The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-07-23

be near a reef where there was likely to
be plenty of FISH, We got fixed in short
order. l threw out a small anchor at the
end OF about forty feet of rope, and II
held at once, so that in a moment we
were riding the swell In grand style.
Usually after we throw out our lines
the fish begin to bite as soon as the bait
touches the bottom, but to-day something
was wrong. Half an hour passed with
out nibble, and l was about making up
my mind to go to some other place. sud
denly my line gave a series OF jerks. and
so did Jim's and Mr.. Jones', almost at
the same moment.
When we pulled up every hook had
fish on It, and IL was plain to me that n
school of fish had come by and we were
getting the benefit or 1t. Then the fun
commenced, but didn't last long.
ut was all we could do to bait out lines
and take off the fish. Before the hooks
had touched bottom there was a fish on
each We kept this up for a few minutes
and then something happened.
Il was sitting in the bow of the boat
Jim was sitting In the middle and Mr.
Jones was in the stern. Just as our sport
was at its hight our boat seemed to give
a jump and a bump. l though at first
that we must have gone adrift and struck
on a reef l looked about to make sure
and saw that the anchor line was taut
Then the boat gave another jump, and We
all loked at one another.
1T was not until the real cause of our
trouble came in front of me that / knew
what Ii was. l had considered a number
of things, such as getting caught In some
current, becoming tangled in seaweed ana
a few others just as sensible.
Before l knew 1t we We're going like
lightning, and foam was flying on both
sides of us. I reached for the anchor
rope, and just at that moment q monster
fluke rose before me and came down with
a splash not three inches in front of the
boat If 1t had touched US It would have
been all night with us, and nobody would
ever have known how we came to our
untimely ends.
"Of course, as soon as l saw the huke.
I knew we were fastened to whale and
IA moment later l saw the fellow who had
us with an anchor sticking in one corner
of his mouth. Away he went In a series
of leaps over the waves.
Il tried to unite the anchor rope, but
couldn't.
Then. 1 reached for my knife, but 4
had been used for cutting bait, and was
in the bottom of the boat somewhere.
THE oars had been poked under the
seats so as to be out of our way, and
could not be extrcated
Faster and faster the whale went over
the water, churning It into foam all
around. l knew that as long as he kept
on top we were safe, but did not think
this would last long. Nor did II. The
whale began to dive and sink our boat to
the gunwale every few seconds
Then he remained under the water
and about concluded that our time had
come. The boat was running close down
and knew that the first little wave we
ran into would let in enough water to
allow the whale to sink her. II was for
tnuate for us that the whale was a small
one.
Just as we We're coming to a little bit
OF choppy water Jim found the knife and
handed 1t to me. 1t was awful dull.
cut and sawed. and little splashes of wat
er came In every few moments. Stil the
rope held.
1T seemed to me like an age before 7
managed to eventually cut through that
rope. But l did just as the boat shipped
about tubfui of water, and Mr.. Whale
took himself away and our anchor with
him. But he was welcome to IT,
1t was some moments before we at
tempted to row back to land. but you can
see that we got here. And. as 1 said be-
fore, no more ocean sailing for me, unless
i am In a big boat.
Now that It is all over. I can think of
how il happened. / lay u all to the school
of fish that gave us such sport for a few
minutes. You see, that whale was around
there before we got there, and chased all
the fish away That's the reason we
couldn't catch any at first. Then when
the fish got back he was close behind. or
course, they got pretty thick around our
bait, and he charged into them. In some
way he must have got a-hold of our an
Choir rope, and I'm attempting to get away
lifted the anchor from the bottom so that
1t caught in the corner OF his mouth. If
he had only backed water for a moment.
IL would have shaken loose. but instead
he got frightened and went ahead, taking
us with him.
TITS all right now, but when 20 whal-
ing next time l want TO be prepared for
It,"