The tables had turned, and it was now Jimmy’s turn to strut around with that look of superiority on his face. He would watch Nick’s feverish labors, and just grin in a way that gave the rest of the boys great amusement.
But, although several sharks were caught, they seemed to be in league with Jimmy; for it was only the small fellows who took the hook. Nick’s excitement, when he was working his catch in by the aid of a snubbing post which Jack showed him how to make, was always succeeded by bitter disappointment, after he had discovered the disgusting size of the caught sea tiger.
Not one of them up to now had weighed anything near the required weight. But all the time the sanguine fat boy lived in hopes of some fine day making a record strike.
The others hoped he would, seeing how much his heart was set on proving himself true game. This rivalry would prove to be a great thing for Nick. It had started him into doing things that otherwise he would never have dreamed of attempting, being somewhat given to laziness, as so many boys built after his stout fashion seem to be. And it had made him think, too, which was a fine thing; throwing him on his own resources, as it were, and bringing out many hidden attributes which the others had never dreamed he possessed.
At Tampa Nick insisted that George keep his word. So, as the three boats had been laid up in the yard of a boat builder, a new motor was installed aboard the Wireless. George was so devoted to his boat and its speed record, that he refused to be away from the scene of operations for any length of time.
“One day around Tampa is enough for me, boys,” he had declared, when they tried to tempt him to accompany them on the second day. “I want to be around, and watch how they do this job. It would give me a bad jolt, you know, if I had to sacrifice speed for steadiness after all, when I’m hoping to combine both.”
“Yes,” laughed Josh, “it’d sure break George’s heart if he couldn’t just shoot through the water like an arrow. If he had his way he’d go at about the rate of ninety miles an hour.”
“Make it an even hundred, Josh, while you’re about it,” George remarked, calmly; and meant it, too.
A number of days were passed in the hustling city on Tampa Bay. Jack had always been anxious to see the place; and during the time of their enforced stay they certainly took in every point of interest worth observing.