The Boy Chums Cruising in Florida Waters

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  At sight of the hole and freshly upturned earth, Huntergrew livid with rage. Page 140.

  _The Boy Chums Cruising in Florida Waters._]

  The Boy Chums Cruising in Florida Waters

  OR

  The Perils and Dangers of the Fishing Fleet

  By WILMER M. ELY

  Author of

  "The Boy Chums on Indian River," "The Boy Chums in The Forest," "The Boy Chums' Perilous Cruise," "The Boy Chums on Haunted Island," "The Boy Chums in the Gulf of Mexico."

  A. L. BURT COMPANY NEW YORK

  Copyright, 1914 BY A. L. BURT COMPANY.

  THE BOY CHUMS CRUISING IN FLORIDA WATERS.

  Contents

  CHAPTER PAGE I. OLD FRIENDS 3 II. GETTING SETTLED 12 III. THE FIRST ALARM 20 IV. THE WARNING 29 V. FRIENDLY ADVICE 38 VI. THE MIDNIGHT LIGHT 47 VII. THE MYSTERY 56 VIII. THE VISITORS 65 IX. MORE TROUBLE 74 X. ONE NIGHT'S SPORT 83 XI. THE QUARREL 92 XII. THE GHOST 102 XIII. CHRIS' STORY 111 XIV. A CUNNING TRICK 120 XV. THE MYSTERY DEEPENS 129 XVI. AN ACCIDENT 138 XVII. MORE MYSTERIES 146 XVIII. MORE MISCHIEF 154 XIX. TELLING MR. DANIELS 163 XX. THE GROUPER BANKS 172 XXI. HAPPY DAYS 181 XXII. TREASURE TROVE 189 XXIII. SALVAGE HUNTERS 198 XXIV. THE ACCIDENT 206 XXV. THE STORM 214 XXVI. CASTAWAYS 222 XXVII. HOMEWARD BOUND 231 XXVIII. THE CHUMS HAVE TWO CALLERS 239 XXIX. AN IDLE DAY 248 XXX. THE DISCOVERY 256 XXXI. THE FISH 265 XXXII. ABOUT MANY THINGS 274 XXXIII. THE SMUGGLERS AGAIN 283 XXXIV. THE SURPRISE 292 XXXV. AND THE LAST 301

  THE BOY CHUMS CRUISING IN FLORIDA WATERS.

  CHAPTER I.

  OLD FRIENDS.

  "IS this Mr. Daniels?"

  The busy man at the paper-littered desk swung around in his chairand treated the speaker and his three companions to a brief but keenappraising glance. Swift as it was, he noted that the questioner wasa sturdy, well-built lad with a frank open face deeply tanned by windand sun. His companions consisted of another boy about the same age butof slighter build, an elderly, stout, heavily-whiskered man with theunmistakable stamp of the sailor in his bearing, and a little negrolad with a grinning, good-humored face. All three bore an appearanceof health and cleanliness and their clothes, though old and worn, wereneatly patched and as spotless as soap and water could make them.

  "Daniels is my name," he replied, briskly, "what can I do for you?"

  "We want a chance to fish for you, sir."

  "Have you had any experience?"

  "My companions have never fished any but I put in a couple of seasonsat it. We all know how to handle boats and none of us are afraid ofwork," declared the spokesman of the little party, eagerly.

  "I seldom engage green men," said Mr. Daniels, "but I will talk withyou a little further, later," he added, hastily, as he saw the look ofdisappointment on the four faces. "I am a pretty busy man now. I havegot to get some letters off on the morning train. Look around and amuseyourselves for half an hour and I will then be at liberty."

  The four strangers needed no second bidding. Even as they had beenwaiting, they had cast interested glances through the open officedoor at the busy scene in the immense building adjoining. Now, asMr. Daniels turned back to his desk, they stepped out into the greatbarn-like room and gazed around with eager curiosity. Everywhere wasbustle and hustle. At the far end of the building, a dozen wagonswere unloading their burdens in great glistening heaps upon the cleanwater-deluged floor, fish, fish, thousands upon thousands of them. Inone corner rose a great mound of trout, a simmering mass of white,bronze, and rainbow spots, close to these lay a heap of Spanishmackerel, beautiful in their rich coloring of silver and gold; justbeyond the mackerel rose a greenish-blue pile of hundreds of bluefish and close beside these lay a snow-like mountain of ocean mullet,while further on, was heaped up, a miscellaneous collection of finnycreatures, sea bass, gorgeous in their rich golden bronze, quaintbird-like sea robins, lacey-winged flying fish, repulsive lookingflounders, and a hundred and one humble little dwellers of the seathat had fallen victims to the all-embracing nets. Down the length ofthe room, groups of men were working frantically to lessen the rapidlygrowing mounds of fish. It almost seemed a combat between the streamof loaded wagons and the busy workers. One group labored furiously atthe heaps, shoveling the fish into big, swinging, scoop-like scales. Assoon as the scales showed two hundred pounds, they were swung forwardto another group and their contents dumped on the floor. This group,with skillful, flying hands, packed the fish in layers into emptybarrels. For every layer of fish, a hurrying line of men dumped in ahuge shovelful of chopped ice. As soon as it was filled, the barrelwas taken in charge by other waiting hands. The head nailed in, it wasrolled out on a platform at the far end where a car lay waiting on aside track to hurry it away to the fish-hungry folks of the northerncities.

  The little negro lad gazed at the busy scene with distended eyes.

  "Massa Chas, Massa Chas," he exclaimed, at last, "dar ain't no use obyou white chillens trying to catch no fish."

  "Why, Chris?" questioned the larger lad.

