The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1908-11-04

IL was nigh Hood. Six hours mad
passed. The drowsy Lee came out Of
his cat-nap suddenly, and with an in
articulate expression. Something had
surged in the water close by. The
dropping line took life and straight
ened mysteriously.
But before Bert could strike, the
water boiled and broke noisily, and a
wide dorsal fin cut it like knife. On
the hook were the staring head and
bleeding shoulders of a tarpon, the
rest of whose body lay in the nav
of thievish shark.
"I reckon we-all better go on
home" said Lee, shudderingly. Il
doan' like fishing fo' sharks"
Bert put on another mullet and
cast it clear of the cloudy spot on the
water.
"This is where we get action" he
said. "Some of 'em are going out
hungry"
The bait had scarcely sunk below
the surface before the same uncanny
upheaval occurred. Again the line
crept out and out, stealing away from
the boat. Then Bert struck, and with
a shower of drops the line straight
ened like steel wire, and the rod
creaked under the dead weight. 1t
was dead weight only for an in
stant. After that 1t was so much
alive that the reel shrieked high to
| the fierceness of IFS rush.
One hundred feet from the boat
the tarpon shot out of the water. Up
he went, his cheeks flaring from the
red gills till he seemed all enormous
head. Still he rose, foot on foot of
binding silver, and at the great
length of him Lee gasped and pulled
the rabbits foot from his pocket.
"Conjure him! Conjure him!" he
yelled, and shook the little hairy pad
at the fish as it curved in high arc
and fell back, driving foam to the
| boat.
Now he rushed steadily and
straight for the head of the lagoon.
The raised tip of the rod put its strain
upon him, but tarpon six feet long
is not to be turned or tired by such
tricks. Foot after foot of the line
spun from the reel. Bert had no
finger-stalls, and the thin silk ate hot
into the flesh of the thumb with
which he tried to brake the line.
Two hundred and fifty feet ran out,
and the fatness of the reel was gone
before the tarpon swung. He came
straight for the boat. Bert reeled
frantically. 1t would not do to give
the fish too much slack. There was
dreadful droop to the line when the
second leap came and the tarpon rose,
higher than before, and Slated his
great head vigorously. When he
turned in mid-air he bent like steel
bow, and snapped out straight again
with a jerk that tossed the line high.
But in the heart of the suds and
broken water the line stiffened, and
Bert knew he had the fish WELL
hooked. Well-hooked is far from be-
ing safely landed. A tarpon can per-
form more acrobatic feats than almost
any other game-fish in the sea; and d
straight rush, if not stopped in time,
will inevitably end in broken line.
Not once did the tarpon sulk. 1t
was straight fighting every minute.
With rod and reel and bloody fingers
Bert fought back, and the hour that
passed seemed a dozen. He was
bathed in sweat, and every muscle
ached. Even his teeth ached under
the dogged pressure of his jaws. Lee
chewed on his precious rabbits foot
with savage disregard of its value.
He might have ground it up if the
tarpon had not intervened.
During the first half of the second
hour the fish seemed as fresh as ever,
but a series of huge leaps and their
smacking falls tired him. For the first
time Bert was able to gather in a
hundred feet of line, the tarpon yield
ing sullenly to the strain. He lay
now within few yards of the boat,
dorsal fin out, his six feet of silver
cleaning through the water.
"Coax him, Mister Bert!" pleaded
Lee, gaff in hand. "Lemme get JUS
one jab at him with dis yere pike"
Bert touched the reel with rumbed
fingers, but gentle as the pull was, it
reused the tarpon to last fury. Out
of the suddenly swirling water he
rose, open-mouthed, and ! fore the
boys could move he was upon them
with an impact that sent Lee end the
oars flying, and thrust the gunwale
of the boat beneath the surface.
Bert and the tarpon and the broken
halves of the centre seat thrashed
about on the flooded bottom. The
boys length was less than that of the
great fish, but he thrust his hands
into the wide gills and wound his legs
round the slippery body, and fought
with shut eyes. He was fighting in
his own element and the tarpon was
not. The muscular body ceased to
heave under him; and when the
streaming Lee cautiously appeared
at the gunwale, the rabbits foot pro-
truding from his lips, the real strug-
gle was over.