502 MODERN SEA FISHING 



Another cigar (Havannah is very close to Florida, and there 

 is a good deal of smuggling going on), the decapitation of 

 another mullet, a fresh cast, and we settled down to watch the 

 dial of my reel. I found Hart a pleasant and remarkably well- 

 informed person. There were few modern books of adventure 

 with which he was not acquainted, though not many authors 

 could have produced a more exciting tale than the history of 

 this man's life,spent as it was in exploring the vast, unknown 

 recesses of the Everglades in search of the egret's plumes, with 

 which fashionable ladies adorn their hats and hair. His 

 existence had been hard and solitary, and, though he is now 

 attaining a certain prosperity, he has spent some thousands of 

 nights camping out alone in that strange snake- and panther- 

 ridden country. 



Our chat is cut short, however, by a sudden disappearance 

 of the loose line over the side of the boat. Then the reel began 

 to run out like lightning. The excitement of the moment was 

 terrific. One's first salmon, one's first tarpon, one's first tiger, 

 are, I should imagine, the most tremendous moments in a 

 career of sport. 



To strike or not to strike is a question that greatly agitates 

 the tarpon fisher. There be those who say that the fish will 

 hook himself. On the other hand, many consider it imperative 

 to strike, and strike hard. Both have equally good arguments. 

 I struck, and within some fifty yards from the boat, but quite 

 in a contrary direction from that in which the line was running 

 out, a monster fish leapt from the water. Immediately at the 

 beginning of the run Hart had pulled up the anchor and we 

 were drifting. When he saw the direction in which the fish 

 had leapt he looked grave. The line covered with seaweed 

 had sagged tremendously ; he feared that the fish had dropped 

 the bait, and he was right. I wound up and found that my 

 intended victim had seized the mullet, and, in that curious way 



