CHAPTER XIII.
JIMMY REFUSES TO GIVE UP THE GAME.
They were now fully in the great Gulf of Mexico, and headed for Tampa.Nick had been able to enjoy bear steak to his heart's content. Theothers pronounced the meat pretty dry, and poor eating; but when servedin the shape of a stew, or hash, it answered the purpose. There was awhole lot, they decided, in knowing that it _was_ the genuine article.Otherwise most of them would have declined to eat it, just as they wouldtough beef.
"Jack, is it true that there are ten thousand of these mangroveislands?"
"Well, you've got me there, Josh," laughed the leader of the littleexpedition, as, several days after the adventure with the bear, thethree motor boats glided in and out among the queer collection of isletsthat marks the southwestern coast of Florida.
"But that's what they're called on the map," insisted Josh.
"Oh! you don't suppose for a minute anybody in the wide world could evercount these mud flats, covered with the everlasting mangrove, do you?"Jack went on. "A few hundred, or even thousand more or less, wouldn'tmatter."
"For my part," spoke up George, "there are just nine thousand, ninehundred and ninety-nine too many. I could be satisfied with one island.Why, for two days now, we've been going in and out of these bally oldbunches of mangroves, dodging storms, and fighting skeeters to beat theband."
"You'd better be thankful," declared Herb, "that after you led us in atrap, Jack took us out again, George. Only for him we might be lostright now, miles deep in these everlasting tangles. You notice that nowwe never get far away from a sight of the big water, don't you? It seemsa dangerous business for a small boat cruiser to wander into this nestdown here. He's apt to lose his head, and never come out again."
"Do we pull up soon, Jack?" asked Jimmy, beseechingly.
"Why, yes, as the afternoon is going," Jack replied; and then, as ifnoticing the eagerness plainly marked upon his shipmate's freckled face,he went on: "But what's in the wind with you, Jimmy? I can see thatyou're thinking of some stunt."
Jimmy laughed at that. The three boats were moving slowly on, closetogether, and he could easily send a significant look toward thecomplacent Nick.
"Oh, I know what ails him, all right!" cried the fat boy.
"Then suppose you tell us, Nick?" George demanded.
"Jimmy's got an idea in his head that he's going to knock my record forbig fish all hollow, and this place strikes him as likely to pan outwell. Haven't I seen him watching those big tarpon jumping this veryafternoon? I just bet you he means to make a try for one of them, assoon as we anchor for the night," and Nick completed his assertion witha chuckle.
"And have ye any objection to my makin' a thry, tell me that?" Jimmydemanded.
"Sure not," Nick immediately replied; "only you're bound to have all thetrouble for your pains, Jimmy boy."
"Ye think that way?" asked the other, suspiciously.
"Oh, for a lot of reasons!" came from the complacent Nick, ready to restupon his honors. "First off, you'd have to fish in one of our littledinkies; and a tarpon is such a powerful fish, it'd drag you miles andmiles before giving up. Remember, you're not allowed the least help toland the game."
Jimmy shook his head, and watched his rival from under his heavyeyebrows.
"Secondly," continued the fat boy, airily, "the biggest tarpon evercaptured never weighed as much as two hundred pounds, remember that,Jimmy. Jack, would you mind stating what we decided the weight of myjewfish was?"
"We agreed on two hundred and thirty as about the right thing," came thereply.
"There you are, Jimmy," mocked Nick. "Better forget all about tarpon,and turn your attention to, say, whales."
"But, by the same token, they towld me whales never come this far south,and so I'll never get square with ye that way," grumbled Jimmy. "Butnever mind, me bhoy, sooner or later you'll meet up with defate. I'mstill studying the way I'm bound to bring ye to a Waterloo. TheBrannigans never gave up, rimimber. When ye laste expect it ye'll beoverwhelmed."
"Oh, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. And while you're worryingthat poor head of yours, Jimmy, about the ways and means of capturing athree hundred pounder, I'm just going to keep on feasting on these fineoysters we've been picking up right along. Yum! yum! how I do love 'em,though!"
"Yes, we happen to know that," remarked Josh. "Fact is, we've heard youmake the same remark ever since we set out from Philadelphia on thiscruise."
"And if a fellow could see the piles of oysters Nick's gobbled sincethat day, he'd be just staggered, that's what!" George put in,sarcastically; for, as the fat boy sailed in his company, the skipper ofthe _Wireless_ doubtless grew very weary of hearing constant remindersconcerning feasts, past and to come.
