rite MEK ICANN ANGLER. 
VOL. 25. 
MAY, 
1895. 
No. 5 
OLD HERC—A SALTY WATER FISHER. 
BY CHAS: 
Many of the visitors at Kit’s Ham- 
mock (Delaware Bay), within the past 
fifteen years, will remember old Herc, 
or Hercules, or, as he styled himself: 
‘‘Harkless, sah, de strong man what 
you read ’bout in de Bible.”’ 
When I first made the acquaintance 
of Here, some years ago, he was a 
stout, sturdy fellow of about fifty years 
of age, and possessed of immense 
strength. He had long muscular arms, 
heavy shoulders, and was about as 
black as ebony. He was the man of all 
work at the hotel, but his chief delight 
was the care of horses, of which he 
seemed to have a thorough knowledge. 
Here was also a great lover of the 
water, and was in his glory when ac- 
companying a fishing excursion as bow 
oarsman to the heavy boat that usually 
carried parties out on the bay. He 
would rather row than sail, and hée 
could pull that heavy boat through a 
choppy seaway without any apparent 
exertion. 
Bill Bright, the violinist, and one of 
tie best “dance fiddlers. that. ever 
handled a bow,” was stopping at the 
Hammock, and he and Herc became 
firm friends. The latter would sit by 
the hour listening to Bright’s music, 
with his eyes intently riveted upon the 
COBILE. 
? 
performer, with no sign of animation 
except a convulsive twitching of the 
muscles of his under lip, and the slow, 
measured movement of one foot as he 
kept time with the violin. 
Bright was a famous fisherman, and 
almost every day would take parties out 
on the bay in the large sail boat to fish 
for sea trout (weakfish). One morning 
Bright and I had arranged it to go out 
by ourselves, and Here had make up 
his mind, uninvited, to accompany us, 
and all the persuasion that Bright 
could bring to bear in opposition to this 
scheme was lost upon our sable friend. 
‘* Now, look here,” said Bill, ‘‘ Hob- 
son (the proprietor of the hotel) might 
not like your running away in the 
morning; there’s lots of work to be 
done, and he depends upon you, and if 
you go off he’ll cuss like a major.”’ 
Herc looked at Bright with a comical 
expression on his countenance, and al- 
though heclaimed to be very religious (at 
times), as alldarkies do, he broke forth: 
‘‘Who a debil keers fur Hobson— 
who keers fur his cussin’, bress Gawd, I 
kin cuss as hard as Hobson; I don’t 
give a snap fur him. I’m gwine to go, 
an’ dat’s all bout it. I'll meet ye at de 
Sand ditch up de sho’, yo’ cum up dat- 
away—Gosh amighty.”’ 
