The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1908-12-05

close to the boat that they cast spray
into t. but not one noticed the
hooked mullet He was too insignifi-
cant all by himself. They wanted a
school TO charge and devour. worry
and scatter. In a few minutes they
were gone with the inflow that had
brought them.
Yves too far down." walled Lee,
in despair. "Dey's gone up to de
boats. and Sid'll catch our fish, cure
Pull mp de anchor, Mister Bert. Pull
him up"
Pull up nothing" said Bert.
sturdily. although he was somewhat
pale. He had never seen So many OF
the great fish before. I've watched
this place, and if you can't catch one
here, you can't anywhere.
He drew in his line and put on
vigorous mullet from the bucket. The
bait" scooted here and there. feeling
the danger. In every way it did its
best to draw that danger down upon
its defenseless head: but the sun
passed the zenith and sank slowly
toward the west, and the reel hung
silent on the rod.
The fish were not biting" as the
anglers say. They were there and at
work. Patches of shadow and patches
of foam nothing the blue of the
lagoon showed that the mullet and
small fry were being harried, but nc
silk line tautened. Anglers are pa
tient folk, but they have their super
stitions, and one of them is that when
fish show a Discrimination to bite, they
cannot be made to. One after an
other, as the sun sunk, they quietly
took their rods apart and stole back
to the landing; all but Der and the
Bostonian, who had made it princi-
pie to combat all conventional con-
illusions.
1t was high food. Six hours had
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 tarpon, the
rest Of whose body lay in the nav
of thievish shark.
Il reckon we-all better go on
home" said Lee, shudderingiy. Il
doan' like fishing TO- 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 EN- 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
shower of drops the line straight
ened like steel wire, and the rod
creaked under the dead weight. 1t
was a dead weight only for an in
slant. After that it was so much
alive that the reel shrieked high to
the fierceness of it's rush.
One hundred feet from the boat
the tarpon shot out of the water. Up
he went, his cheeks faring 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 g 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 fairness of the reel was gone
before the tarpon swung. He came
straight for the boat. Bert reeled
frantically. It would not do to give
the fish too much slack. There was
a 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 we'll