The Boy Chums Cruising in Florida Waters

-eyed hero worship and plied them with an army of questions about their adventures; but the boys, who detested talking of their exploits, skillfully directed his questions to Chr

els exerted himself to make the meal pleasant for them. As soon as they decently could, however, the four took

roposed as soon as they were out on the street. "We

town and a question put to a passer-by got t

ores that comprised the town's business center. Just beyond th

utiful!" Char

aradise," Wa

mad riot of color. The rich yellow of alamandas mingled with the deep purple of Chinese paper flowers and the warm blue of Lady Alices. Here and there stood Royal Poinciana trees and a vivid blaze of scarlet. Great flowered cacti reared their thorny forms

of the sweet flower-scented air. "I am

with it," observed Charley, practically. "We had better b

only a moment admiring the beautiful scene, they would have long weeks to admire its loveliness. Just now they were more interested in the wide snowy beach on either side of the wharf. Here was a living picture of part, at least, of their new occupation. The shore was dotted with groups of fishermen engaged in tasks pertaining to their calling. Some were busy mending long nets stretched out on racks of poles. Some were pulling nets into their boats pr

t before the anchor had touched bottom a man had jumped into each skiff, cast it lose from the launch, and was sculling in for the beach. Our little party joined the group that gathered at the wa

" exclaim

thing to do with us fishermen. Think themselves too good. They are greenhorns too. Only started fishing this season. They have regular fools' luck thou

n a look of scorn. He surveyed the speaker from head to foot as though he was

use you are fishermen but because you are lazy, lying, thieving, rum-drinking bums. It's time some one told you the truth about yourself. You and your gang seem to have the rest of the fishermen bluffed so they will stand for your sneers. You talk about luck. Well, maybe it is luck, but let me tell you there's mighty hard work to back it up. We hav

d with rage. His hands clenched and he made a movement towards the

Roberts. I'll pay you out.

at happened to them, but don't you think for a moment that I'll make the mistake they made in going to law about it when they couldn't prove anything. If

g curses and the other fishe

st my temper but I'm about worn out from work and loss of sleep and my nerves are on wire edge. I've

rd work," observed Captain Westfield. "You've got t

ed and Bill Ro

e fish. I reckon we've got one thousand pounds of them and

alter. "Whew! I hope we strike a

g steady at it, we always make pretty good money. The worst drawback about fishing is the men in it. Take my advice and avoid them all you can. Don't get mixed up with tha

e promised. "We are new to the place and we would like to get some poin

s they hurried out on the long dock. "They seem

Captain Westfield, gravely. "Those fishermen are a tough

tend to our own business I guess they will tend to theirs.

it stood a row of small shacks. Most of them were occupi

eped inside, "dar poor white trash

rubbish, the walls were tobacco stained, and

tem and we'll soon be comfortably settled. Walter, you make out a list of what we need and go up to the

e found the shack wet inside but clean, the windows