Fis]ii>isr in Texas. 



275 



white flag at the lola's mast head, and 

 as that meant dinner, we allowed his 

 lordship a new lease of life. 



During our midday meal we were 

 sorrowfully told of another accident. 

 The boys on the other side of the 

 channel had noticed a huge tarpon 

 leaping frequently in the channel close 

 to Matagorda Island, and of course 

 wanted him. Seating themselves in 

 the boat Mac took the oars. A swift 

 current was running out of the pass, 

 and so Mac, to make things safe, took 

 a long, strong pull, so strong that one 

 of the oars snapped short off. This 

 accident delayed them so much that 

 when they did cross they decided to 

 get dinner first and then try for the 

 tarpon. 



We tried. We cast our bait all 

 around him. We threw it above and 

 allowed the current to sweep the mullet 

 under his very nose. All in vain. 

 Only about forty feet away he leaped 

 and surged in the water, his silvery 

 sides glistening tantalizingly in the sun. 

 We had given up his capture as a hope- 

 less task, and were sitting on the sand 

 watching him enviously when our 

 attention was drawn to the presence of 

 other fish in goodly numbers. They 

 could be seen darting through the water 

 like streaks of light, occasionally 

 shooting into the air in their eager 

 •quest of food. Suddenly there was an 

 exclamation from Frank and looking 

 around we saw him engaged in a frantic 

 struggle to keep one of these fish from 

 getting back into the water. It was a 

 Spanish mackeral which had made a 

 miscalculation and leaped almost into 

 his lap. The sight of this beautiful fish 

 filled us with animation, and in a very 

 short time we had changed our lines 

 and were hauling them in almost as 

 iast as we could bait our hooks. About 



ten minutes of such fishing and the 

 school had passed in. We secured 23 

 of them, almost all of the same size. 



Fried and boiled mackerel were in 

 our bill of fare that night, and we felt 

 well satisfied. After the dishes were 

 washed we held a council of war, and, 

 as the morrow was Saturday, we con- 

 cluded that we had better start for 

 home. 



It would seem as though the chapter 

 of accidents was surely closed this 

 morning; the wind was fair and the 

 sun hidden under a cloud. The tide 

 had just turned, and we were making 

 good time down the channel, when, 

 almost without warning, a squall broke 

 out of the north, slammed us around 

 and up against the bank before we 

 knew where we weie. Not satisfied 

 with this, the jib tore loose, just to 

 finish up the job. This delayed us an 

 hour, and, to add to our inconvenience, 

 it began to rain. We were finally 

 started again, and shortly the rain 

 ceased and everything was lovely once 

 more. As we entered the bay from the 

 channel, Fermin pointed out a blue 

 strip, which showed the presence of a 

 channel, and told us that a few years 

 ago that channel made a short cut of 

 three miles to long reef, and wanted to 

 know if we should take it, at the same 

 time telling us that it might be filled 

 up now. We took the chances, to our 

 sorrow. The channel twisted and 

 turned around for nearly a mile, and 

 then wound up in a pocket. There was 

 nothing to do but come about and beat 

 our way out, and this was the hardest 

 blow Fate dealt us (we laid it to Fate, 

 of course). 



The channel was so narrow that it 

 was almost impossible to beat our way 

 against the wind, and so semi-occasion- 

 ally Fermin leaped overboard, and, 