"Well," sang out Jack just then, "I don't see any reason why weshouldn't pull up here as well as anywhere. Good anchorage, with achance for a breath of wind off the gulf tonight, that may keep thesavage little key mosquitoes fairly quiet. What say, fellows?"
As they were all of a mind, the halt was quickly brought about. Theyanchored in the open; but in case of a sudden high wind arising thatthreatened to make things unpleasant for the small craft, it would bethe easiest thing in the world to push around in the lee of the nearestmangrove island, which would serve as a barrier against the storm.
Jimmy was soon seen paddling away in the dinky belonging to the speedboat.
"Now what did he take your rifle for, Jack, if he expects to gofishing?" asked George, while Nick cocked up his ears, and listened asthough interested.
"I asked him, and he only grinned at me," Jack replied. "But I made himpromise not to go beyond that big island you can see up the channel aways."
A short time later they heard a shot, followed by several others, thatmade them sit up and take notice.
"Say, he got a crack at something!" Nick remarked, uneasily, for heremembered how Jimmy had looked so queerly at him when departing, asthough he had something in his mind.
"Well, we'll soon know; and I can see him moving around in his boat upyonder right now. Seems to me he's trying to get at something in amongthe mangroves. He must have made a kill of it," Herb declared.
Ten minutes later and Jimmy was seen approaching, rowing steadily.
"Look at him, would you?" called out the anxious Nick; "he's draggingsomething behind the boat, as sure as anything!"
Jack watched the performance for a minute or so, and then remarked:
"Looks to me like a big 'gator; and that's what it is, boys."
"Oh, my!" exclaimed Nick, bouncing up; "I wonder now does the sillybelieve an alligator would count against my fish? Jack, I appeal to youto give him the law as she's written in our compact."
But Jack refused to say anything prematurely.
"Wait till he makes his claim," he replied, with a laugh, as he watchedthe sturdy labors of the Irish lad to rejoin them.
When Jimmy did arrive they saw that he had indeed managed to shoot anunusually large mossback 'gator, which he had possibly discoveredsunning itself among the mangroves. As a rule the creatures prefer thefresh water, but may on occasion be found where there is a comminglingof salt and fresh.
The exultant captor was grinning, as if hugely pleased. He nodded hishead in the direction of the staring Nick, as he finally came alongside.Then they saw that he had been wise enough to take a rope along withhim, which had been hitched around the body of the slain monster, justback of the short forelegs. Nevertheless, it had taken considerable ofan effort to drag the saurian all the way from the place of the tragedyto where the three motor boats were anchored.
Jimmy wiped the perspiration from his red face, as he exultantly criedout:
"By the powers, can ye bate that, I'd loike to know, so I would? Twohundred and thirty, did ye till me; sure this one must weight all oftwict that. I lave it to the umpire here to decide, contint to rest onme laurels."
Nick began to show signs of tremendous excitement at once.
"How about that, Jack?" he pleaded.
"He went and shot it with the rifle,don't you know? I don't call that fishing, now, do you?"
"I've heard of people who shoot fish with a rifle, lots of times,"commented Herb, just to excite Nick a little more.
"Yes, but don't tell me an alligator is a fish!" exclaimed Nick, ingreat disgust. "Why, when I was in the lower grade in school they taughtus to call it just a _rep-tile_!"
At that a shout went up from the balance of the voyagers.
"You'll have to settle this right on the spot, Jack," declared George.
"Get out the articles of war and read what it says; that's the only fairway," remarked Herb.
So Jack deliberately took out his notebook, and in a sing-song tone,assumed for the purpose, read as he had done once before at Jimmy'srequest:
"'Each contestant shall have the liberty of fishing as often as hepleases, and the fish may be taken in any sort of manner--the onestipulation being that the capture shall be undertaken by the contestantalone and unaided; and that he must have possession of the fish longenough to show the same, and have its weight either estimated orproven.'"
"Well, here it is before ye, and riddy to be weighed!" said Jimmy,stoutly.
"But Jack, what do you say, _is_ an alligator a fish in the true senseof the word?" demanded Nick, stubbornly.
"As the umpire in this dispute," said Jack, solemnly, "I am forced todisallow the claim Jimmy makes. No matter how he got his prize, we can'tswallow what he says about an alligator being a fish, even if it doesswim under water; for it couldn't live there at all, but has to come upon shore. So Jimmy, you'll have to try again; and better luck to younext time!"