188 ALBACORA 



and just as much care. Suddenly a young Bahaman 

 deck hand decided to help. He grabbed the wire, catch- 

 ing Gene by surprise. 



I never discovered exactly what happened next, but 

 from the cabin cot on which I sat, I saw a whirling 

 coil of wire descend in a perfect hangman's loop over 

 Gene's head. I shouted and bolted to Gene and got my 

 hands on his neck close to his throat just before the 

 thrashing of the tuna drew the noose tight. When the 

 wire pinned my fingers and I felt Gene writhe, I 

 screamed like a Banshee. Then Eddie Wall saved his 

 son's life by breaking the leader cable in half with 

 his bare hands. In factory tests that leader cable with- 

 stood 400 pounds of pressure without breaking, but 

 before the incredible force a father summoned from 

 his body to save his son, it gave way. By the time the 

 wire was removed from Gene's neck, it had cut deeply 

 into the skin and left a thin line of blood everywhere 

 except on the part my hands had covered. 



All the way back to Iquique that evening, Charlie 

 stayed with us. Once he tried to eat the white lacing 

 of Lou's fighting harness, under the impression that he 

 had encountered an albino worm, but for the most part 

 Charlie was content with hopping, waddling and jump- 

 ing into the fighting chair whenever it was vacant. 

 When Walt Gorman eased the ship into the dock, Char- 

 lie rested motionless on the chair, his head buried in 

 his back. 



