The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-03-05
TUESDAY MARCH

markable, and I presume no one will
 doubt the truth of the narrative when
 l myself tell it. I was hunrlng and
 fishing in Baratara bay, and for sev-
 eral days had enjoyed myself hugely,
 Fish of al sorts were plentiful and the
 marsh hens flew before my gun Tn
 clouds, It was not an uncommon thing
 Tor me to load my boat to the gunwales
 With trout and reddish in a single morn
 ing's outing, and I would vary the
 monotony of this sort of sport by oap-
 turing a few tarpon, A faRorite meth od employed by the fishermen in this | section of the coast waters is to catch | the silver fish where the waters eddy,
 and when the gleaming fin would break
 the surface to plunge a grain just abaft
 the dorsal and let Ter go. This was
 sport and when you consider that they,
 the men, usually fished in small Dir | ogues, the performance may well be,
 called dangerous. I became quite ex-
 pert at this and would go at the tarpon
 With all the termerity and sangfroid of | an old-timer. I never, however, suc-
 ceeded in gaining a silver fish,
 | This is not the story I want to tell | however. One morning, when I was about two miles from shore, right out
 10 sea, l cast my lines and the Spanish mackeral began biting like mad. My hands were blistered and I could scarce " move in the boat owing to the vast quantities of the beauties which had pulled. l rolled up my lines, settled myself for comfortable row back to shore, and was knocked out to find that my oars had dropped from the pins and fioated off At first I felt amused at the predicament but this feeling changed to something like fear when I ascertained that there was not a piece of wood in the boat with which I could make paddle, and I felt worse as I noticed a drift seaward and that the sun was falling. My quandary increas- ed, and yelled vociferously in hopes Of my voice reaching the shore Fool ish hope. Time drew on with wonder ful rapidity until the sun went down. Twilight is not long on the coast, and as the sun dipped the wind died away leaving the surface of the gulf as smooth as a pond Suddenly I heard | snort, and then another and the water | was broken into heap of swirls by the | breaking of great school of porpoises. | The fish approached the boat, danger ously close, thought, until at last a | bright thought struck me, and without | losing any time, I grabbed by largest | line, and quickly tying a slip moose, watched my opportunity, and as a DOT boise broke within a few feet of the i boat l threw the moose, lasso fashion, and the loop landed square and fair over the huge dorsal fin of the cetacean -and slipped off My next cast was more successful, the fin being carrugat- ed by age, and the line held.
 Tt Is a we'll known fact that DOT poise when struck or injured makes for shore, My capture followed this very plan, and, gratified al my sagacity and knowledge, I fastened the line to the prov of the boat, and soon had the sat isfaction of witnessing my novel steed cavort toward the shore, growing al- ready dim in the fading light.
 Tt was luck. for the trip was made without incident, the fish thinking of only getting away from the line, and soon saw the water fly as he plunged over the first sandbar. was near enough to wade, and cut the line thank ing my stars and the porpoise for a re- deliverance. A little while after was on the shore telling the story to my friends. who, by the way, did not believe me-"
 It was evident his listeners were of the same opinion, as one by one they themselves, and soon the mar rator was left alone.