THAT SAME OLD UNLUCKY WIRELESS.
Moving about in the steadiest of the little tenders, with a flare in the
bow, and Jimmy to gently push in the stern, Jack sought to strike some
game fish. His success was not very flattering, though he certainly did
enjoy the experience. It was really worth while to peer down into the
shallow depths, and see what lay there.
Several times he caught glimpses of channel bass, sheepshead, or sea
trout, which last is only another name for the weak fish of the North;
but as a rule they flashed away before he could strike.
He did succeed in spearing one trout of about three pounds, much to
Jimmy's delight. And later on, he struck a nasty creature with what
seemed to be a barb on the top of his tail, which he thrust around in a
savage manner as Jack held him up on the end of his pole.
"Look out, and don't get too close to him, Jimmy," Jack warned.
"Sure now and I won't," replied the other, "for, to till the truth, it's
me as don't like the looks of that little fixin' on the ind of his
tail."
"It must be what they call a stingaree or stingray," Jack went on. "I
never saw one before, but I've read a lot about 'em. They say he can
poison you, if ever he hits with that barb. You know what a mudcat can
do, out on the Mississippi; well, this is the same thing, only a whole
lot worse."
"Drop the squirmin' bog-trotter back into the wather, Jack, me bhoy; for
'tis us as don't want too close an acquaintance with him. He'd make it
too warrm for us, by the same token," Jimmy declared; and Jack complied
only too willingly.
"I guess we've had about enough of this, so let's go ashore," he
suggested.
Nick awaited them, eager to ascertain the amount of their captures. He
whiffed on discovering only one fish aboard the dinky.
"Huh! could eat that all by myself, and then not half try," he remarked.
"All right, then; if you do the needful to it, you're welcome, Nick,"
laughed the one who had captured the sea trout.
Of course, Nick became suddenly suspicious.
"You wouldn't play any trick on me, now, I hope, Jack, and get me to eat
a fish that wasn't fit for the human stomach?" he questioned, uneasily.
"That's what they call a sea trout down here; but up North it's the
weakfish, and said to be as toothsome as almost anything that swims,"
Jack remarked.
"Oh! all right, then I accept your kind offer. I'll get busy right now,
and have him ready for the morning. Wish you had got one apiece, I hate
to seem greedy, you know, fellows," he went on to say, as if thinking he
ought to excuse himself.
When the morning came Nick was astir before anybody else, for he had a
duty on his mind. He bothered Josh so much that finally the cook made
him start a blaze of his own, over which he could prepare his breakfast;
and Nick managed pretty well, considering that he had never made a study
of the art of cookery.
They started off at a booming pace. The run down Indian River that day
would always remain a pleasant memory with the young cruisers. Fort
Pierce was reached on schedule time, after passing through the Narrows,
and securing a mess of oysters from a boat engaged in dredging there.
Again one of the voyagers went after mail and supplies. There was always
something lacking, besides the necessary gasoline. Six growing boys can
develop enormous appetites when living a life in the open, and upon
salt water. Besides, there was Nick, capable of downing any two of
his chums when it came to devouring stuff. No wonder, then, that the
question of supplies was always uppermost on their minds.
Once more they headed across to the eastern shore, where they would be
more apt to find a quiet nook for the next night's camp. One more day's
run, if all went well, would take them to Lake Worth; and after serious
consultation it had been decided that they would, when the right chance
came, put to sea through that inlet, to make the run south to Miami.
Once again had both Nick and Jimmy been seized with the fever of
rivalry. During the day they had been busily engaged preparing set
lines, which they expected to put out over night, in the hope of making
a big haul.
Nick had bought a lot of material in Jacksonville. This in the main
consisted of large hooks, with snells made of brass wire, which latter
he manufactured himself, Jack having shown him how; and a large swivel
at the end of the foot length. Then he had secured a large quantity of
very strong cotton cord, made waterproof by some tarring process, after
the manner of the rigging aboard sailing vessels.
One thing Jack had bought in Fort Pierce, which they understood would
be pretty much of a necessity during the many weeks they expected to
spend among the keys that dotted the whole coast line of Florida.
This was called a cast-net, and was some eight feet in length, though
when fully extended it would cover a circle twice that in diameter.
There were leads along the outer edges, and a series of drawing strings
running up through a ring in the center.
"You see," said Jack, that evening, when they were ashore, "I watched a
fellow use one up above, and even took a few lessons, so I've kind of
got the hang on it."
