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

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  "He's got something, for a fact!" exclaimed Herb.]

  Motor Boat Boys Among the Florida Keys

  Or

  _The Struggle for the Leadership_

  By LOUIS ARUNDEL

  Author of "Motor Boat Boys on the St. Lawrence," "Motor Boat Boys' Cruise Down the Mississippi," "Motor Boat Boys on the Great Lakes," "Motor Boat Boys Down the Coast."

 

  Chicago M. A. DONOHUE & COMPANY

  COPYRIGHT 1913. M. A. DONOHUE & COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  Electrotyped, Printed and Bound by M. A. Donohue & Co.

  CONTENTS

  Chapter Page I--AT ANCHOR, INSIDE THE BAR 7 II--THE WARNING RATTLE 18 III--DOWN THE INDIAN RIVER 29 IV--THAT SAME OLD UNLUCKY WIRELESS 40 V--THE MYSTERIOUS POWER BOAT 54 VI--NICK TRIES AGAIN 63 VII--THE LOST CHUM 74 VIII--TRACKED TO THE BAYOU 85 IX--FOR THE SAKE OF CHUM JOSH 97 X--ABOARD THE STRANGE POWER BOAT 106 XI--IN HONOR BOUND 115 XII--AN INVASION OF THE CAMP 124 XIII--JIMMY REFUSES TO GIVE UP THE GAME 133 XIV--WHEN THE COMFORT WAS HUNG UP 142 XV--THE BIRD ROOST 151 XVI--A SCREECHER FROM THE NORTH 160 XVII--THE SHELTER BACK OF THE KEY 169 XVIII--JIMMY FORGES TO THE FRONT 178 XIX--FROM TAMPA, NORTH 187 XX--THE SHARK FISHERMAN 196 XXI--VICTORY COMES TO NICK 205 XXII--WHERE AMBITION LED 214 XXIII--WINDING UP THE VOYAGE--CONCLUSION 223

  THE MOTOR BOAT BOYS AMONG THE FLORIDA KEYS

  or

  A Struggle For the Leadership

  CHAPTER I.

  AT ANCHOR, INSIDE THE BAR.

  "Get busy here, Nick; now's your chance to make a big score for astarter!"

  "It's awful kind of you, George, to let me out of my part of the workthis afternoon, and that's a fact. I appreciate it, too; because I justwant 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, inhis little dinky boat, and with a wide grin on his face. Jack's givenhim a holiday, to celebrate the opening of the great fishing contest.Get a move on, you slow-poke!"

  "Gee! then he'll get a start on me. I _must_ hurry. Now, where in thedickens is that other oar, George? Oh! here she is, tucked away underthe thwart. And can you tell me what I did with that mullet the crackergentleman gave me, to use for bait? Please help me get started, George.Seems like everything wants to go wrong at once!"

  "Here you are, Nick. Got your tackle all right, have you; and sure thatlife preserver is in the boat? All ready? Then away you go; but keepclear of the inlet, if the tide changes, or you might get carried out tosea 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 ofa full meal bag--was rowing clumsily toward a likely spot, where hebelieved he might do some successful fishing.

  A trio of motor boats were anchored just inside Mosquito Inlet, not farfrom the town of New Smyrna on the east coast of Florida, having come inthat very afternoon, after making the outside passage from the mouth ofthe St. Johns River.

  They might have entered at St. Augustine, and taken the inside passagedown to this place, only that something was wrong with the connectingcanal that led to the Halifax River, and it seemed unwise to take thechances of being held up.

  The boat from which Nick had put out on his fishing excursion was aslender looking craft, and evidently capable of making high speed; butfrom the way she rolled whenever any one aboard moved, it could be seenthat she must prove rather an uncomfortable home on which to spend verymuch time. The name painted in letters of gold on her bow was _Wireless_;and her skipper, George Rollins, took more or less pride in heraccomplishments; although, truth to tell, he spent much of his timetinkering with her high-power engine, that had a way of betraying histrust when conditions made it most exasperating.

  The boat from which the said Jimmy had started was called the _Tramp_.Her lines were not so fine as those of the hurry boat; but, nevertheless,an experienced cruiser would have picked her out as an ideal craft forcombined business and pleasure. Her skipper was Jack Stormways, reallythe commodore of the little fleet; and his crew consisted of JimmyBrannigan, a boy who sported many freckles, a happy-go-lucky disposition,and a little of the Irish brogue whenever he happened to remember hisdescent from the old kings of Erin.

  As to the third motor boat, it was a broad beamed affair, that reallylooked like a pumpkin seed on a large scale; or, as some of the boysoften called it, a "tub." It was well named the _Comfort_, and itsowner, Herbert Dickson, content to take things easy and let others dothe hustling, never denied the claim George was fond of making, that hecould draw circles around the "Ark" with his fast one. The engine of the_Comfort_ had never failed to do its level best, which was limited tosome nine miles an hour.

  Herb also had an assistant, a tall, lanky lad, by name Josh Purdue. Byrights he and Nick should have exchanged places; but Josh had had oneexperience on the dizzy speed boat, and absolutely refused to try itagain.

  These lads belonged in a town far up toward the sources of the mightyMississippi River. They would have been attending high school, only thata fire had almost demolished the buildings, and vacation season wasenforced until after New Year's.

  Owning these boats, and having had considerable experience in makinglong trips, the boys had, with the consent of their parents, shipped thecraft east to Philadelphia, and some five weeks previously started downthe 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 ofFlorida, among the keys that make this region the small boat cruiser'sparadise, and finally land them at New Orleans in time to ship theirboats north by steamboat.

