The American Ancrlcr 



furnace cooking-. How good they were ! 

 Not the little shrimp of Northern wa- 

 ters, but big fellows of 5 and 6 inches. 



Whether shimp are narcotic or not 

 I do not know, but I do know that I 

 slept the sleep of the just that night, 

 and was still sleepy when Mrs. S. 

 aroused me to come on deck and watch 

 the porpoises gambol around the boat. 

 One of them made a miscalculation and 

 found himself in shallow water. Then 

 there was a circus. Water was splashed 

 high in the air in his efforts to get 

 back into the channel, which he finally 

 succeeded in doing. 



After breakfast the chief steward an- 

 nounced that she was going a-fishing, 

 and so we all went. Taking the skiff 

 we rowed up close to the mouth of the 

 Pass. Here we left the steward to fish 

 from the boat, which was drawn up on 

 a shallow bar, while the rest of us 

 waded out into the surf. I should say 

 we started to wade out, for it was 

 hardly ijiore than a start before we 

 heard Mrs. S. cry out for assistance. I 

 looked around and saw her rod bend 

 over and line straighten out, while she 

 was holding on to the reel with both 

 hands. Further and further, she leaned 

 over the side of the skiff until I thought 

 surely she would tip over. ' * Give 

 him line," I shouted, and then she 

 shut down harder, the rod bent over 

 and then suddenly straightened out. 

 The line was reeled in, but the fish was 

 gone, he had straightened out that 

 hook as neatly as could be done with a 

 pair of pliers. 



" Why didn't you give him line ? " I 

 asked. 



"Oh!" she responded, "I didn't 

 want to have him run away with all of 

 it. And, besides, I thought you told 

 me to hold him tight? " 



After that incident was over we re- 



sumed our fishing. I was out of luck 

 that morning, one bite and a miss. 

 Will Bickenbaugh had two experiences 

 similar to Mrs. S. 's. with the exception 

 that his reel would not work, and he 

 had to lose two nice fish. We suc- 

 ceeded in getting enough, however, and 

 what more could we ask ? 



The remainder of the day we spent 

 in exploring the beach and taking an 

 occasional dip into the surf. We found 

 some nice shells, and a peculiar black 

 substance looking and tasting like 

 asphalt, which Fermin said was cast 

 up by the gulf. He called it " chicka- 

 dee," and said that it was frequently 

 found in masses weighing over a ton, 

 and that it was worth ij^ cents per 

 pound. 



After supper we strolled over to the 

 gulf and watched the big gleaming 

 waves rolling in on the beach. The 

 night was dark, and as we looked 

 down the long stretch of sand, it 

 seemed as though huge waves of fire 

 were breaking and curling and splash- 

 ing as far as the eye could see. Beauti- 

 ful, though it was, tired nature asserted 

 her rights, and reluctantly we turned 

 back to the boat and were soon asleep. 



The next morning we were all up 

 before sunrise, eager for another day 

 in this wonderland. This land where 

 the water was on fire; this desert of 

 white sand where we could get fresh 

 water by simply digging for it. 



To the uninitiated it seems strange 

 to see bright green shrubbery of vari- 

 ous kinds growing out of the white 

 sand, especially when one remembers 

 that it has not rained here for months. 

 But the mystery is easily explained. 

 Those white sand hills looking so 

 dry and dusky, are in reality store 

 houses of cool, sweet, fresh water, 

 which filters down with each storm, 



