stop in a quiet boatyard near the great city on the river, which had seen the windup of a previous voyage of the club.

And, anxious as they were to hear from home, the six chums did not neglect to shake hands all around over the remarkably successful termination of their long and adventurous trip down the Eastern coast, and among the keys of Florida.

If the news they received was what they expected it would be, they intended to load the three boats on the first packet bound up the river, and then wend their way home by train.

Whether this plan was fated to be carried out or not, must be left to another book. Having attained the goal for which they had striven so splendidly; and with the bitter rivalry between Jimmy and Nick settled for all time, we can safely leave our young friends at this point, wishing them all good luck in other voyages which they may undertake in the near future.

THE END.