Evening star., 1902-08-09


hear me when spoke to him. Indeed. be-
came somewhat clipper so 20 speak. and
| suggested to many of those who were in
Ine agonies by which mean when they
were hooked up. that they ought to let out
more line: that they ought to reel up; that
they should hold their nerve; that the way
70 take tarpon was to throw the hook into
them, break their hearts, pull them I'D bS
| the side of the boat. get the boatn1an to
stroke them down the back and then make
them follow them ashore. L offered advice
TO every one and l fancy that L had not
been on the fishing grounds more than an
hour before l made an impression and had
excited deep hatred in every man who had
been blessed or cursed as the case NAV he
by strike. finally got one inst as uas
nuariousiy commenting on the lack of pol
ish IN a neighbor in handling his rod.
The Fight Begins.
What | was about to saw was not said
L could distinctly feel my heart fall four
fnches, and then it felt heavy as if the fan
mad hurt it. The reel did not whirr IF
Just clicked off a few clicks I made a wild
dive with my right hand then for the
leather brake. only to jab it in between the
spool of the reel and the rod Nv luck was
great, for the fish, feeling a foreign sub
stance IN his mouth. the hook perhaps
having pricked him. came ont in the air
where the resistance to his contortiors
would be less than in the water and threw
the nook forty feet away You didn't
A
on my part was in order But | tried to
look as II L scorned to make one The
tiuth was that my voice was dead. Several
tihles mad the same experience But |
was getting in shape, as shown by the fact
that / finally arrived at the poipt whore 7
nad strength enough to feebiy lift the rod
IN lazy imitation of striking when the fish
bit. Johnny getting DISCOURAGED The
other boatmen were making him look like
a EAR OF deuceS as he remarked But the
peiaS was good for me. 1t was making me
bold: In fact l was, [ felt. just training
Tor the great act. And it came The reel
Went click, click. for few feet as If the
fsh at the other end perfectly at ease
ana was rather willing for anything that
came. He did not seize the bait and run
| IKE Il thief He took it as if it belonged to
MN and as if he were willing to fight for
! It But l was better poised mentally at
| that moment than had been. and l threw
my "ho.e strength into one side-Sweep with
| the rod. He telegraphed down the line he
was there, and perhaps fearing might not
| read the telegram came out of the water
| SIX feet if an inch, and told me he was
| there. He came as Il Six-foot bolt of beaten
| sllver-came shimmering. a ray of light
| even under an August sun-came the epi-
tome of beauty and rage. And when his
| native element received him. it received
| him speeding. The reel did not click or
whirr now. 1t hummed-like a top. Put
| the brake on" Johnny said. l tried 1t
| and bore down with all my might. Catch
| your left hand on the rod above the rec"
| Johnny said. l tried 1t. but touched the
line, and scar marks the place.
| When Bill Got Mad.
| Then I got my mad up. 1 climbed the
| rod, skinned down the rod. pressed down
| on the brake, let the reel run at will,
| braced my feet against the stern of the
boat. fell out of the chair. got in it again.
| prayed, swore, burned up and froze. That
message along the line-that message which
would tell me what true ecstasy of delight
| was never came There was one, to be
sure. but it told of true agony. 1t read
| thus: You have often heard of being up
| against the real thing? Well, you will un-
| derstand it now. For this is real" Give
! him more line" said Johnny. God knows
! L willing. I was never stingy man.
[ would have given him all the lines in
all tie stores in all the world. Reel him
| up now. Take in more line reel up reel
| up How simple the words! How easy it
would seem from the simple words! And yet
| there he was now. after having been in the
| air a half dozen times. .tugging like a pair of
| young mules. [ could not have reeed in
| an inch of line with a well windlass. Why.
! he was pulling thousand pounds to the
| inch-pulling the boat, though Johnny was
| tugging a little the other way to add weight
| to his burden. Then he would turn and
make curve. But all the time his direc-
| ton was outward from the boat. And here
| it occurred to me that I had at an earlier
| hour talked too much. Neighbors whom l
had twitted took a deep interest in what l
was doing. They reciprocated with sugges-
tions. They asked me why l did not reel
him up by the boat and get my boatman
to stroke his back They inquired why l
didn't make him follow me to shore. Johnny
did not like this I refused to say any
thing in reply I did not think it unmany
to make confessions. In fact, L think they
show the right kind of heart.
Col. Bill Wins the Fight.
If Johnny and myself had not been sur
rounded by interested and ribald neighbors,
our or my troubles would have been speedi-
Iy settled. But as it was, to have cut the
line in the presence of these neighbors
would have been an act Of cowardice which
would have forever disgraced me. L could
not let the fish. which was now my enemy,
have the rod, and then have offered as an
excuse that my hands had slipped, because
| the rod and reel did not belong to me.
confess that this method of escape once
suggested itself to me. but l turned it down
in contemplation of the price Unfortunate
ly l had secured a line and hook and
enough wire to furnish a soul for piano,
and could not hope for any escape by the
breaking route. Just as | was despairing
Johnny said: Reel up; you must reel up
or shark will get your fish" The waters
cool draught never came to the parched !
mouth in the desert as this came to me.
Talk of "a great rock in weary land" to |
the traveller! 1t seemed to be my only |
hope. Would one Gomez | would welcome |
him almost by an embrace. | have read of |
the fins of these monsters cutting the sur
face of the seas. / have shuddered in read
ing of how they follow ships that bear the |
dead. But now / looked about for
fin And | said to myself: Come oh, my
brother; come and all my horror of you is
turned to gratitude Bite a hole in the |
boat and take chunk of Johnny's leg. but
cut that tarpon off the line first But
why go on? We got him to the beach at
| last. Johnny jumped out in water knee
deep and dragged him up the land He
was beautiful in all things physical He
was rainbow lying there upon the sand. |
Six feet two in length and thirty inches in
girth. Did nature ever turn out anything
| quite SO ma gnificent. He tried his strength
| He struck the beach like Thor. His gasp
| ings became longer between times, and his
| great red gills opened and shut as il i'll
| spasms. His cow eyes got dim and dim
and dim. and he was dead.
And then l went my way-no better for
what I had done l had fought and won
| and killed But it was not fair fight L
packed my few things. L paid Johnny his
| stipend. I settled my hotel bill and called
| for pen and paper. And thus I wrote:
The State of Texas, County OF San Patri-
| cio.-For and in consideration of the great
/