Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1891-10-22

slack line after him lie made straight
for the boat
'Luff lively" shouted, Huff, or we
lose hin" The sloop came into the
wind shaking and huttering 1t may
have been the change of course or it may
have been the pull of the line, but
whatever it was. the shark just missed
the rudder. If he had fouled it, we
should have lost him saw him plain
~ as he darted past all in ny per
spring and painting condition he looked
to be the living incarnation Of dcvilish
ferocity. The sloop lore away. and in
moment more hal the shar.i towing
by jerks at the end of tie line, and the
line we'll in the reel at that
The shark was by no means subdued.
/ however. for he led us a lively chase
for fully half an hour after that The
nimblc little sloop ran, and reached.
! and luffcd, and came about. and jibed,
and spun around like a crazy thing. and
all the while old Capt. Joel said never
word lie was kept nearly as busy
as l was, for it is no small task to keep
a slOop dancing about on the water like
a monkey on hot brick The old man
was pcrspiring freely. but he worked
to perfection lie knew as we'll as ]
did what to do, and when gave an or
der he was already to Obey it instantly
He could have done it all without an
order, but on board ship nothing is
done without instructions from the
man in charge.
what do you take this ere sloop
for, anyway; tOp?" he grumbled, as
he filled away for the twentieth time
"Been n dancin' about like looney for
the past half hour" knew by this
that he was warming up to the excite
ment of the occasion Ills sullen aud
resentful feelings had Oozed out of him
as he began TO T 'rspire over his work
At the end of thToo-quarters of an
hour ] was about to give up the fight
as hopeless, but | resolved to keep it
up until ! fairly dropped down from
sheer WEAKNESS. | never had been so
completely tired cut in all my life. The
shark was altogether too heavy for
this sort of fishing A smaller shark
would have been sport, but this was
something like hard work. After q
time, however. ! noticed that the big
fellow on the end of the limo was be-
coming less ugly and energetic He
made dash now and then, but he did
not keep it up. BY degrees ! reeled
him in toward the boat ! did II all
very slowly and cautiously, for I did
not wish him to make q particularly
desperate break for liberty and get |
IL S6,A L.
enough strength left to resist him |
After some trouble got him within |
a short distance of the boat.
"Stand by with the lance, Cap'n |
joel" said l. The old man dropped |
the tiller and took up lance made Of |
n bayonct fastened 10 the end of q |
bamboo fshing-rod lie lSnelt on the |
deck beside me, with the lance poised |
over the water and with his toes braced |
against the standing rigging. gently |
coaxed the shark alongside directly |
under us.
"Stab him." said I. and almost be. |
fore the sound of the words had died |
away the keen bayonet had flashed in |
to the sharks head and out again |
twice. Tho third stab went into the |
unFesistipg water, for the shark |
thraShed the water into foam with his !
great tail and tore off across the bay |
The reel screamed again and again as
the wounded thing, crazed with pain |
and rage, daFtcl here and there.
Wherever he rushed he left a thin trail |
of blood Although | was no longer
so heavily oppressed with WEAKNESS |
took my time about checking him, for
/ knew that had him then.
When the wild creatures fury was |
spent reeled him in again to the boat
lie was weak, but still game to the
last. Capt Joel stabbed him four times,
but even with that the fish made des-
perate struggle for life. Capt Joel /
put a moose around under his forward /
fms, and we hauled him aboard hy !.
means OF tackle already prepared for
that purpose, We let him hang in the |
rigging while we bore away for home.
When | was rested bit started TO
measure him with tape line. AS
fused about him he made lurch and
gave vicious snap with his ugly Jaws
that caused me to fall headlong on the
cabin F0af Ills razor-like teeth missed |
my left arm by barely six inches Old
Cap'n Joel grinned like a fiend and ]
chuckled to himself all the way home.
1t must have been the sharks last |
death spasm, for when took the lance
and prodded him with it he made no
further demonstration. lie was dead |
beyond all recall
On the way home ] put the tape line
on him found that he was q little /
more than five feet long. This is not
large for man-eater; in fact it was
merely an ordinary sort of Great South
bay shark. While was cutting on
fin he slipped out of the moose and fell
overheard, and that was the last we
saw of him. He might have been a
man-eater for all that could tell to the
contrary. If he were not, it was solely
through lack OF proper opportunity.
n. Y. Times.