The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1905-05-18

g school OF them, 'fnnlng' about where v
Are Dow, and lus, ~ fast ~ the skipper
the pulpit could drive his irons, be hsrpoor
ed them one after another, uutIl We hH
, every msn Of the crew GU, 10 dory fast i
i nsh. had beea ai the masthead on th
lookout, but when the last one was strue
: ! went belos TO put er after him In M
' turn.
! saw when the capttln made the sho
: that The iron, instead Of striking him Jus
forward OF the fin and driving all the wa.
through the nsh "a II shoulder, had strucl
well back toward the tail at An angle, AMI
instead OF beioe stunned for moment, q
Ia usually the case when the iron strikes
that fellow Jampsd clear up out Of tn,
water, ard then started on.
Il tiint like the looks OF that, but mar
going nsllag Is bound to take his chancei
as they come, 80 limped into the dory
and tut d, following the course OF the
k,g buoy. The 4 ,h headed eastward, and
ran abou, ten nj es In deep water. Then
saw by the keg that he had changed his
courie, and WAS coming back across me.
| pulled sh, ad to the course he seemed to
be taking, and padded to head him of.
When the keg came aorg to me, ! grabbed
and took II tbosrd.
A swordhsh, when he Is well 'ironed,,
will make for the deepest water he can get,
ard going to the bottom, there he will stop
aud start ahead as he loses ard gains
strength. But this fellow tiiu't tire at
all, and knew by the rate he VAS going
th Il might be towed fifteen or twenty
miles from the vessel, and might have to
stay out all night, so the first little slat
] got on the lice, began TO take in snd
pay out as | had to, in order to tire the fish
out.
The first fathom took up, he veered OF
to the southwark, and In z'ezag course he
drove slorg sbout as fast as 1t Is safe for
dory to 60, with any sea on.
Ipassed within short distance OF the
vessel, and Of one sfter another Of the other
dolits; then straight tf to southwark he
went.
The big fellow kept well at the bottom
for more than an hour without showing
himself. He veered to right and left with
turns sharp enough to throw me overheard
II had not hung on to the gunwsles. The
buoy.line swished ard cut through the
water, ard the nose Of the dory plowed so
deep that moved as far aft as dared to,
to keep her from dipping below the sur
face.
| took the two thwarts and placed them
In the bottom Of The dory to stand on, in
case the fab should turn on me. Then
plsced my nee and big knife where they
could be ret he'd easily, and stood watch.
log the line Is it cut through the water.
When we bad gone so far that | could
hear the roar of la. tide-ip yonder, be.
gan to wish he would keep off In deep
water, where there would be more distance
between him and me.
He swung and shed as we drew into
shoal water, and BY watching the marks on
the buoy-line, saw that he was gradually
running In from eight hundred fathoms to
where there we're barely ten. Then into
the twirling rips VIC shot, and my troubles
began.
kept steady strain on the line, and
began to coil every inch Of slack In the
bssket at my feet, to guard sgainst getting
tangled up In 1t. Then the first thing I
knew the line grew slack all Of q sudden,
lud the dory shot along under her head.
way.
knew what that meant. dropped the
line and Jumped on the two thwsrts which
made double bottom bt meath me. Then
stood there, waiting for something to hap
pen.
The first thing noticed In the water was
IN ugly.looking shark, attracted, no doubt,
by the bleeding swordfsh. Iwatched his
curious movements for minute or two,
md turned to look for the vessel, when
With swish up shot my fish, clear out Of
he water not ten feet away. Back be fell, i,
With tremendous splash and a slat of bis
20 owerful tail.
When saw his size, bis monstrous eyer, /.
md his long jagged sword, and this show ,
4 life, felt rather nervous. Down be
vent, and coming to the surface again be ;,
'egan to make circle round me. didn't
now what to do This was a new move
o me.
| watched him for few seconds, expect. ),
ng to zee him start ofi-but be did not 4
tart. He kept circllng round the boat, ),
nd grew 80 uneasy that picked up the ;,
ars and stood ready to pull away, should
e come for the dory. a
! watched the big h.h breathe and dive.
could plainly see bis big, saucer-like eyes =
Ghch seemed to stare at me oil the time, ),
nd bis stunpy, triangular flo, and bis rag =
ed.edged sword, and the pink slit cut in
Is black back, where the iron had gone
rAwing the buoy-llne in behind II. He
pemed to be taking sort Of Inventory Of
,e and nv dory; at least be was In no hur- II
y to move away, n,
When got the slack all 10, stood there hI
,r some minutes, waiting for the fish to W
'ske move but be didn't move. | drew N
he line ttut. Braclbg both feet 10 the bow vi
the dory, pulled with all my might. 1t
III held for tecord; then It gave way, %
I'd over went backward in the dory. 10
He was comirg now, felt sure. jump W
up as quickly as could, and grabbing j
ie lice, ! began to ea,her In the slack, but N
,e line came faster than could pull 1t in, hi
ben that happens every swore fisherman i,