  "'Cause dey's done cotched dem all. Dar can't be many left, Massa Chas."

  "Nonsense, Chris, there's as good fish in the sea as ever came out ofit."

  "Maybe so," said the little negro, doubtfully, "but I reckon dar ain'tso many ob dem."

  "You can not prove there isn't," laughed Charley.

  "May be not," said the little negro, with dignity, "but you-alls hadought to take a cullard gentleman's word widout any proof."

  "So I will, Chris," agreed the white lad, with a twinkle in his eye,"but there is Mr. Daniels beckoning to us. Let's see what he has tosay."

  "Take a chair and I will talk with you, now," said Mr. Daniels as theyre-entered the office. "Now, first, I would like to know what has givenyou and your friends this fishing idea. Fishermen are a pretty roughclass as a rule and you all seem fitted for a better class of work.Tell me something about yourselves, please."

  "There isn't much to tell, sir," said the boy spokesman, modestly. "Wefour have been comrades for several years and we hate to separate now.We were sponge fishing out of Tarpon Springs but we lost our schoonerthrough trouble with our crew. We saved only the clothes on our backs.We have to get something to do right off. Fishing seems to be the onlything in this part of the state that we would be able to work at andkeep together. We heard of you, sir, in Tarpon Springs. We arrivedhere at Clearwater this morning. In fact, we came here direct from thestation."

  There was a curious gleam in Mr. Daniels' eye as he listened to thisterse, business-like explanation. "What kind of work have you donebesides sponging?" he questioned.

  "We have been kind of Jack-Of-All-Trades," smiled the lad. "We haveraised truck on the East Coast, fished for pearls in the West Indies,hunted plume birds in the Everglades, and gathered wreckage on theAtlantic beaches."

  "Your names?" demanded Mr. Daniels, eagerly.

  "My name is Charley West, sir. Thi
s is my chum, Walter Hazard; thisgentleman is our good friend, Captain Westfield, and this," indicatingthe little negro with a smiling nod, "is Mr. Christopher Columbus."

  "I suspected it," exclaimed Mr. Daniels. "You are the boy chums whoseadventures have been told in several books. I have a boy at home whohas them all. He has made me read them over to him 'til I know them byheart."

  Charley blushed, much embarrassed. "I am afraid the writer has made toomuch of our little adventures," he said, modestly. "We had no idea hewas an author when he got us talking about our trips or we would nothave talked so freely."

  "Well, he speaks well of the boy-chums," smiled Mr. Daniels, "and Iam going to take his recommendation. As I have already said, I do notoften engage green men but I am going to give you four a chance. Butbefore you decide to go into it, I want you to understand that thisfishing business is no picnic."

  "We do not expect it to be any picnic," replied Charley, quietly.

  "In the first place, it is dangerous," Mr. Daniels continued. "Besidesthe risk from storms and accidents, there are dangers from fish and seareptiles. Then, too, there are often troubles with other fishermen. Asa class, fishermen are rough and lawless. In my position, with hundredsof men working for me, it would ruin my business to take sides with anyone man or set of men in my employ. They must settle their quarrelsamong themselves. As the old saying goes, 'Every tub must stand on itsown bottom.'"

  "We will be careful and keep out of trouble," Walter assured him.

  "One can not always avoid it," Mr. Daniels replied. "In addition tothe drawbacks I have mentioned, fishing is extremely hard, trying,nasty work, although I will say that it seems a wonderfully healthyoccupation. Fishermen are seldom sick."

  "Does it pay?" Captain Westfield inquired.

  "That depends largely upon the fisherman. Of course, there is anelement of luck in fishing. Experience counts for something, too, butin the main, as in everything else, it is the amount of work thatdecides success or failure. Some of my men make as high as two hundreddollars a week, others hardly make a living."

  Charley glanced inquiringly at his comrades who answered with nods.

  "We will try it, if you please," he said, quietly.

  "All right," replied Mr. Daniels, briskly. "You shall have just thesame outfit I furnish the rest of my men. Four nets,--that is, one foreach of you,--three skiffs, and a motor boat. I furnish the motor boatand the skiffs free, but you are expected to keep them up in good shapeand to buy your own gasoline and oils. As for the nets, I sell them toyou at cost, I take out one-third of your fish until they are paid for."

  "That seems a very liberal arrangement," Charley observed.

  "I have to do it in order to get enough fish to keep my customerssupplied. Now, as to shelter, you will have to have a place to stay.Out on the long wharf that runs out into the bay, you will find anumber of little houses which belong to me. You can use any one of themthat is not already occupied."

  "You are very kind," said Charley.

  "Not at all. Now, one thing more. Are you supplied with money?"

  "We saved nothing from our schooner but the clothes we had on," Charleyadmitted.

  "Then I will tell Mr. Bacon, the store-keeper, to let you have whatgroceries and clothing you need until you get to earning. Oh! by theway, I forgot to ask you if you can run a motor boat?"

  "We have never run one, but we could soon learn."

  "Well, I'll send a man down with your nets this afternoon and have himshow you the boats that you will use and also give you a lesson inrunning the engine. You'll soon catch on to it--it's simple. And now,"he concluded, "that, I believe, finishes our business arrangements andnow I have a favor to ask of you."

  "After your kindness, we would do anything in our power," Charleypromised, gratefully but rashly.

  "Good! I want all four of you to come up to dinner with me. That boyof mine would give me fits if I let the Boy Chums get away from mewithout him meeting them."

  Our little party of chums were too modest to relish the idea of adinner under such conditions; but, after Mr. Daniels' kindness to them,they could not do other than accept the proffered invitation much asthey would have liked to refuse.