"Then please show us?" asked Nick, eagerly.
"Listen to him, would you?" exclaimed Herb; "to hear him talk you'd
think Nick had a sneaking idea he might some day haul in a big giant of
a fish in this flimsy net."
"No, but it's good to get mullet for bait," the fat boy remonstrated;
"and as I expect to do lots of fishing on this trip--and it may not
always be convenient for Jack to haul the net--why, I thought I had
ought to know the ropes."
"Good boy, Nick!" laughed Jack; "and I'll be only too glad to show every
fellow all I know, which isn't any too much. Now, here's the way you
gather up the line, so as to let go suddenly. Then you hold the net like
this."
"Sure do ye ate some of the leads?" questioned Jimmy, seeing Jack take
several between his teeth.
"Oh! not any! but this is one of the times when a fellow wishes he had
been born with three hands. As I haven't, I must hold these leads by my
teeth. The next thing is to swing the whole net around this way, and let
fly with a rotary motion, at the same time letting go with your teeth.
That is a very important thing to remember, for you might stand to lose
a few out of your jaw if you held on."
"Oh, I see!" remarked George; "and the net flings open as it whirls
through the air, falling on the water that way?"
"Just so, with the leads taking the outer edge rapidly down. Then, by
pulling at the line, which is tied, you see, to all these strings, the
net is drawn shut like a big purse, enclosing anything that was under it
when it struck the water."
One by one they made trials with the net, but all of them proved pretty
clumsy. Jimmy was nearly dragged into the shallow water when he made his
first attempt.
"Glory be!" he howled, as he put his hand quickly to his mouth; "if I
didn't have the teeth of a horse I do belave I'd have lost the whole set
thin. But once bit, twict shy. Nixt toime I'll let go, rest easy on
that. And I'm going to get the hang of that Spanish cast-net, if it
takes ivery tooth in me head, so I am."
"And you'll do it, Jimmy, never fear," laughed Jack. "That do-or-die
spirit is going to win the day. Here, Nick, try it again. You seem to
have got the knack of it pretty well, only you want to throw harder, or
the mullet will get away before the net falls on the water."
Finally the boys tired of the strenuous exertion, and as Josh announced
supper ready, they turned their attention to more pleasant duties.
"This is something in which I can shine, anyhow," chuckled Nick, as he
sat there, with a pannikin cram-full of various good things, and a cup
of steaming coffee on the ground close beside him.
No one disputed the assertion; in fact, there was a general grin, and a
series of nods around the circle, to prove that for once their opinions
were unanimous.
Frolicsome 'coons seemed numerous at this camp on Hutchinson's Island.
They attempted to pillage, after the boys had settled down to sleep.
Twice was the quiet of the camp disturbed by the rattle of tin pans, and
upon investigation it was found that some prowling little animal had
endeavored to devour the hominy Josh had cooked, intending to fry slices
of the same for breakfast.
Nick made out to believe that it might have been a wildcat, or possibly
a bear, until Jack showed him the plain tracks of long slender feet
close to the receptacle of the hominy, and explained that only a raccoon
could have made these.
When the morning came, an early start was made, for they had quite a
little run down the river, through Jupiter Narrows, and then by means of
the canal into Lake Worth.
Arriving at this latter place early in the afternoon, they spent some
time looking about--although it was out of the season for the
fashionable crowd that flock to Palm Beach during February and March.
Jack had studied his coast charts most carefully. He knew they would
have a dangerous outside passage to Miami, that must consume some seven
hours, because of the _Comfort's_ slowness; and as they could not afford
to take any chances, it became absolutely necessary that they wait until
the weather gave positive signs of remaining fairly decent during the
day.
As this meant a combination of favoring breezes and calm waters, it was
impossible to tell how long they might have to wait. It might mean one
day, and then again they could be kept here at Lake Worth a week.
"You're wondering why I'm so particular, fellows," Jack had remarked,
when they talked over the matter among themselves, "especially when we
made a heap of outside runs coming down the coast. But this is really
the worst of the bunch, and I reckon much more dangerous than any we've
got ahead of us. For seventy miles here there isn't really a decent
harbor where a small boat could put in to escape a sudden change in
weather. And when things do go crooked down here they beat the band. The
nearer you get to the tropics the harder the winds can howl when they
want to show their teeth."
