102 ALBACORA 



"Fine, Mr. Marron," Mannie said. "How long you 

 gonna keep on playing with that shark?" 



"Till we get enough tuna," Lou said, "or till we get 

 even for the ones he scared away." 



"Boss," Mannie said, "it don't make sense to me, 

 playing around with a shark. You sure you don't know 

 another way to get even?" 



I was glad Mannie had asked the question. I was 

 wondering about the same thing myself. 



Lou did not answer, but I could see by the way he 

 set himself that Mannie had made a grave tactical error. 

 Now Lou was convinced that this match against the shark 

 was a point of personal pride. For all I knew, he might 

 keep teasing the shark until nightfall. 



Every time the shark lunged, Mannie's big round eyes 

 seemed to grow a little bigger and rounder. Lou's eyes 

 stayed narrow and cold. I sat counting the number 

 of times the shark went for Lou's bait, and noticed that 

 each time the fish seemed to become more angry and 

 more reckless. Each time, he came a little closer to the 

 boat. 



"Scared, Mannie?" Lou asked. 



"No, sir," Mannie said. "I'm not scared." 



"I'm scared," I said. 



"Here he comes again," Lou said. 



At the third lunge the shark's sense of caution gave 

 way to his sheer fury. He rolled over and hurled him- 

 self at the bait Lou snapped under the boat. The shark 



