ALBACORA 25 



over to where Lou is. Suppose our lines get tangled up." 

 That might lead to a two-reel comedy, but what the 

 University of Miami had requested was something more 

 dramatic: fighting fish and screaming reels over the 

 Humboldt. 



If any trouble loomed, I decided, I'd simply have to 

 cut my line and let my marlin go. As it developed, it 

 was not my fish that caused the trouble. 



Lou had hooked one of the five eager marlin, and as 

 he played out his line, the fish ran wild. Thinking of 

 the movie, Lou let him race wherever he wished and 

 after a while, for no reason anyone knew, the marlin 

 started bearing down on the Explorer, He moved as 

 swiftly as a destroyer and it was only seconds before 

 he was flying upward over the stern, bill pointed 

 straight at my middle. 



"Howard," I shouted. "Look out." 



Howard had seen. He spun the wheel hard, but he 

 might just as well have dodged a bolt of lightning. The 

 marlin rocketed in and then leapt straight across the 

 comer of the stern where I was standing. I ducked, face 

 up, and for a flash, one of the marlin's huge red eyes 

 was glaring at me. I could have touched it. Then he 

 was back in the water again and I was thinking of the 

 marlin's bill. It could have rammed through me with 

 the greatest of ease. 



After the leap, Lou's marlin went into a deep dive 