"That's all right, Jack," remarked Herb; "we depend on you to use good
judgment in all such matters. And you can see how much we rely on what
you decide, when we're ready to follow you like sheep do the
bellwether."
"I wonder, now," remarked George, "if that bally little boat that's a
ringer for the _Tramp_ has gone further south?"
"What makes you ask that?" Jack inquired.
"Well, ever since she passed us that evening across from Rockledge I
haven't seen hide nor hair of the mystery. So somehow I reckon she must
either be further down the lake, or else gone to Miami by the outside
route, like we intend to do."
"That don't necessarily follow," Jack laughed, for he saw that George
actually had the subject on his mind, and was deeply interested. "The
boat might have been in any one of twenty little coves we passed on the
way down. Or, again, she could have been prowling in some of the many
passages about the Narrows."
"All right," George declared, stubbornly, as though his mind were set,
and nothing could move him; "you mark my word, Jack, we'll set eyes on
that sneaker again, before we're done with this trip."
"Oh, perhaps!" said Jack, turning away, as though the subject did not
interest him to any great extent; for he did not happen to be built on
the same lines as his chum, who had a little more than his share both of
suspicion and also curiosity.
The next day they anxiously waited for Jack's decision; but the wind was
much too strong, and from a quarter that caused whitecaps to appear out
on the ocean.
So the start had to be postponed, much to the regret of the entire six,
all of whom wished to get the dangerous run over with as speedily as
possible.
"Better luck tomorrow, fellows," said Jack, who had made it a point to
look at things in the light that it was foolish to worry over what could
not be altered.
"Then here's to put in a whole day, fishing over on that pier at the
beach," declared Nick, making a run for the place where the three motor
boats were at anchor.
"Whirra! now, if ye do be afther thinking ye're going to get me goat,
it's another guess ye do be having, I'm telling ye, Nick, me bhoy!"
remarked Jimmy, as he also hastened away.
And they kept diligently at it through the better part of the entire
day, though with indifferent success. Either the fish were shy, knowing
the grim determination of the two patient anglers, or else it was a poor
day for the sport.
When they mutually agreed to give it up, while they had a mess that
would do for supper, neither of them had added any notch to his record
for big fish.
As October is possibly the best time of the year to expect quiet weather
along the South Atlantic coast, Jack had high hopes that the morrow
would see them on their way toward Miami. Nor were his expectations
doomed to disappointment, for in the morning there seemed to be not the
slightest reason for further postponing the run.
Accordingly hurried preparations for breakfast were made, in order to
take full advantage of the opportunity.
All of them were glad when they made the dash over the Lake Worth bar in
good order, and found themselves on the heaving bosom of the mighty sea,
with their motor boats pointing to the south.
Steadily they kept on, as the hours passed, and the sun mounted in the
sky. Jack was ever on the watch for any sign of a change, knowing what
such might mean to cruisers in small boats caught far from a harbor.
Jimmy was watching his face, under the belief that he could tell in
that way if any trouble threatened. When he saw how the skipper of the
_Tramp_ turned his glasses frequently toward the southwest, he took a
look in that quarter himself.
"And is it the clouds that do be paping up along beyant the shore line
giving ye concern, Jack?" he asked, a bit anxiously.
"Well, I don't know as they mean much, but all the same I think I'd feel
better if we were swinging to our mudhooks back of Key Biscayne," Jack
replied.
"About how far do we chanst to be away, this minute?" the other
continued.
"All of ten miles, which would mean an hour's run for the _Comfort_.
This is the time when she drags us back. George and myself could have
made shelter an hour ago, if we had wanted to put on all speed. And I
just know George is growling to himself right now, because he has to
check his love for racing along."
Jack had hardly said these words when Jimmy broke out into a laugh.
"Now, that do be a toime when ye are away off, me bhoy," he remarked.
"In what way, Jimmy?" demanded the skipper, laying his glasses aside,
and taking the wheel from the hands of his helper.
"If so ye take a look over to the blissed ould _Wireless_, upon me worrd
ye'll discover that the bally boat has stopped short. Like enough that
ingine has gone back on poor George again, just as it always does when
we get in a place where it counts. Yes, he's beckoning for us to come
close. That's what it must mean, Jack."
"Whew! that would be tough luck!" muttered Jack, as he changed the
course of the little _Tramp_, and again cast an uneasy look in the
direction where those suspicious and dark clouds were shoving their
heads above the horizon.
A storm, and the _Wireless_ helpless--the prospect was surely anything
but pleasant.