The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1893-06-24

lot, and the first dusk of an early
March evening found me aboard his
odorous little sloop. with his party Of
three, floating with tho slow ebb Of
tho tide out from the shelter Of the
bay past the massive headlsnd of Point
Iona into the open seas Here We
moored for the night. stretched our.
selves upon the cramped deck under
the quiet starlight and slept
At 9 o'clock in the blurred misty
morning we were aroused by the little
Greek and sat upon the deck. He al.
ready had little fire burning In bic
sheet-iron stove and the air was full
Of the odor of coffee. There was 10
time to lose, for at o'clock the barra.
cuda would begin to bite. There was
no wind: only ftful breeze stirred
the flap of the sails internationally,
and we were put at the oars, where
we toiled painfully for an hour, strur.
Cling to pass the matted kelp beds
which inclosed us. Then the wind
freshened and we slid again into the
open sea.
Already dozen sails were fitting
back and forth phantomlike in the
deep shadows of the mist "Portu-
guese," the little Greek said scornfully,
as he busted himself in rigging his
lines His boat carried four OF twenty
yards in length, thick as clothes lines
knotted firmly at one end TO iron
staples driven into the boats rail,
while at the other end the great evil.
looking hoops fastened in bodies Of
bone four or five inches long, curved
throughout their length, so that they
will fash and fiirt through the water
deceptively.
A fresh, strong wind was tugging at
the brown sail and sending the salt
spray dashing over the low deck, and
sail was hauled into the wind and the
boat leaned forward, dragging its four
lines through the water.
The barracuda were hungry. /, un.
tutored, saw no sign, but shout from
the little Greek announced the first
snap, and straightway he threw his
body half way over the boats rail,
knotted his horny hands in one Of tho
lines and began fierce struggle with
the powerful fish securely hooked at
the other end. The man was sinewy
anu muscular. but the fish was strong
too Back and forth it dashed, now
diving until the line stretched straight
down into the green depths beneath
the boat, and then. throwing its great
shining, beautiful body half Dozen
feet into the air, flashing the waters
into silvery spray.
But the fish lacked the willy expert
ence OF the fisherman, and so. slowly,
slowly, hand over hand, the line was
drawn in, until at last the gasping
head was lifted clear of the water be-
side the boat. Then another of the
men lent hand and the fish was
aboard and lay sulien upon the deck.
lie was two inches over four feet long,
game to the core and every inch
gentleman. And then came another
and another in quick succession. The
wind was down the coast and the boat
made succession of sharp tacki,
lodging now far out into the sea and
then back again, while the water
grew rough under the touch OF the
freShening breeze, and IL was with
difficulty that we could keep our feet
Two hours more and daylight began
to break, but still we fished on, and
the gasping mass in the bottom of the
boat came halfway to our boot tops
Then as the dawn frightened we could
begin to see the fish when they rose
from the depths of the green waters %
take the hooks, sometimes dozen OF
them trailing along behind tempting
bait doubtfully, until one or two would
dart forward and snap. Many times
two or three would be hooked at once,
and twice we were hauling in all four
OF the lines at the same time.
Suddenly, at 3 o'clock, when we
were fifteen miles up the coast and six
miles from land, the barracuda stopped
biting and the Greeks hauled in the
lines. No more to-day they said
barracuda no bite now till morning"
and the boat was put about and
headed toward home.
We had done we'll enough. In the
bottom of the boat lay fifty-seven
"silvery Beauties" some lutte feet
LIN