  Spending several days in Jacksonville, and taking aboard supplies,before making a start, Nick and Jimmy had fallen into quite a heateddispute 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 inthis line; but, egged on by Josh and Herb, they had finally entered upona contest which was to last until they reached New Orleans. Jack hadsolemnly entered the conditions in his log book; and the one who, duringthe duration of the cruise, could catch and land unassisted the heaviestfish of any description, was to be declared the champion.

  Eager to accomplish wonderful "stunts," the two boys naturally seizedupon this very first chance to get their lines overboard, in the hope ofstarting 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 aflame, so their frequent allusions as to the budding qualities of therivals as fishermen kept Nick and Jimmy eager for the fray.

  As might have been expected, when George secured a tender for his speedboat, while in Jacksonville, as they were told they would need suchthings right along, in order to make landings where the water was tooshoal for the larger craft to get clos
e to the shore, he selecteda dumpy little flat-bottomed "dinky," just about on a par with the_Wireless_ when it came to eccentric qualities.

  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 wouldnever get the hang of the squatty tender.

  When he sat in the middle, one dip of an oar would cause the boat tospin wildly around as if on a pivot; and as to rowing in a straightcourse, the thing was utterly beyond Nick's abilities. So, when he wasaiming for a certain spot, he was wont to approach his intended goal bya series of eccentric angles.

  The flood tide was still coming in lazily, for they had managed to hitthe inlet when the bar was well covered, wishing to take no chances. SoNick, after managing to propel the "punkin seed" over to the spot neara bunch of mangroves, that he had selected as most promising, set towork.

  He tied the boat, first of all, by a piece of cord, so that it wouldnot float away while he fished. Then he laboriously got his tackle inreadiness.

  Those on the motor boats had kept an eye on the actions of the tworivals, as if anticipating that sooner or later they might havesomething to laugh over; for Nick was forever tumbling into difficultiesof some sort.

  "I don't believe Nick will ever get the hang of that dinky, George,"remarked Jack, as he leaned over the side of the _Tramp_, peeling somepotatoes which they intended having for supper; and, as there did notseem to be any decent chance to cook this ashore, the voyagers wouldhave to do as they had often done before, use their little kerosene gasstoves aboard the several boats.

  "It takes an expert to run that cut-off runt properly," said Herb, whowas also engaged, wiping his engine, while Josh started operationslooking to the evening meal, the lanky boy being by all odds the bestcook in the party.

  "Thank you for the compliment, Herb," laughed George. "It happens thatI've always been at home in small boats. And there was something aboutthat stumpy little affair that made me take a fancy to her. Nick willdo better after he learns the ropes. And he generally manages to getthere, even if he does cover twice as much distance as I might. Look atJimmy, fellows!"

  "He's got something, for a fact!" exclaimed Herb; "and Nick is excitedover it. See him wiggle around to watch, just as if he feared the gamewas going to be settled right in the start. Hi! sit down, Nick! Want toupset that cranky thing, do you? Well, it's good you've got your air bagfastened 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 hisface as he pulls his line in. You can see that half his fun is inkeeping an eye on Nick, to enjoy his confusion and disappointment."

  "Wow! why, the fish is pulling his boat around, do you notice?" demandedGeorge.

  "That looks as if it might be a good one. There, I thought Jimmycouldn't keep still much longer. Listen to him yap, would you?" Herbcalled out.

  Jimmy had started to crow over his rival, as any ordinary boy would beapt to do under similar conditions.

  "Don't be after gettin' downhearted too soon, Nick, me bhoy!" heshouted. "Sure, this is only a little one for a stharter, so it is. Waittill I get going, and I'll open your eyes good and sthrong. Och! how hepulls! If only ye were a bit closer now, I'd let ye fale of the line, toknow 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'tupset the boat when I pull him over the side!"

  Of course much of this talk was for the purpose of making his rivalsquirm with envy; though the captive did show signs of being a strongfighter.

  After about five minutes of apparently strenuous effort, Jimmy concludedthat it would be unwise to risk losing his prisoner by playing itlonger; so he dragged the hooked fish over the side. There was a flashof bronze and white that told Jack the story.

  "A channel bass, and something like fifteen pounds in weight, too. We'resure of fish on this trip, anyway, with the two of them bending everyenergy to the winning of the medal!" he exclaimed.

  "There goes Nick back to his work," said George. "If there are fishhere, he hopes to get his share. But ten to one he's nearly choking withenvy right now, because Jimmy drew the first blood. It's an uphill gamefor poor old Nick."

  "Well," Herb went on to remark, "the game will last a whole month, andmore; so nobody can tell how the finish may turn out. Nick might gethold of a bigger fish any minute. But it's up to us to encourage 'emright along. We'll never want for a fish diet if we do, for they'll stayup nights to keep at it."

  "There, I declare, if Nick didn't have a jerk at his line then; but hefailed to hook the rascal!" Jack exclaimed.

  "And came near upsetting the boat in his excitement, too," complainedGeorge. "If he does, I can see the finish of my oars, which will go outof 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 infor something worth while. He wants to knock the spots out of Jimmy'shopes right in the start."

  "But, my stars! if he hooks a big shark while he's sitting in thatpunkin seed of a boat, there's bound to be a warm old circus!" Herbdeclared.

  Some little time passed, and those aboard the anchored motor boats,busily engaged in their various occupations, had almost forgotten aboutthe bitter rivalry going on so near by, when suddenly they were startledby a great shout.

  "It's Nick, this time!" exclaimed Jack, as he jumped to the side of the_Tramp_ to observe what was taking place.

  "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.

  "That string's broke away, just as I expected, and there goes Nick andthe punkin seed, full tilt for the inlet! By all that's out, fellows, hemust have caught a whale that time, fresh run from the sea. Hi! hold onthere, Nick, that's my boat!"