Jimmy shook his head, and watched his rival from under his heavy eyebrows.
“Secondly,” continued the fat boy, airily, “the biggest tarpon ever captured never weighed as much as two hundred pounds, remember that, Jimmy. Jack, would you mind stating what we decided the weight of my jewfish was?”
“We agreed on two hundred and thirty as about the right thing,” came the reply.
“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. “But never mind, me bhoy, sooner or later you’ll meet up with defate. I’m still studying the way I’m bound to bring ye to a Waterloo. The Brannigans never gave up, rimimber. When ye laste expect it ye’ll be overwhelmed.”
“Oh, I’m not going to lose any sleep over it. And while you’re worrying that poor head of yours, Jimmy, about the ways and means of capturing a three hundred pounder, I’m just going to keep on feasting on these fine oysters 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 you make the same remark ever since we set out from Philadelphia on this cruise.”
“And if a fellow could see the piles of oysters Nick’s gobbled since that day, he’d be just staggered, that’s what!” George put in, sarcastically; for, as the fat boy sailed in his company, the skipper of the Wireless doubtless grew very weary of hearing constant reminders concerning feasts, past and to come.
“Well,” sang out Jack just then, “I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t pull up here as well as anywhere. Good anchorage, with a chance for a breath of wind off the gulf tonight, that may keep the savage little key mosquitoes fairly quiet. What say, fellows?”